Purdue basketball alum Carson Cunningham steps up to next challenge at Incarnate Word

• Incarnate Word hired former Purdue player Carson Cunningham as head coach on March 22.
• Cunningham went 107-52 in five seasons as Carroll College, an NAIA program in Helena, Montana.
• The Ogden Duns native played in two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight at Purdue under Gene Keady.

SAN ANTONIO — The most outside-the-box college basketball coaching hire of this offseason barely registered as national news.

University of the Incarnate Word, a fledgling Division I program in the Southland Conference, hired Carson Cunningham on March 22. The former history professor, author of 21st Century Adventures of Huckleberry Finn among his five books, wasn't an obvious choice to the greater basketball world.

They knew better in Helena, Montana, where Cunningham had turned Carroll College into an NAIA power. Back in Indiana, where he starred at Andrean High School and Purdue, Cunningham earned the respect of coaches from Purdue's Gene Keady and Matt Painter to former Butler and current Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens.

And if the gamble by Incarnate Word's leadership pays off and Cunningham quickly invigorates another basketball culture, the rest of the country may soon take note as well.

Cunningham doubted whether this opportunity would come. He'll turn 41 in June, but a decade ago he was a visiting professor of history at DePaul University with no coaching experience. Even after successful stints at Andrean and Carroll, Cunningham didn't consider himself on the fast track to even a low-major head coaching gig.

Yet from his time as a flashy Boilermaker point guard with a mind for philosophy, Cunningham followed an unconventional path. He has both a PhD and an MBA. As of Friday afternoon, the top Tweet on his personal feed remarked on a recent breakthrough in quantum physics. 

Could this marriage between a school with a unique history and a coach with a distinct background produce the breakthrough both are seeking?

"So far, everyone's bought into it and we're seeing a lot of improvement already," Cardinals sophomore Keaton Hervey said.

"He told us this transition, getting to the level we need to, is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done. He wasn't kidding when he said it."

The mission

In 1869, three young French women from the Sisters of the Incarnate Word came to San Antonio to help treat a cholera outbreak. In 1881, the order chartered a school for women. That school eventually grew into The University of the Incarnate Word, with over 10,000 students and an endowment of $120 million.

Those are the facts, but less than a month into his new job, Cunningham recounted them with the same passion and depth he once brought to history lectures. How the women came to Texas — at the time, essentially the untamed frontier — without speaking English. How their arrival led to educational programs, orphanages and hospitals.

That story resonated with Cunningham, a dedicated student of American history and devout Catholic raising five children with his wife, Christy.

"It is very humbling and deeply moving to be associated with their mission, even in a small way through basketball," Cunningham said. "That's a huge motivator to me. I want to do a great job obviously, but this takes it to another level as far as how important it is for me to put my best foot forward and make sure the program waves an inspiring banner for those sisters whose mission touched so many lives in so many ways."

That mission became the latest step in a somewhat unexpected coaching journey.

Cunningham began his college playing career at Oregon State, where he broke future NBA star Gary Payton's freshman scoring record. But after that season he transferred to Purdue. As a three-year starting point guard he helped the Boilermakers to a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and an Elite Eight run in 2000.

Cunningham and Keady joke about how the player at times exasperated his coach with acrobatic shot selections. In addition to being an efficient distributor and scorer, Cunningham was a three-time academic All-American. He may also be one of the only Boilermakers who also held membership in Purdue's Chess Club and Historical Society.

"He was not an easy guy to coach because he marched to the beat of a different drummer," said Keady, who saw the signs of a future coach in his point guard. "But he was smart and had his own set ways and I respected that. He had great parents, and because of that he knew the right things about life."

Cunningham played three seasons in the CBA and with teams in Estonia and Australia. In 2006 he entered academia as a visiting professor of history and digital and media studies at DePaul. He began writing books and started a family. 

When Cunningham returned to basketball — as Andrean's coach, in 2008 — he also began his trend of turnarounds. The 59ers jumped from two wins before Cunningham's arrival to 10 in his first season. They won 43 in his final two seasons, before Carroll took a chance on the then 36-year-old and named him head coach in 2013.

