James W. Cunningham (November 14, 1935 – December 17, 1991) was an American standout basketball player at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in the 1950s. A native of Buffalo, New York, Cunningham enrolled at Fordham where he played for head coach Johnny Bach between 1955 and 1958 because college freshmen were ineligible to play varsity sports during this era. Standing and weighing 190 lb (86 kg), Cunningham played the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

position. In just three varsity seasons he scored a then-school record 1,744 points. In his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season of 1957–58, Cunningham led the Rams to a berth in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

, where they advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Dayton. Upon the conclusion of the season he was named an All-American as well as the recipient of the Haggerty Award. The Haggerty Award is presented to the best male collegiate basketball player in the greater New York city area every year since 1935–36, and Cunningham was only Fordham's second-ever recipient. For his career at Fordham, he averaged 22.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 76 games played. The

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

selected Cunningham in the

1958 NBA draft The 1958 NBA draft was the 12th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 22, 1958, before the 1958–59 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

. He was taken in the third round (23rd overall) but ultimately never played in the league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Jim 1935 births 1991 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Buffalo, New York Boston Celtics draft picks Fordham Rams men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in the United States Shooting guards