Today’s DGD in the spotlight is former Dawg basketball star Terry Fair……….
Fair attended Southwest Macon High School in Macon, Georgia…….He was named a consensus All-American as a senior after he led the Patriots to an undefeated season and the 1979 National High School Championship…..By the way, he also led his Southwest High School team to the 1979 Georgia State Championship in the highest classification……As a High School Senior, Fair averaged 21.1 points and 15.2 rebounds per game……… Fair was a 6-foot-8 McDonald’s All-American that was a man amongst boys in the paint……
Fair inked with UGA and was a four year starter for the Dribble Dawgs (1979-1983)……..Alongside Dominique Wilkins, Vern Fleming, James Banks, Derrick Floyd, Gerald Crosby, Donald Hartry, and Lamar Heard, Fair helped lead the Bulldogs reach numerous firsts during their careers………
Georgia earned its first postseason bid ever in 1981 with an invitation to the NIT………The Bulldogs returned to the NIT in 1982 and advanced to the semifinals at the Madison Square Garden……….
The following season, in 1983, Fair was selected on the All-SEC teams………..He helped lead the Dawgs to their first SEC Men’s Basketball Championship……. Georgia won the SEC tournament title by winning three-consecutive games over Ole Miss, Tennessee and Alabama by double figures and earned an automatic bid…….Fair was named the championship game's MVP by CBS after scoring 19 points in the title tilt against Alabama…….
Furthermore in 1983, Fair led Georgia to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and only Final Four in school history…….Along the way, he helped the Bulldogs upset both No. 3-ranked St. John's (led bu Chris Mullen) and No. 8-ranked North Carolina (yes, Micheal Jordan and Sam Perkins were on that UNC team) at the NCAA East Regional in Syracuse, New York…….Fair scored a career-high 27 points and also had nine rebounds, five steals, three assists and three blocks in the "Sweet 16" victory over St. John's……Fair was rewarded by being named to the Regional’s All-Tournament Team……..
Before the game with perennial power North Carolina, Sam Perkins, the Tar Heel All-American center in an interview humorously asked, “Georgia? What league are they in?”……… After the game was over, Terry Fair was sitting in the locker room talking to one of the reporters and Terry said, “Ask Sam if he knows where Georgia is now. Tell him it’s between Florida, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.”
Fair completed his career as the Bulldogs' all-time leader in steals (194) and games played (123) and also ranked No. 2 in rebounds (923), No. 4 in points (1,492) and No. 9 in assists (177)………Fair averaged 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in four seasons……..Fair still ranks No. 2 in rebounds, No. 10 in points and No. 6 in steals…….
Fair was selected in the fourth round of the 1983 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers, but never played for the team……..He went on to play professionally in Israel for a decade…….Terry was a two-time Israeli Premier League champion and Israeli State Cup winner…….
In 2013 he was inducted in the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame………
A cornerstone of UGA Basketball, Fair died of natural causes at age 59 in his hometown of Macon, Georgia on January 30, 2020.……..
As one Dawg fan wrote, “Terry Fair was the ‘Swiss-Army Knife’ for UGA out on the court……He could do it all……He was that versatile”………I agree…….He would play on my basketball team anywhere, anytime…….He was that good……
Terry Fair is a DGD……May he RIP…….
