Cunningham holds court in classroom

December 13, 2004 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Rockford Lightning News Release


article by Michael Osipoff

For all intents and purposes, Carson Cunningham had considered himself retired from basketball.

The Andream and Purdue graduate was focused on academia, completing his doctorate in American history at Purdue. Aside from pickup games, he didn't play last season, and turned down offers to play in Brazil, Hungary and Slovakia in the spring, instead "concentrating hard-core on finishing up the requirements" for his doctorate. He taught a summer class in West LaFayette.

But towards the end of the summer, he stated feeling the itch to play competitively again, and he signed with the Rockford Lightning- the CBA team with which he had spent most of the 2002-2003 season after an up-and-down rookie season with the Steelheads. He briefly attended the training camp with the Lightning last month, before attending to his more pressing commitments - teaching two History of Western Civilation classes at Purdue Calumet, what he described as "an invigorating experience."

But now with the semester winding down and only final exams to be administered, Cunningham has re-signed with Rockford. He has averaged 7.3 points in three games going into Tuesday night's home game against the Michigan Mayhem.

"I've been excited to play, to have this opportunity," said Cunningham, who returns to the Genesis Convention Center with Rockford on Dec. 23. "I decided to give it one more go around and try to get that elusive CBA championship.

I hadn't really planned on playing, but Coach (Chris Daleo) called. If I was going to play, I needed to play somewhere near Purdue, and it worked out."

Cunningham hopes to complete his doctorate by the spring, or the summer at the latest. The first chapter of his dissertation is under review for publication.

The topic of his dissertation? The history of U.S. Olympic basketball.

"Most people laugh; they say, 'They give Ph.D.s for that?'" he said. "But actually, it has been an intense and complicated project. It's touched on all the issues of the day - globalization, first and foremost, and also race relations, the Cold War, even terrorism in a lot of respects.

"It's about America's 'soft imperialism' - through culture instead of the military - driven by popular cultural icons like Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson and Shaquille O'Neal. In my opinon, our cultural greatness is our bigget foreign policy asset. Globalization - in terms of sports, movies, music - is inevitable."

So is an athlete at some point having to move beyond the playing arena, something Cunningham keenly realizes. His goal is to become a full-time professor and to eventually write history books.

"I definitely enjoy high-level basketball," Cunningham said. "It's like a surfer hunting for great waves. For me, it's a hobby. If I can pursue academic goals and still find great runs by playing in a league like the CBA, awesome. If not, life goes on. Fortunately, I was able to go with it.

"As I grow older, I'm basically gaining more and more enthusiasm for the next stage of my life. But I'm enjoying basketball for what it is."



Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from December 13, 2004


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