Brock Cunningham is muscling his way into iron man status for Texas men's basketball team
In the five years since Brock Cunningham made the short trip from his home in Westlake to the University of Texas, the 6-foot-6 forward has become a favorite of fans with his hard-nosed style. He’ll bang bodies, battle for rebounds, diligently defend and nail the occasional 3-pointer.
Most of all, he’ll lean into his role as the local player doing what he can to bring Texas its first undisputed regular-season Big 12 title since 1999.
“I’ve embraced being the Austin kid ever since I’ve stepped on campus,” said Cunningham, the American-Stateman’s boys basketball player of the year in 2017. “I’ve loved every minute of it. Playing in front of your hometown, it’s a dream to play here. I’ve always wanted to be on a good college team that is competitive enough to win the league, so, really, it’s nothing but a dream come true.”
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Cunningham joins area players'century club
A week ago against West Virginia, Cunningham joined a few select local players who have made at least 100 appearances for the Texas men’s team. A.J. Abrams, a guard from nearby McNeil High School, set a UT record for appearances by playing in 144 games from the 2005-06 season through the 2008-09 campaign. Cunningham, who will play in his 102nd career game against Oklahoma on Saturday at Moody Center, said Thursday that he plans to play next season.
Considering that Texas has five games left in this regular season and up to nine tournament games, Cunningham could end his UT career with more appearances than any other player in history.
“I haven’t thought about that, to be honest,” said Cunningham, who has already earned his bachelor’s degree in advertising and is pursuing his master’s degree. “It’d be a nice record to have, but I’d rather go get a Big 12 Conference championship, then a conference tournament championship, then make a run (in the NCAA Tournament).”
After redshirting as a freshman, Cunningham played in 41 of a possible 58 games during his first two seasons but began to flourish as a role player once former head coach Chris Beard, interim head coach Rodney Terry and several other members of the current staff arrived before the 2021-22 season.
Over the past two years, Cunningham has appeared in all 60 of Texas’ games. A jump in production has come with the more consistent playing time. After shooting about 30% from the field in his first two seasons, Cunningham has shot 48.2% and 49.4% the past two seasons. His scoring average has steadily increased from 1.4 points to 4.8 this season, gaudy numbers for a player intent on setting screens and scrapping for loose balls rather than piling up offensive statistics.
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'Time put into my shot' adds to Texas arsenal
Cunningham credits the current staff with encouraging him to become a dangerous spot-up shooter, which has added an element to the offense.
The coaching change “changed in developing my game and me putting more time into my shot,” he said. “I’ve been able to shoot it better. With the time I put into my shot, it carried over into games, and it’s helped the offense spread out."
Cunningham has become especially adept from the 3-point line, making 31 of 69 shots from behind the arc over the past two years for a gaudy rate of 44.9%. That efficiency made Monday’s performance against Texas Tech especially puzzling. Cunningham took a season-high five shots from 3-point range and missed a season-high four of them, despite having open looks.
But one poor shooting game won’t change his approach, he said.
“Steph Curry went 0-for-13 once, and he’s the best shooter to ever do it,” Cunningham said. “He’s going to have bad days, I’m going to have bad days, and that’s just what that was (in Lubbock).
“We missed some open shots and had some defensive assignments slip up on us. The details got us in the beginning of that game, and that forced us to have a slow start.”
The Longhorns (20-6, 9-4) might not be able to afford another slow start against an Oklahoma team much more potent than its record. The Sooners (13-13, 3-10) snapped a seven-game skid in the Big 12 with a 79-65 win over No. 12 Kansas State on Tuesday.
Oklahoma might sit in the conference cellar with Texas Tech, but the Sooners know another quality win over a top-10 team like Texas — they also beat No. 1 Alabama last month — would strengthen their tenuous hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
“They’re a well-rounded team,” Cunningham said. “We’re going to have to be more physical than we were Monday, and we’ll have to be more focused on the attention to details.”
Saturday's game
Oklahoma (13-13, 3-10) at No. 6 Texas (20-6, 9-4), 1 p.m., Big 12/ESPN+, 104.9
Austin's Longhorns century club
Last week, Brock Cunningham became one of the few players who grew up in the Austin area to make at least 100 game appearances for Texas. The other local players to do so are:
A.J. Abrams: The hot-shooting guard from McNeil played a program-record 144 games in 2005-09 and is the third-leading scorer in Horns history.
Brad Buckman: A starter for most of his career, the 6-foot-8 forward from Westlake played in 129 games in 2002-06.
Albert Burditt: The rugged 6-8 forward from Lanier played in 113 career games (1990-94), scored more than 1,000 points and is No. 6 on the school's all-time rebounds list.
Kris Clack: The high-flying wing from Anderson started from 1995 to 1999 and is No. 10 in scoring, No. 8 in rebounds and No. 2 in steals over a 120-game career.
Brock Cunningham: The 6-8 former Westlake standout has played in 101 games and still has another year of eligibility left.
Chico Vazquez: A four-year starter from LBJ who played in 122 games in 1995-99, the 6-4 point guard earned his reputation as one of the most tenacious defenders in program history.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Local product Brock Cunningham an iron man for Texas men's basketball
