{"id":147782,"date":"2025-09-11T00:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T00:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/147782\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T00:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T00:51:19","slug":"cj-huntley-joins-nba-the-appalachian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/147782\/","title":{"rendered":"CJ Huntley joins NBA \u2013 The Appalachian"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was always CJ Huntley\u2019s dream to play Division I basketball and make it to the NBA. This dream is finally a reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On June 25, Huntley received the life changing call from the Phoenix Suns, and later signed a two-way contract with the organization as a forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing around my family and friends and receiving that call just meant the world to me,\u201d Huntley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before the draft, Huntley spent five years as a member of the App State men\u2019s basketball team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huntley is part of App State history, including being the first player recruited by head coach Dustin Kerns to commit to the Mountaineers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While at App State, Huntley finished with 1,324 points, and appeared in 153 games, tied for most in program history. He was a part of 96 wins, the second most of all time.<\/p>\n

Huntley\u2019s work ethic was on full display during his college career, and assistant coach Bob Szorc saw it first hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has skills you can\u2019t teach. So when you combine those things with time in the gym, you are going to get better,\u201d Szorc said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Graduate forward CJ Huntley goes for a layup during the App State vs. William & Mary game on Nov. 24.
(Isaac Edwards<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Szorc watched his play style develop. He said Huntley was \u201ca lob threat that can stretch the floor,\u201d and he \u201chas the ability to protect the rim.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his final year at App State, Huntley was a role model for then freshmen center Michael Marcus Jr. He is now a sophomore forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect him because even though I was coming in new, I was able to learn a lot from him,\u201d Marcus Jr. said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Marcus Jr. was able to watch Huntley play and compared his play style to a surfer, saying he was able to go with the flow of the game and adapt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though he is no longer a Mountaineer, Huntley has left a lasting impression on those he spent time with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCJ is an incredible human being who has an incredible heart for people,\u201d Szorc said. \u201cHe is a Mountaineer through and through, and the feeling for me is just proud of him and proud to be a part of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huntley spent all of last summer working out and preparing for his moment. He believed he showed the Suns all they needed to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I had my best workout with them and showed my full potential,\u201d Huntley said. \u201cMy work ethic and how I am off the court showed them the side of CJ Huntley that every organization wants to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huntley immediately began the transition into the NBA lifestyle, suiting up in orange and purple during the Summer League. He highlighted the spacing and physicality differences between the college and the professional level. To prepare, he bulked up from 190 pounds when he first joined App State to 221 pounds heading into the NBA.<\/p>\n

Despite this change, he still managed to have an 18 point and 9 rebound performance in his final game of the Summer League, giving him the confidence he needed to believe he belonged at the next level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another struggle of the NBA lifestyle is moving away from home. Huntley, a North Carolina native, is now 2,000 miles away from home in Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huntley said the main difference between the states was the weather, but having his family and friends helped ease the transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite this, Huntley is excited to start his career wearing his dad\u2019s college number, 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad wore that in college, and I just wanted to represent him through everything I do everyday,\u201d Huntley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huntley said he is anxiously awaiting the start of the NBA season on Oct. 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am most excited about just being out there with the guys doing whatever it takes,\u201d Huntley said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was always CJ Huntley\u2019s dream to play Division I basketball and make it to the NBA. This…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[91461,91462,91463,91464,355,99],"class_list":["post-147782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-bob-szorc","tag-cj-huntley","tag-dustin-kerns","tag-michael-marcus-jr","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}