Cade Cunningham might be the No. 1 NBA draft pick. How TCU will try to slow him down
Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham is already one of the stars in college basketball less than a month into the season. He’s been named the Big 12’s newcomer of the week for two consecutive weeks and counting.
The freshman is averaging 18.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists through six games. He hit the game-winning shot to carry OSU past Wichita State on Saturday. He’s played up to the hype and showcased why he’s considered the favorite to be the top overall pick in next year’s NBA draft.
TCU will get a first-hand look at Cunningham on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. Well, a first-hand look at Cunningham as far as his college career is concerned.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon has known about Cunningham for years and tried to lure him to Fort Worth. Cunningham grew up in Arlington, starting his high school career at Bowie the first two years before finishing at Montverde Academy, a prep school in Florida.
“I’ve known the kid for a long time. He’s been on campus a bunch,” Dixon said. “I’ve seen him play a bunch. His passing, his maturity, his physicality, his mentality — those have always been evident. He’s certainly got a great feel with great size, all of those things you look for.
“We knew how good he is and how valuable he is.”
Cunningham was named the 2020 Naismith High School Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American last year at Montverde. Before going to Florida, Cunningham was a standout at Arlington Bowie. He averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds during the 2017-18 season as a sophomore. As a freshman, he averaged 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Volunteers.
There are few college coaches who have seen Cunningham as much as Dixon. After all, TCU freshman guard Mike Miles and Cunningham were AAU teammates on the Texas Titans and Dixon attended a number of games while recruiting.
Dixon would’ve loved to land Cunningham, of course, but still raved about the player and family. Cunningham’s brother Cannen was a standout forward at SMU and is now an assistant coach for the Cowboys. Their father, Keith, played football at Texas Tech.
“Just really a great family,” Dixon said. “I knew his brother was getting into coaching, that was going to be a factor, but the family was really great. The brother’s a great kid. These kids all kind of know each other and we really focused on Mike.”
As well as Cunningham has played, Miles has made an immediate impact at TCU, too. He’s averaging 13.1 points, scoring at least 15 points in each of the last three games.
TCU’s entire team is heading to OSU with confidence, too, coming off a dominant 73-55 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.
“I think we’re a team that’s still forming,” Dixon said. “It was good to see what our defense can do and how it can disrupt a game and turn into offense. The A&M game really showed how our defense can lead into our offense.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
