Cunningham makes most of
speech at banquet
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
Carson Cunningham was disappointed in the seniors'
speeches at the postseason banquet the last two years.
So the senior decided to make the most of his final
speech at the 79th annual Purdue men's basketball banquet Wednesday
night in the Union and turned it into a comedy showcase.
Before he spoke, Cunningham heard Purdue president
Martin Jischke, Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke, Coach Gene Keady,
emcee Steve Reid and several others talk about his academic and athletic
prowess. He said the attempts at flattery made him reconsider sticking
with the roast motif and making fun of his teammates and coaches.
"But, like D.L. Hughley said in 'The Original Kings
of Comedy,' 'Let's keep the party going,'" Cunningham said.
The party was just beginning when Cunningham started
ridiculing everyone. He began with the freshmen and discussed how the
doorways had to be widened because "Brett Buscher has the largest head
in the United States." Cunningham enlightened everyone to the fact that
"Austin Parkinson has the largest booty in three counties," and he did
his best impression of Kevin Garrity trying to get a sentence out of
his mouth.
He stopped before he got to other teammates because
he didn't want to keep everyone in the Union all night. But he gave
out T-shirts to some of his teammates with the words "Bolo Brothers"
on the front and nicknames on the back.
He then did impressions of some of the assistant
coaches from the past and present. He recalled when Purdue was getting
ready to face Gonzaga in the 1998-99 season and Frank Kendrick, now
the coach of the Gary Steelheads in the IBL, was trying to motivate
the team.
"Gonzaga? What's a Gonzaga? Sounds like a monster.
Are you gonna let a monster come in here and kick your ass?" Cunningham
said.
Cunningham talked about other coaches, saving some
Gene Keady anecdotes, most of them revolving around Keady lecturing
Cunningham, for last.
After thanking his parents, Bill and Susan, for
motivating him and allowing him freedom throughout his career, Cunningham
sat down.
But he had to stand up several times shortly after
as he received four awards for his achievements on and off the court.
Cunningham, a two-time third team Academic All-American
who graduated last May with honors in history and is enrolled as a graduate
student, won the Ward Lambert Award for having the highest GPA the last
two semesters and received the team's nomination for the Red Mackey
Award, another academic honor. He also won awards for having the most
assists and another, the Play Hard Award, for his combination of steals,
assists, rebounds, loose balls grabbed and charges taken.
"I've been given an inordinate amount of undue
attention, and I'm grateful for it, but believe me I'm just a fairly
average Big Ten player who just happens to be the only senior graduating,"
Cunningham said.
Other players received attention too. Rodney Smith
won the team MVP award. Although he missed six of Purdue's 32 games
with a broken foot, he led the team in scoring (13.9 points per game)
and shooting (54 percent) while averaging 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocked
shots per game.
Maynard Lewis and Kenneth Lowe were co-recipients
of the "Mr. Hustle" Award.
Earlier in the night, Keady received a 24-karat-gold
ring from a representative of USA Basketball. The ring, which contains
eight diamonds, was handed out in recognition of Team USA's gold medal,
the eighth in its history, in the men's basketball competition at the
2000 Summer Olympics. But the highlight of the night was Cunningham's
speech.
Keady said it best when he introduced Cunningham
earlier in the night.
"To say Carson runs to the beat of a different
drummer is an understatement," Keady said.
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