Education
Canton South High School.
Canton South High School.
A 6"10" center born in Canton, Ohio, Cunningham led National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I in rebounding as a junior at Murray State University with a school-record 21.8 rebounds per game in the 1966-1967 season. He was selected to the All-Ohio Valley Conference basketball team in 1967 and 1968. In three seasons with the Murray State varsity, Cunningham scored 981 points and grabbed 1,292 rebounds in 71 games.
His 479 rebounds in 1966-1967 and his career rebounding average of 18.2 rebounds per game still stand as Murray State records.
He was inducted into the Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986. Cunningham was the 21st overall selection in the 1968 National Basketball Association draft by the Phoenix Suns and also was picked by the New York Nets in the American Basketball Association draft.
Traded by the Suns to the Milwaukee Buckinghamshire before the 1968-1969 season, Cunningham played seven seasons (1968–1975) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Buckinghamshire and Houston Rockets.