“Dyaisha Fair’s a special young lady and it’s very hard to sum that up in a couple words,” said Syracuse women’s basketball head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

Overlooked might be one way to describe her.

“I’ve always felt that coming out of high school I was one of those guards that not many coaches took a chance to even have a conversation with me or let alone recruit me,” said Fair.

Felisha Legette-Jack did take that chance, recruiting Fair to play at Buffalo. Five years later, the two are still winning lots of games together… but it didn’t all happen at once.

“She (was) a shy young lady, very reserved. I had to speak for her. Smiling – we’re not smiling, because her story was really deep. We had to really work on that. We had to work on her being free from her past and to move to her now and really get excited about her future,” said Legette-Jack.

Coach Legette-Jack also said Fair likes to sing and referenced a different side of her that has started to come out.

“I try to not always show what I don’t need to show. Of course, I have this goofy side, this side that I do what I do and I’m in my own world. Of course, I think we all do,” said Fair. “I’m closed off at first, but it’s me just trying to see if I can be myself with you.”

It’s sort of like a trust fall, but in real life, and you could say that Legette-Jack has caught her and isn’t letting go.

“She actually feels like my daughter. She can finish my sentence. I can finish hers now,” said Legette-Jack. “I can look at her and she’ll know what time it is. It’s time to pick it up, it’s time to, we can laugh now.”

“Seeing that the relationship that we have built over the past – it has been more than five years because including the recruiting process – but over the five years playing for her, I wouldn’t change it for the world,” said Fair.

As her time at Syracuse comes to a close, she’s looking to go out with a bang. As of Feb. 7, Fair is only about 100 points away from passing Brittany Griner for fourth all-time in scoring in women’s college basketball history.

“It’s just crazy because she’s 6-7 and I’m 5-5,” said Fair. “I can do all things that I set my mind and heart to. These people that have whatever they have to say don’t matter. What I have my mind set to do is what I’m capable of doing,”

Undervalued at her size, Fair’s heart has no measure. To think that a 3,000-point scorer was barely recruited by anyone.

“I’m just not ready for her to leave. We talk about sixth year and all that fun stuff. I know that having her as a coach is not good enough, because she is so talented that she needs to be on the road and let people see her gift,” said Legette-Jack.

Fair and Legette-Jack both say it’s their faith in God that allows them to accomplish great things. He’s always working. Dyaisha Fair’s story is different than others. But it’s still a masterpiece.