It wasn’t always easy dealing with his brother.

As a child, Craig Forth would often try to teach his brother basic skills, colors in particular. Try as he might, Forth couldn’t get his brother to lock down those skills at a young age.

Still, without him, Forth wouldn’t be the man he is today.

‘Growing up with Jeremy was challenging,’ Forth said in an email to The Daily Orange. ‘… There were many times when Jeremy did not understand the world around him. This caused the majority of issues we faced as a family unit.’

Jeremy Forth was born with autism. Craig Forth always had a great relationship with his younger brother and growing up with an autistic sibling had a profound effect on his life. It’s a large part of why he wanted to be a teacher and why he specifically chose inclusive education as his major.

Forth was the center on Syracuse’s 2003 national championship team, and after a brief professional career in Europe and the United States Basketball League, Forth turned his attention to the classroom, now teaching at Red Mill Elementary School in East Greenbush, N.Y.

His brother’s tribulations also inspired Forth to extend his helping hand beyond the Forth household.

‘He was always interested in working with kids,’ Columbia High School Athletic Director Mike Leonard said. ‘He’s always just watching them grow up and work with kids at different camps we had, interact with people.’

In high school, Forth was a star on the basketball court and drew the eye of Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins as Columbia High’s all-time leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker. But what stood out even more was his behavior off the court.

Forth worked with the Challenger League softball, basketball and football leagues, and when Forth set his high school’s scoring record, he handed the ball to his favorite cheerleader, Jaime Adams.

Adams has Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopment disorder almost exclusively present in females. People that suffer from Rett are rarely able to talk or walk and are especially prone to scoliosis, growth failures and seizures. While not part of the autism spectrum, its symptoms are often confused with autism.

More than a decade later, the ball still sits on a shelf in her room.

‘It’s hard for her because she can’t talk or nothing,’ said Jaime’s father, Burke Adams, ‘but you can tell whenever she sees Craig come along she lightens up with her smile, and her beautiful eyes open up wide and brighten.’

As an inclusive education and geography double major at SU, Forth continued to help in his community. Forth worked as a student teacher for a fourth-grade class at Salem Hyde Elementary School as well as the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program in the Syracuse area.

But while Forth was a star off the court, he never quite lived up to his lofty expectations on it.

Forth often felt the wrath of the Syracuse fan base, but the boos never really got to him. He was always harder on himself, pushing himself to be the best that he can be.

‘There were some times when I went up to games or I’ve seen him and talked to him, and he was always upbeat and positive,’ Leonard said. ‘He always just wanted to work harder, even to this day.’

After four years and 136 starts at Syracuse, Forth didn’t have the basketball opportunities that Carmelo Anthony or Hakim Warrick did. Despite ranking seventh in Syracuse history in blocked shots, his 4.7 points per game wouldn’t cut it in the NBA.

After playing overseas in Slovakia and Croatia in 2006, he returned to his roots. Forth settled down with his wife, Amanda, in his hometown of East Greenbush and taught. Not ready to walk away from the game for good, he took over as the girl’s junior varsity basketball coach at his alma mater, Columbia High School.

Forth teaches first-graders at Red Mill and was named the head coach of the girl’s varsity basketball team at Columbia High last year.

‘He’s first-class,’ Leonard said, ‘… high integrity, great academics, he’s brilliant, too. And he’s always had a knack for working with kids and gets along with everybody.’

Forth’s life goal always existed in the education sphere. His brother never had the education opportunities he had hoped for, and he never wanted that to happen to anyone else.

His life with Jeremy Forth also influences the way he teaches. Working with young children, it is understandable for teachers to become frustrated. Growing up with an autistic brother, Craig Forth’s patience is unparalleled.

‘I treat all students with the utmost respect and give them the time they need to grow and develop,’ Forth said. ‘I also have many strategies based on my experiences with many children that help me give students the room they need when experiencing difficulty.’

In 2004, Burke founded The Miracle League of the Capital Region. According to its website, ‘The Capital Region Miracle League offers baseball, basketball, bowling, football, soccer and track & field to special needs athletes of all ages from Upstate New York.’

As an athlete and brother of an autistic child, helping children with special needs play sports was something Forth had always done. While a student at Columbia, Forth often played sports with special needs students, even wheeling around Adams’ daughter, Jaime, on the basketball court and helping her shoot the ball.

Jaime Adams’ name now adorns the home of The Miracle League’s Jaime M. Adams Field. The field opened in 2009, and Forth, though busy with a young daughter, tries to make it there as often as he can to help out with the children.

Standing 7 feet tall, Forth’s stature could certainly be intimidating, but the younger kids are never afraid of him. They affectionately refer to him as the ‘Green Giant’ and love having the former national champion at Adams Field.

‘He comes out whenever he can because he got married, and he’s got a little baby girl now,’ Burke said. ‘… So he’s got a lot going on now, but he comes out when he can.’

Forth is a king in his old stomping grounds. He enters the gymnasium to the cheers of adoring fans.

But this isn’t in front of the tens of thousands of fans that fill the Carrier Dome, which Forth called home for four years; it’s the gymnasium at Columbia High, often sparsely filled with only about 100 fans.

But at this point, there’s no place he’d rather be. Because Forth loves to teach. And in East Greenbush, he can do that better than anywhere else.

‘He’s in our athletic hall of fame. There’s a banner in our gym. He’s the only one that has his number retired,’ Leonard said. ‘It’s kind of funny. He’s coaching there and his name is out there on the wall. … We still have a lot of people go up to him and congratulate him or ask for an autograph or picture, so it’s a pretty neat thing to watch.’

dbwilson@syr.edu