Syracuse forward CJ Fair was flattered by the comments that former Orange player Josh Pace made about him last week.
Throughout his career, Fair has been compared to Pace, who played at Syracuse from 2001-05 and was on SU’s 2003 national championship team. Both wear number 5, have similar scoring styles and have been referred to as “glue guys.”
“I’ve been asked this a lot, actually, the last couple years,” Pace said on The Juice on the Cuse podcast last week. “I think he’s a better version of me, actually, well, in terms of physically and athleticism. […] We do definitely have a lot of [the same] characteristics but I do think he’s a better version of me. And that’s speaking for myself.”
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Fair, who scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Syracuse’s 76-65 over Seton Hall on Saturday night, appreciated the compliment.
“It’s an honor coming from him,” Fair said to The Juice Online following the win. “I haven’t met him personally, but I communicate with him through Twitter. For him to say that, it means a lot to me.”
But Pace did have some advice to offer Fair.
“I think he’s going to realize that he’s got to be more aggressive,” Pace said. “He has to what’s good for the team, but they’re going to need a little more out of him.”
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Pace finished his career with averages of 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds. In his junior year, Pace averaged 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds, while starting all 31 games. Fair, a junior, has started every game this season and has been SU’s most consistent player with 14.0 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.
Still, Pace has one thing that Fair lacks.
“[Pace] was a great player for Syracuse when he was here and he won a national championship,” Fair said. “So I’m just trying to do the same thing for my team, help my team win a national championship.”
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