NEW ORLEANS – Ahead the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) 2025-26 season tipoff, App State men’s basketball alumnus C.J. Huntley has earned an opening night roster spot with the Phoenix Suns.
 
Following the completion of a five-year career at App State, Huntley signed a Two-Way contract with the Suns after going unselected in the 2025 NBA Draft in June.
 
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 remaining eligible to be called up to play for the parent NBA franchise for a set number of games per season.
 
“He’s certainly been valuable to our program to show that you can do it in the Sun Belt, and you can do it by staying,” App State head coach Dustin Kerns said. “In talking with over 20 NBA teams about him, I thought it was very interesting that a lot of them commented about how it was a lot less work for them only having to call one coach, one strength coach and one trainer. They really enjoyed and thought that he was different, in a good way, that he stayed with the same program.”
 
In April 2025, Huntley’s pre-draft process began as one of three Sun Belt men’s basketball standouts selected to compete in the prestigious and 71st Annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
 
Huntley finished his five-year career with 153 games played and 1,324 points which ranks No. 22 on App State’s all-time scoring list. During his time in Boone, N.C., the 6-11 forward was a part of three postseason appearances, which included a berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
 
An All-Sun Belt Second Team selection in 2024-25, Huntley posted 11 double-doubles and averaged a career-best 15.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 36 percent beyond the 3-point arc.