The first assistant he hired at Carroll — former Purdue manager Carlito Labarda Jr. — said they spoke at the time about how the job could be a stepping stone.

"But it had to be the right fit," said Labarda, who recently completed his first season as head coach at another NAIA program, Eastern Oregon. "It has to be a good academic school because he's a nerd. I mean that that in the best way. He always has that itch for academia.

"He's a man of substance, not a man of flash. He cares about the right things."

When Incarnate Word decided to part ways with former coach Ken Burmeister, school president Dr. Thomas Evans said he mentioned Cunningham to his athletic director, Dr. Brian Wickstrom. Evans, however, insisted he recused himself from the process and left the search to Wickstrom and a committee of athletic administrators.

Wickstrom said Cunningham emerged from five finalists. The other four included one sitting head coach and three Division I assistants. Both Wickstrom and Cunningham said the search committee grilled the prospective coach during the interview process on the additional NCAA regulations, restrictions and recruiting rules he would face in Division I.

Wickstrom said Cunningham impressed with more than his knowledge of the rulebook.

"He talked about intrinsically motivating student athletes — getting them to where they're able motivate themselves because of the values they're getting from basketball," Wickstrom said. "That's something you don't always hear from a Division I head coach when talking about coaching philosophy." 

At his introductory meeting with Incarnate Word players, Cunningham handed out a guidebook for the program. It covered everything from academics to basketball to life off the court. 

Cunningham built that philosophy at Carroll on a foundation he called "The Four Gs." Now there are five. The formerly unofficial fifth G — gratitude — joined goodness, golden rule, growth and grit.

Incarnate Word senior Charles Brown approached that meeting with some trepidation. A coaching change had led to his departure from his first college program, Murray State. Would he also struggle to fit in with the Cardinals' new coach?

"He doesn't play games," Brown said of his first impression of Cunningham. "He is serious about winning and most importantly he is serious about our well-being as people.

"He gave us this pamphlet of rules and guidelines to follow. No other coach had ever done that. To me, it's like he means business."

Turn over every rock

According to Bill Dreikosen, people born and raised in Montana tend to stay there. He would know. He's spent the past 23 years at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, first as an assistant and the past 18 as head coach.

Rocky Mountain beat then-No. 2 Carroll last season and lost the other three meetings, including in the Frontier Conference semifinals. Dreikosen already had an idea Cunningham might not settle in as one of those Montana lifers. Carroll — strong fundamentally, versatile and talented — had broken through to become one of NAIA Division I's top programs.

Carroll won only two games prior to Cunningham's arrival. It won nine in his first season, then 18, then 23 while reaching the NAIA Elite Eight in 2016. That was the first of the Fighting Saints' three straight trips to the national tournament in Kansas City.

Dreikosen identified one main key that helped Cunningham sustain that success: Carroll often had the best players.

"His staff worked hard to get out there and turn over every rock," Dreikosen said. "Every team in this league has to. You're out in Montana. You have to get the best talent that is near you first of all, then be able to get good talent elsewhere, too."

However, Cunningham didn't follow the usual path to NAIA success. The best teams often feature multiple players who began their careers at junior colleges or in higher levels of NCAA competition. Carroll took a team to the national tournament in March that featured only players who were recruited by Cunningham's staff and began their careers with the Fighting Saints.

In 2016-17, Carroll led every level of basketball — all the way up through the NBA — with a free throw percentage of 82.0. It also led NAIA in field goal percentage. The Fighting Saints led NAIA in both categories the past two seasons as well. Last season they did so behind national player of the year Ryan Imhoff, a four-year player.

Wickstrom said Cunningham opted not to bring in a fifth-tear graduate transfer after joining Incarnate Word, focusing on the long-term plan over a short-term jolt.

"You have to be high character, a good student and then have the talent," Labarda said of Cunningham's recruiting approach. "He truly believes there are enough players like that to recruit.

