Pure
funk
By Brian Peloza
Staff
Writer
He describes his game as
a mixture of "pure funk and fundamentals." He plays chess, enjoys gardening,
but fears that some people might not want to read any more stories about
him. He is Carson Cunningham.
"I have been at Purdue
for a long time, so there are also a lot of people that are getting
sick and tired of hearing about me," said Cunningham.
The fifth-year senior is
a co-captain of this year’s Purdue basketball team. He hails from
Ogden Dunes, Ind., where he met a person that would make an impact on
his life — Paul Rosetti.
Cunningham said he wears
No. 43 on his jersey in honor of Rosetti, whom he played with growing
up in the Region — the northwest part of Indiana. Rosetti wore
No. 43 and was a co-captain on Cunningham's brother's high school team,
Bishop Noll.
"He was a great fella', and
he would play hoops with me and I always
thought that was cool, I
kind of looked up to him and my brother," said Cunningham.
Rosetti passed away a few
years after graduating high school and that is when Cunningham started
wearing No. 43 in his honor.
Cunningham said he learned
how to play the game of basketball in the same place he met Rosetti
— the Region.
"There is a premium on running,
going coast to coast and trying to put a little funk in your game,"
said Cunningham, who played in many leagues around the Gary and Portage
areas as a younger player.
Although many players from
the Region go on to play at various Division I-A schools, they still
remember each other.
"We definitely compete as
hard against each other if not harder," said Cunningham. "Because that's
how you operate in the Region; you respect each other but you just go
at it. There is definitely a Region brotherhood and we stick together."
When discussing the people
that he models his game after, it is easy to see where the "funk and
fundamentals" of his game come from. He based the fundamental part of
his game on a couple of former NBA guards.
"I was a huge fan of Mark
Price as a young fella' and Bobby Hurley — those were in my younger
days," said Cunningham.
For the funk part of his
game, Cunningham models his game after a well-known "funky" Sacramento
Kings guard.
"Nowadays I definitely enjoy
trying to put a little Jason Williams funk into my game, but I also
love to watch (John) Stockton. I appreciate both kinds of ball they
play," said Cunningham.
Despite his close ties to
the Region style of basketball, Cunningham decided after high school
to attend Oregon State, partly because he said he was not heavily recruited
in Indiana and partly because he liked the Beavers' coach, Eddie Payne.
"The PAC 10 is up-tempo and
they get going and they let you freelance. That is definitely something
that attracted me to the league," said Cunningham.
After finishing second in
the voting for the PAC 10 freshman of the year, Cunningham decided to
return to his home state and attend Purdue. He said he enjoys the up-tempo
game and he wanted to play somewhere with more discipline.
"It's an unbelievable system,
but you can also bring your style to it," said Cunningham.
Part of Cunningham's style
involves making a great number of assists. As a junior last year, he
made 140 assists and committed just 80 turnovers. That statistic may
be what explains his liking for securing an assist more than scoring
a basket.
"I really dig throwing a
great assist, and maybe that is because I can't finish with a thunderous
dunk, so I would rather make a funky pass and watch someone just hammer
something home," said Cunningham.
Aside from his style of basketball,
Cunningham describes his dress style as something people who watch "Sanford
and Son" will understand.
When not on the court, Cunningham
also spends time trying to give something back to the community. The
Andrean High School alumnus has acted as a role model for the younger
kids of the Lafayette community. Recently, he took part in a question-and-answer
session at West Lafayette Junior High School as part of the series "Life's
Playbook for Success: Secrets from the Verizon Academic All-American
Hall of Famers."
"I definitely embrace that
duty and enjoy it, so it's fun," said
Cunningham. "It's cool that
these kids care what I have to say because I imagine in a few years
or sometime down the road they are not going to be very interested in
what some old washed-up former college hooper has to say."
Before he becomes washed
up though, Cunningham hopes to continue his basketball journey somewhere,
whether it would be in the United States or somewhere overseas.
"I tell my friends I'm going
to Zimbabwe," said Cunningham. "I definitely want to hoop if I can,
if my knees hold up."
Because Cunningham has already
earned a bachelor's degree in history, he has the education to develop
a highly strategic way to further his basketball career.
"I'm going to put up a 'For
Hire' sign when I'm finished here," said
Cunningham.
While Cunningham said he
doesn't think the NBA will be giving him a "warm reception," he did
get the chance to play against one of the best NBA players of all time
— Michael Jordan.
Cunningham was a counselor
at one of Jordan's basketball camps a few summers ago. Cunningham was
wearing a Superman shirt at the time of encounter.
"He said 'Hey, Superman,
let's play'," said Cunningham. "The irony is that the best example of
an American superhero, Michael Jordan, called me Superman."
Cunningham said he was a
big fan of the play of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during their
championship years.
"The style of their play
made basketball an art and that was awesome. It was great to be so close
to that," said Cunningham, who is also a big Larry Bird fan.
There is another world championship
team that Cunningham is also a fan of — the 1985 Super Bowl champion
Chicago Bears.
"Long live the '85 Bears,"
said Cunningham. "The whole year was beautiful."
Another thing Cunningham
finds beautiful are the harvests of various vegetables he grows in his
spare time.
"I'm not necessarily a big
time gardener — I've got a couple of gardens around campus," said
Cunningham
Cunningham said the gardens
he has around campus lie in the backyards of some of his friends' houses.
In exchange for the use of their property, the 6-foot-1-inch guard does
some bartering of goods.
"That's part of the deal;
they can enjoy part of the bountiful harvest that I reap," said Cunningham.
Playing chess, reading books
and playing bongos are among Cunningham's other hobbies. He enjoys the
works of Albert Einstein and Mark Twain. When asked if he could meet
any historical figures, he said he would choose Frederick Douglas and
Abraham Lincoln. But none of those activities mean as much to Cunningham
as his personal relationships.
"The most important thing
in my life is family and friends," he said. "And I have been fortunate
in that I have had many compassionate people of substance around me
in my life."
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