Kenneth Woodrow Gunning (June 4, 1914 – April 2, 1991) was an American professional

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 ...

player and college coach. He played in the National Basketball League (NBL) for the Whiting Ciesar All-Americans in 15 games during the 1937–38 NBL season, and also in one game for the

Indianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

in 1945–46. A native of

Shelbyville, Indiana Shelbyville is a city in Addison Township, Shelby County, in the U.S. state of Indiana and is the county seat. The population was 20,067 as of the 2020 census. History In 1818, the land that would become Shelbyville was ceded to the U ...

, Gunning lettered for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

men's basketball team from 1934 to 1935 through 1936–37. He led the team in scoring all three seasons, was twice named an All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

player, and as a

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 ...

was named a second-team

NCAA All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

by ''

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''. He also lettered for the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and track teams. After his lone season with the Whiting Ciesar All-Americans, Gunning coached

Western New Mexico University Western New Mexico University is a public university in Silver City, New Mexico. It was founded in 1893. History Founded in the Territory of New Mexico on February 11, 1893 as the New Mexico Normal School, the school began to offer classes o ...

(WNMU) for 10 seasons (1938–1948), followed by a three-season stint leading

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

(1948–1951). During his time at WNMU, Gunning played also semi-professional baseball in 1939 for the Moline Plow Boys of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

. He also coached Wichita State's baseball team for three years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunning, Ken 1914 births 1991 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baseball players from Indiana Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in the United States Indiana Hoosiers baseball players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Indianapolis Kautskys players Moline Plow Boys players People from Shelbyville, Indiana Western New Mexico Mustangs men's basketball coaches Whiting Ciesar All-Americans players Wichita State Shockers baseball coaches Wichita State Shockers men's basketball coaches