"Some coaches, I would speculate, recruit anybody as long as they're good. He's not in that boat. He wants to recruit the whole package." 

Cunningham maintained some stability within the program by retaining assistants John Smith and Kenyon Spears. He also added former Butler player and coach Darnell Archey.

Hervey described initial workouts as detailed and competitive. Yet he said he appreciates what he considers a more positive environment. 

"He knows what he wants, but he lets us play," Hervey said. "We're playing with confidence instead of nervous or tentative."

Behind those motivational tactics lies an inquisitive and creative basketball mind. Multiple sources said Cunningham sought to use basketball analytics at Carroll, though the scope was sometimes limited by resources. Labarda remembers Cunningham reading a study on sleep, then adjusting how late he allowed the team to sleep in on road trips.

"He uses physics, math, philosophy when he talks to them," Labarda said. "Is it different? Absolutely. And does it make the team alert? Absolutely.

"it's hard to explain unless you're with him and the team all the time. He does it in a genius way and it seems to work."

The next challenge

Purdue assistant Steve Lutz began his coaching career at Incarnate Word in 1995. He was part of a staff that oversaw the program's transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II status.

Like Cunningham he was affected by the school's commitment to purpose beyond basketball.

"Because the mission of the university is about giving back to the community and helping the community, it allows you to have a much bigger mission than just being a basketball coach or competing at the Division I level," Lutz said. "It truly is a place that people have larger goals than just winning championships; have broader goals of educating people and providing them with an opportunity to have a successful life."

Incarnate Word plays in the same 2,000-seat arena in which Lutz once coached. However, the program continued to pursue a greater identity.

Evans was at Georgetown when Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo starred there in the late 80s and early 90s. He's observed other Catholic universities — from Villanova to Gonzaga to, most recently, Loyola of Chicago — grow in prominence via basketball recognition.

While he hopes for increased basketball success, Evans said it must come within the framework of the university's established values. He believes Cunningham possesses the intangibles necessary to reach both goals.

"My hope is it would have a brand, if you will, of being mission-driven, values-based, competitive and successful on and off the court," Evans said. "I think he would continue to be very involved in the community and to have service, and that he would build a program that has great longevity and excellence."

Incarnate Word began transitioning to Division I status in 2014. One year later, it turned heads by beating Nebraska in Lincoln. A year later, it won at St. John's. The Cardinals became known for knocking off Power Five teams before they were eligible for the Southland Conference tournament.

"It got awfully hard to schedule some schools because of the success we previously had," said Wickstrom, who said Incarnate Word will play at DePaul and Illinois-Chicago next season. "Some schools no longer thought they were buying a win, per se."

Hervey said those victories were emphasized during his recruiting process. He chose Incarnate Word to help build a legacy with the program. But the Cardinals won only seven games last season, and only three against Division I opponents.

Cunningham recognizes the challenge ahead. He even knows the numbers.

"We were something like 347th out of 351 in the RPI, and KenPom might have had us 342 out of 351," Cunningham said. "We understand this is a major effort — a major effort — to try to become a program of excellence on the court and off."

Cunningham made that statement on April 18, the first day of the April signing period for men's basketball. By the end of the day he had his first two Cardinal recruits.

Cunningham boasted of the 3.8 GPA carried by point guard Morgan Taylor of Marist High School in Chicago. He also landed Antoine Smith Jr., an Ohio forward who played at Don Bosco Prep in Crown Point.

Cunningham's future book projects are currently on hold. He said he may try to teach a summer class in the future, as his schedule allows.

This weekend he's in Dallas, scouting high school talent during the NCAA's first live evaluation period. Labarda wasn't surprised some have doubted Cunningham has the experience necessary to orchestrate another turnaround at this level. Those same doubts preceded Cunningham's tenure at Carroll.

"Look what happened," Labarda said. "He's a smart enough guy not to listen to the critics. 

"He's a guy who's never failed in his life. My money is on him succeeding."

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