Dyaisha Fair reaches 3,000 career points, 16th women’s player to hit milestone

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Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair has surpassed 3,000 career points, reaching the mark with a free throw in the fourth quarter during SU’s Jan. 14 matchup against Clemson. Fair is now the 16th women’s player and 26th Division I player to achieve the milestone.

Fair entered 2023-24 well on pace to break 3,000 points. Through 16 games, about halfway into Syracuse’s season, she’s done it. Fair is the first SU player to have 3,000 career points, though she scored 2,035 of them at the University of Buffalo from 2019-22.

Hailing from Rochester, New York, Fair committed to Buffalo — which was coached by current SU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack — after spending four years at Edison Career and Technology High School (NY). With the Bulls, she was named the 2019-20 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, averaging 22.0 points and 2.8 steals per game. She followed that up with an even better season, dropping 24.1 points and 2.9 steals per game in her sophomore campaign. Fair earned First Team All-MAC honors and made the MAC All-Defensive Team. She also became the fastest player in Buffalo history to score 1,000 points.

In 2021-22, Fair averaged 23.4 points per game, the fourth-most in the country, and led the Bulls to a MAC Tournament Championship, where she was named the most valuable player. Then, entering her senior year — after Legette-Jack was hired at Syracuse in March 2022 — Fair transferred from Buffalo to SU on April 26, 2022.

With the Orange, Fair has exceeded expectations. She earned First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in the 2022-23 season and made the All-ACC Defensive Team. Starting in all 33 games for Syracuse, Fair averaged 19.9 points per game (second-best in the conference) and led the ACC in steals with 79. She led the Orange to a Women’s National Invitational Tournament Super 16 appearance.

Despite garnering WNBA interest this offseason, Fair opted to return to SU for her fifth year of collegiate eligibility. And so far in 2023-24, Fair has put up a team-high 19.7 points per game through Jan. 11, leading Syracuse to a strong 13-2 start to its season. She’s improved her 3-point shooting from a 36.2% clip last campaign to a 37.3% mark through 15 games this season.

Fair is currently the second-highest active scorer in D-I, behind Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. If Fair kept the same scoring pace (19.7 points per game) until at least the end of the regular season, she would get within the top six scorers in women’s college basketball history.