The face belonging to Joe Cunningham is becoming a familiar one to Demon Basketball fans, but it's taken some time to get used to because the second year assistant coach hasn't been around long.
Or much.
When he isn't in the gym at practice, he's out traveling the highways and bi-ways of America, searching out prospects who will come to Northwestern State for tow kinds of education - the kind you get in a classroom and the kind you get on a basketball court.
If Cunningham were being graded, there would be an "A" next to his name after last year's recruiting performance.
Nearly one-third of this year's team will be taking the floor because it was Cunningham who either directly recruited them or set the wheels in motion that allowed NSU head coach Don Beasley to walk in with a blank letter of intent and walk out with a new guard, center or forward.
Those five - Terrence Rayford, Duane Turner, Johnny Smith, Corrie Stewart and Jimmy McCrimon - are all from either Georgia or Florida, so it's no wonder why Cunningham considers the Southeastern portion of the United States his own personal hunting grounds. Seeing as how he grew up in Atlanta, Cunningham's got a jump on the others trying to sell their school on high school hoopers.
A 1975 graduate of LaGrange College (LaGrange, Georgia), Cunningham began his coaching career in the high school ranks, advancing to Clark College as an assistant in 1978. Under the guidance of head coach Robert Pritchett and Cunningham, the Panthers put together a four year mark of 67-30 (.690), including a 19-5 record in 1982.
Cunningham, who has a bachelor's degree in health and physical education, tehn went to the University of Georgia as a volunteer assistant in 1982. The Bulldogs that year had the best season in school history, chalking up a 22-10 mark while advancing to the NCAA's Final Four.
Cunningham continued his coaching career at Decatur High School in Georgia before following former Georgia assistant Don Beasley to Northwestern State in 1985.
Besides his recruiting duties at NSU, Cunningham is also in charge of lodgings and team travel.
Spending as much time as he does on the road recruiting, Cunningham knows a lot about travel.
