NBA hopeful CJ Fulton is back in the Irish fold after being named in the squad for the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers games with Azerbaijan and Luxembourg, and he's eager to make up for lost time with his national team.
Fulton’s last appearance for Ireland came in 2023’s FIBA EuroBasket 79-76 win over Luxembourg.
Since then he has been focused of his basketball career in the US, spending four seasons with Lafayette College and College of Charleston before a taking a major step towards the NBA last summer.
Fulton played two games with Minnesota Timberwolves during the Summer League in Las Vegas and then signed a professional contract with the NBA team in September.
The 23-year-old is currently playing in the G-League with the Timberwolves reserve side, the Iowa Wolves, and trying to force his way into the first team rotation with the play-offs looming and decisions to be made on his future shortly.
For now however, Fulton is happy to be back with the Ireland squad and is eager to make his return to national colours for two games he describes as "must-win".
"It feels great to be back," he said. "I’m getting into training next week and I'm looking forward to it.
"It's hard to believe that it's been almost three years since I've been back with the team and putting on the Irish jersey, but I'm very excited to be back here.
"We know these are two must-win games for us to qualify. I haven't had a lot of time together with the group, so it's just going to be trying to gel together quickly and playing as hard as we can. We need to make up for that lack of time together with just how hard we compete.
"I'm excited to come back and help the team out as best I can."
Fulton admits that his time in the US marks him out as a player to stop but while he’s expecting extra pressure in the next two games, he’s not the only high-profile player coming into the Irish set-up.
Eli Brooks, who plays with Basquet Manresa if the Liga ACB and Neal Quinn of French top-tier side BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque are both in the Ireland squad and both are expected to play significant roles in the EuroBasket qualifying campaign.
For Fulton, having players of that calibre not only helps Ireland’s cause but also lessens the focus being on just one individual.
"I know there's going to probably be some added pressure or attention on me just because of everything that's happened in the last few months, but it's a team game.
"We've got a lot of good players coming in. Eli Brooks is another guard who's coming in from the ICB in Spain. You know, Neil is playing top league in France, we've got a lot of great players and a lot of talent on the roster.
"So it will just be about me coming back in and trying to help the team as best I can to try and get two wins."