During his senior season on the Evanston Township High School boys’ basketball team in 2011, James Farr was a key member of the Wildkits success, as he averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game while leading the team to a Central Suburban League South Conference title.
Regarding James’ time with the Kits, ETHS boys basketball Coach Mike Ellis said, “James was one of those players that brought the most [both skill-wise and character-wise] to the team. He is obviously a guy with great size [at 6’ 8”] that has guard skills in terms of shooting it from the perimeter, passing, and he was a force down in the low post in terms of scoring on the block, and his best strength was his rebounding,” explained Coach Ellis. “In terms of character, James always put the team first. He was one of those guys that would do anything just to win. Whether it was to give up minutes, or give up roles, whatever it was, he would do if it was in the best interest of the team to be successful.”
After his senior season, James attended Maine Central Institute for a postgraduate season in order to be able to play college basketball. Xavier did not have any scholarships available for the 2012 school year, but the college told him that if he played a postgraduate season, he would have a spot on Xavier’s roster the following year. He certainly showed the Xavier coaches that he was worth the investment, as he averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds a game at Maine Central.
Once he arrived at Xavier, James made his presence known, especially during his senior season with the Musketeers in 2016. During that season, he averaged 10.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game [leading the team to third place in the Big East Conference] while shooting 54% from the field. He was also named to the Sports Illustrated 2016 All Glue Team. Also during his senior season, he helped Xavier earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and led the team to a victory over Weber State with an 18-point and 15-rebound performance in the first round of the tournament.
After his collegiate playing career, James had aspirations of playing professionally either in the NBA or overseas. In order to help make that dream a reality, James signed on with 3PT Sports Management, an agency that helps individuals, according to their website, in “mapping out a plan to ensure that [players] reach their full potential and succeed as basketball players.”
James’ decision to join the agency has paid off, as it was recently announced that he will travel to Hungary next season to live out his dream of playing professional basketball. He will play for TLI-Alba Fehervar, a member of the top Hungarian professional league.
Seeing one of his former players go pro, Coach Ellis said, “It is great. I have been fortunate enough to coach a few guys that have gone on to play basketball and continue to make a living doing it, and you watch these guys grow up and work tirelessly at the game of basketball and a sport they love and to see that pay off is great for those guys.”
Coach Ellis added, “[James] knows what he is doing. He is a very mature guy, and he understands not only the game of basketball but the game of life, and that is one of the things that pleases me the most about James’ development. James is going to be successful at both the game of basketball and the game of life. I’m looking forward to following his pro career.”