Craig Forth: Hall-Of-Famer

by Sean Keeley on May 11, 2009 3:25 PM EDT

I know what you're thinking..."Springfield...what took so long?!?!" It might surprise you however to know that former SU center Craig Forth will not be entering the actual Basketball Hall of Fame but the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame. Apples and oranges, if you ask me.

Former Syracuse University center Craig Forth, a member of the program's 2003 NCAA Championship squad, is scheduled to be part of the first class inducted into the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame.

The ceremony is scheduled for June 28 at the Terrace Restaurant in Troy. Speakers at the event include Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Peter Vecsey, a sportswriter for the New York Post.

The 50-person induction class also includes former North Carolina and NBA star Sam Perkins and...a lot of other people.

Obviously Hall of Fame plaques have been in Craig Forth's future ever since his illustrious Syracuse career where he finished with a 4.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG average. Just listen to the poetic way his career is encapsulated by OrangeHoops:

Forth unfortunately, was a soft player with little sustained aggression on the court. He was not a particularly good rebounder, and was slow in the transition up and down the court. He often would miss easy layups that he should have been able to take stronger to the hoop. While he started every game of this career, by the end of his senior season he often was only playing eleven to twelve minutes a game.

Well...he WAS on the 2003 National Championship team, so that's something.

Plus he was a smart guy, a two-time Academic All-American. He ended up putting that Education major to good use after his SU career...he's currently teaching and coaching junior varsity girls basketball for his hometown Columbia High School in East Greenbush. He's also happily married and has the blog to prove it. So I guess hometown boy made good after all. Mazel Tov, Craig.

Tweet Comment 6 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

wow

I knew that he was my least favorite player except for during that 2003 run, but seriously I didn’t know his stats actually backed up how bad I thought he was.

by actioncuse on May 11, 2009 4:07 PM EDT reply actions

Gerry and Jimmy B

used to praise Forth for setting great picks to free up the GMac 3s we grew to love. Those numbers dropped off after Forth left. Its hard to rebound from the 3pt arc where he often was.

That said, Mookie W was better.

by ryanwk628 on May 11, 2009 4:17 PM EDT reply actions

speaking of forth

now is probably a good time to mention something i overheard in the student section during the 03-04 season. Some guy behind me, presumably drunk, was cracking jokes about how Forth looks like he’s on the court hopped up on barbituates. He told his buddy that he’s going to bring a sign to the next game that says “Forth loves Barbs!” and when people ask him what it means he’ll say “Oh..HE KNOWS…”

whatever that means…

by chicagocuse on May 11, 2009 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

I might have to go to that

Since I’m 10 minutes away. Boeheim should ask Vescey if Derrick Coleman is dead yet – since Pete likes to report on things like that

by Russianator on May 11, 2009 5:22 PM EDT reply actions

Shout out to Shaker my high school alma mater. Although Sam Perkins was way before my time.

by JRSu1 on May 11, 2009 7:59 PM EDT reply actions

craig did set great screens..

thats no joke. how about the game when forth came out and scored like 6 of our first 10 points and finished with a career high of 12.. something along those lines, everyone was going crazy for forth that first half. but you can’t really talk smack about someone who was a starter on your school’s championship team. hell even billy edelin has a warm spot in all of our hearts i’m sure.

by orngfan on May 12, 2009 12:52 AM EDT reply actions