March Madness: Belfast basketball star CJ Fulton relishing tournament opportunity

Fulton plays as a guard for the Charleston Cougars

Belfast basketball star CJ Fulton said it is a "a dream come true" to play in college basketball's 'March Madness' tournament.

Fulton plays for the Charleston Cougars, who face Alabama in the first round on Friday in Spokane, Washington.

The NCAA Division One knockout tournament, known as 'March Madness', involves the best 68 teams in the US.

"I think a lot of people in America would say it is the largest sporting event here," he said.

"Even including the Super Bowl and the NBA finals, the month of March is all about college basketball and it is really unique as there are a lot of upsets.

"It is the main event with the whole world watching it, it is massive and it should be a lot of fun."

'It's really special'

Fulton helped Charleston to win the CAA Conference Tournament earlier this month

The competition, broadcast on network television across the US, features 68 college teams, 32 of which automatically qualify by winning their conference tournament.

The other 36 teams qualify through their performances during the season, with the teams then competing in seven rounds of single-elimination games until the national champion is crowned in the final.

Fulton, who plays as a guard for Charleston, helped his side win the CAA Conference Tournament to qualify for the end-of-season finale.

The 21-year old is relishing the chance to play in a tournament he grew up watching with his grandfather in Northern Ireland.

"My granda got me into it and I remember as a kid growing up watching March Madness and filling out the brackets [wall charts] with him. He always had the magazines to get the right predictions. So it's definitely a cool moment."

He continued: "It's really special, I haven't really thought about it but I think after March Madness I will reflect on my journey - from where I started to making the tournament and hopefully winning a few games.

"Being able to impact winning is really special at this level as not a lot of Irish people have done it before."

'We can beat Alabama'

Fulton transferred to Charleston from Lafayette University last summer for his junior year

Fulton established himself as one of the major talents in the Basketball Ireland Super League, helping Belfast Star to their first title in 21 years in the 2019-20 season and being named young player of the year.

He moved to the Wichendon School in Boston before landing a collegiate scholarship with Pennsylvania-based Lafayette University.

The Irish underage international transferred to Charleston last summer and has embraced the "winning culture" at the college.

Charleston, who are ranked 54th out of the 68 teams this year, will look to go one better in the NCAA Championship after losing in the first round last year against eventual runners-up San Diego State.

Fulton is under no illusions as to how difficult that will be against Alabama, the number four seeds in the tournament.

"I think in Charleston there is a tradition with winning. We've had a good year this year, we've won 27 and lost seven but we won our league and conference tournament and it has been really successful.

"There's a lot of buzz around the city, everyone is really excited and walking about, you get a bunch of people wishing you luck.

"We've got Alabama, who are one of the best teams in the country. They are a good side, they play a good style, really fast, similar to us and we know we have to play well but we can definitely beat them.

"We want to win as many games as possible, it would be very special and that is our aspiration."

Support in Spokane

It will be a family affair in Spokane with his parents and sister making a gruelling trip across the Atlantic to watch Fulton in action.

"They're going from Dublin to London to Seattle to Spokane," he explained.

"I'm really excited for them to come, they managed to come for a few games in February and that was really great, but for them to get to go to March Madness is a whole different level.

"There was a lot of talk about whether they would come, especially when we got the draw of it being in Spokane on the west coast - it's another six hours on a plane for them but they thought they couldn't miss it."