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PHOENIX, Ariz. \u2013 App State Men’s Basketball alum CJ Huntley<\/a> made his NBA debut for the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, making him the first Mountaineer to appear in an NBA game since 1952.
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\nHuntley scored his first NBA points with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter of the Suns’ 120-98 win over the Toronto Raptors.
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\nHuntley, a five-year player at App State from 2020-25, is the first App State player since Belus Smawley (played at App State from 1939-41) to appear in an NBA game. Smawley played for three seasons with the Baltimore Bullets and the Syracuse Nationals from 1950-51, appearing in 71 career games.
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\nThe Huntersville, N.C., native was a part of three postseason appearances in his career as a Mountaineer, which included a berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and the 2024 NIT. Huntley was a second-team All-Sun Belt selection in 2024-25 and helped lead App State to a program record 27 wins and an outright regular-season Sun Belt title in 2023-24. He scored 1,324 career points in his time at App State, finishing his career 22nd on the Mountaineers’ all-time scoring list. \u00a0
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\nHuntley signed a two-way contract with the Suns immediately following the 2025 NBA Draft. A Two-Way contract is a hybrid contract that allows a player to play for both an NBA team and its G League affiliate. It allows the player to spend time in the G League to develop while also being eligible to be called up to play for the parent NBA team for a set amount of games per season.
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\nIn 28 games for the Valley Suns, the Phoenix Suns’ G-League affiliate, Huntley is averaging 16 points on 61.1 percent shooting, while pulling in 8.8 rebounds per contest. Huntley is shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc this season.
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\nHuntley and the Suns will be in his home state on Thursday, April 2, as the Suns visit the Charlotte Hornets at 7 p.m. at the Spectrum Center for App State Night<\/a>.\u00a0
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