Carson Cunningham (born May 7, 1977) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and author who is currently an assistant coach for the Army Black Knights basketball team. He is the former head coach of the

Incarnate Word Cardinals men's basketball The Incarnate Word Cardinals men's basketball team represents the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, United States. They are currently led by fifth-year head coach Carson Cunningham. Beginning in 2013, the Cardinals made the ...

team.

Playing career

Cunningham was a standout basketball player at Andrean High School in

Merrillville, Indiana Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

, where he was a four-year letterwinner and a three-time first team all-area selection, as well as first team all-state selection and

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honorable mention All-American as a senior. Playing his freshman season of college basketball at Oregon State, Cunningham averaged 14.9 points per game, earning a place on the 1997 Pacific 10 All-Freshman team. Cunningham would transfer back to the state of Indiana, enrolling at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

to play under Gene Keady and was part of the Boilermakers

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Sweet 16 and

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Elite Eight squads. Upon graduation, Cunningham played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

for the

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and Rockford Lightning from 2001 to 2005, while also playing abroad in

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and Estonia. While in Estonia, he led his club ( Kalev/Cramo in scoring (21.5 ppg) and assists (4.8 apg).

Coaching career

Cunningham got his start in coaching at the high school ranks, taking the helm of his alma mater, Andrean High School for five seasons, where he compiled an 81–39 record, winning four sectional championships before accepting the head coaching position at NAIA institution

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

in Montana. At Carroll, Cunningham inherited a Fighting Saints team that had won just two games, and in five seasons amassed a 107–52 record, including three-straight 20-win seasons, and two Frontier Conference men's basketball regular season and tournament titles, along with three trips to NAIA Men's Basketball Championships, and two quarterfinal appearances. Cunningham was named head coach at

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

institution Incarnate Word on March 22, 2018. Following five straight losing seasons as head coach, Incarnate Word fired Cunningham in 2023. After his dismissal from Incarnate Word, Cunningham became an assistant coach for the Army Black Knights basketball team.

Published works

Cunningham is the author of five books, which range from fiction to non-fiction on topics such as Olympic basketball, his experiences in the CBA, athletes who died in combat, the

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, and modern reimagining of Huckleberry Finn.

Head coaching record

NAIA

NCAA Div I

References

1977 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Carroll Fighting Saints men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States DePaul University alumni High school basketball coaches in Indiana Incarnate Word Cardinals men's basketball coaches Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players Rockford Lightning players {{US-basketball-coach-stub