Cade Cunningham was repeatedly asked to take his team to a championship, mimicking Cadin Anthony’s memorable 2003 run. What it takes as a freshman to put his team on his back.
She never flew. The No. 1 pick in the NBA draft carry should never back down from the pressure and responsibility. He gained attention in the NCAA tournament.
The 6-foot-8 point guard said above the zoom this week, “I’m saying I wanted a ‘melo-type year’, ready for the Midwest Region opener this week as the fourth-ranked Oklahoma State. Indianapolis.” Freedom on Friday night.
Cunningham and the Cowboys are one of the big stories of this tournament. They were not even part of the March Madness. Several months after Cunningham committed to the program for coach Mike Boynton, the Cowboys received a one-year ban for their role in the college basketball corruption scandal. The state of Oklahoma appealed, and a decision by the NCAA Violations Appeals Committee was not provided in time.
So in a year in which many notable high school stars opted for the new lucrative one-year rout of the G-League, the top prospect in the country would be part of March Madness, and after having such a strong season, averaged 20.2 points. 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists, expectations for the Associated Press first team All-American are through the roof. But he does not mind it.
“I always prepared myself for the spotlight, because I always wanted to be the guy,” Texan said.
Cunningham insisted that he had not set his eyes on Oklahoma State until a few months before last November. While his brother Cannon was hired by Boynton in the summer of 2019, he said he did not talk to them much about the event. Cannon was only going to recruit his younger brother if he felt it made sense. They were working to place it in the right pieces.
Of course, a player from Cunningham’s ilk changed a lot for the Cowboys. A year removed from going 7-11 in the Big 12, he led them to their highest tournament seed since 2005. He was impressive all season, but his game went up a notch in late February.
He notched 40 points in a win over state rival Oklahoma and led Baylor to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament with 25 points, eight rebellions and five assists. Still, when Boynton was asked about Cunningham, he mostly talked about his intimate. His attention to detail on both ends of the floor. His selflessness. His defensive focus.
“There’s no one we can play that I wouldn’t go to thinking that I have the best player in the game,” Boynton said.
In the one-to-one era, most elite prospects have chosen to play at Kentucky or Duke or Kansas. Those who have not seen Ben Simmons, Anthony Edwards and Markel Fultz have seen their teams struggling. Cunningham has been different.
“Because I hate losing,” he said.
This is why so many eyeballs will be on him and Oklahoma State for as long as they are playing. It has been six years since a renewed team has won it all. But you have to go back to Anthony and Syracuse once again in 2003, when a group like a freshman – Duke in 2015 and Kentucky in 2012 – made their team proud. He is the bar for Cunningham.
“Melo has big shoes to fill,” he said. “But I’m sure ready for the challenge.”
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