Christen Cunningham has a unique place in the UK-Louisville basketball rivalry
The simple geography of the situation would lead to the conclusion that Christen Cunningham must have grown up a University of Kentucky fan.
A native of Georgetown — located about 15 miles from Rupp Arena — and a former basketball standout at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, he surely cheered for the Cats as a kid.
But his AAU coach, former U of L forward Ellis Myles, said this week that he always believed Cunningham to be a fan of the Cardinals.
Cunningham himself set the record straight in the Yum Center interview room Friday afternoon, 24 hours before the Cats and Cards were set to battle once again in the building from which he spoke.
“I used to watch this game every year and never cheered for either team, really,” he said. “I liked players on both teams. My mom went to Western Kentucky. My dad went to a few different colleges. I was just a sports fan.”
Now, he’s a Louisville Cardinal. And a pretty good one, at that.
Cunningham, lightly recruited as a Kentucky high schooler, ended up playing three seasons at Samford before being sidelined with an illness just a few games into his senior year, resulting in an extra season of eligibility and, ultimately, the decision to use that additional year elsewhere as a graduate transfer.
After drawing attention from several major Division I programs, Cunningham picked Louisville.
“He was just looking for a situation where he could get an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Myles said. “That was his main objective, what he wanted to do before his college career was over.”
Cunningham was a 1,000-point scorer in three-plus seasons at Samford, starting all 110 games during his time there and becoming the program’s all-time leader in assists. He was well-traveled as a high schooler, his prep career taking him from Scott County to Henry Clay to Cordia, where he finished up as a senior.
Though well-known to high school basketball fans in the state, he didn’t garner much attention on the recruiting trail. UK and Louisville didn’t show any interest. Western Kentucky showed a little late in the process, but he never received a scholarship offer from the Hilltoppers.
He ended up at Samford, with something to prove.
“Christen is a very smart and quiet kid and won’t say a whole lot, but I could tell there was a chip on his shoulder and him believing that he was better than the next man,” Myles said. “And that’s the approach that he’s always taken, and I think that’s why he’s being so successful now.”
Cunningham started U of L’s first 11 games this season — he’s fourth in scoring and leads the team in assists — before missing the Cards’ victory over Robert Morris last week with concussion symptoms following a fall in practice the day before.
He said he was feeling good Friday and “ready to go” for Saturday’s game against UK, and his coach, Chris Mack, said the same. Cunningham was Mack’s first commitment at Louisville, and it has worked out well for all involved.
“I saw a very experienced run-the-team point guard who had some defensive deficiencies, and who plays the game for his teammates and really wanted to be a Cardinal,” Mack said of the recruitment. “He grew up in the state. Like a lot of guys that don’t get recruited to Kentucky’s level or Louisville’s level, he had a chip on his shoulder and felt like he could play at this level. And I haven’t seen anything different since he’s been here, other than he’s gotten tons better defensively. And I just don’t think he wanted to be a good defender until he got here. And, you know, like a lot of people when you get thrown into a more competitive environment, you figure out — if you want to survive — you better do some things maybe you hadn’t done in the past.
“He is as rock-solid of a person as I’ve coached. It sort of sucks that I can only coach him for one year. But that’s sort of how it goes.”
For Cunningham, this game has been a long time coming.
His brother, Trae, was a U of L manager during the Rick Pitino era. Christen’s former coaches include three players that were part of the Cats-Cards rivalry: Myles (Louisville Magic) and former Wildcats Rodrick Rhodes (Cordia) and Scott Padgett (Samford).
Cunningham reminisced Friday about watching a UK-U of L game in Rupp Arena as a kid — “I’m not sure who was on Louisville’s team that year, but I know Rajon Rondo was the point guard for UK” — and, Saturday, he’ll take the floor in the Yum Center wearing Cardinals colors.
“I think it’ll be crazy,” he said. “I think it’ll be the best atmosphere we’ve had in the Yum Center this year. I think Card Nation is going to come out, and obviously UK fans travel well, and it’s not far. But I think it’ll be a great environment. I think it’ll be a great chance for us to come out and make a statement.”