Cunningham’s Long College Career Nears Finish Line

Cal State Fullerton’s Jason Cunningham is down to the final few games of his last season of college basketball.

It’s a season he wasn’t sure a year ago he was going to have. But Cunningham challenged the NCAA for his right to play, and won.

“Last season, I told the people at school I didn’t want to have my senior night with the other seniors because I really believed in my heart that I deserved to be able to play another year,” Cunningham said. “I put a lot on the line.”

An appeals committee last May granted Cunningham his fourth season of eligibility, six years after he played his senior season at Los Alamitos High in 1992 and five years after he first attended Westark Community College in Fort Smith, Ark.

Normally athletes must complete their eligibility in five years, but Cunningham was allowed to do it over six.

The NCAA erred when it required Cunningham to sit out the 1996-97 season after transferring from Nevada Las Vegas, even though he wasn’t on the Rebels’ team the previous season.

“The NCAA doesn’t see a kid’s face,” Cunningham said. “All they see is paperwork, and anything on paper can be misinterpreted. They also don’t see how much pain a guy goes though sometimes.”

But Cunningham says it has been worth the hassle.

“I think I’ve gotten just about everything out of the season I hoped to,” Cunningham said. “I’m sure some players would have just said, forget this. Hey, I’m 24 years old, but I really wanted to play one more season.”

Cunningham isn’t the big scorer he was when he averaged 22 points for Los Alamitos, or in the season he played for Fullerton College and averaged 18. He had a season-high 23 points in a recent victory over Utah State, and has been in double figures in 10 other games. He is averaging 9.6 points and 4.5 rebounds.

But you wonder where the Titans would be this season without his solid defensive play.

Cunningham says he’s most proud of keeping some of the league’s top scorers under control. He held Long Beach State’s Ramel Lloyd and Pacific’s Clay McKnight to four points each the first time the teams met this season.

“You always look for a perimeter guy who can defend, and that’s been Jason’s responsibility all season,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “It’s not a glamour job, and it takes great focus. But any team needs someone like Jason to be successful.”

Cunningham said he focused on defense last season to earn playing time in a lineup that included scorers such as Chris Dade, Chris St. Clair and Ike Harmon.

“Last year was the first time I hadn’t started for any team,” Cunningham said. “But it made me stronger in a lot of ways. I had to swallow a lot of pride, and become more of a role player.

“Even though I scored a lot of points in high school, I still learned the game in the team concept. But this season if I see the other guys struggling a little with their scoring, I try to step up myself. I think that makes me tough to scout because the other teams don’t know when that might happen.”

Cunningham hopes his basketball career won’t end with this season. “I’d like to be able to play overseas or in the CBA, but I’ll have to wait and see what happens,” he said.

Cunningham said he expects to graduate after this semester.

“When I leave here, I just want to be known as a guy who didn’t let anything stand in his way from playing the game,” Cunningham said. “I feel good about that.”

FINAL CURTAIN

When the Titans play home games Thursday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Saturday against UC Santa Barbara, they will also be the last for Titan senior forward Mark Richardson.

Richardson is only the fourth Titan player in 20 years to start more than half the games in a four-year career, joining Tony Neal, Gary Davis and Dade.

Richardson recently moved into the No. 10 spot among the school’s all-time career rebounding leaders with 444. Ozell Jones is ninth with 479.

“I’ve been a role player for four years, and I’ve enjoyed doing that,” Richardson said. “I’m a lot more mature now than when I came here four years ago.

“I’ve had my ups and downs, the same way the team has, but I hope I’ve shown some things to the younger players this year with my effort that they’ll remember.”

Richardson said he regards the last two regular-season games as two of the most important of his career. “We’ve been under .500 the last three years, so it would be great to go out with a winning season,” he said.

The Titans need one victory to assure the winning mark.

RISKY BUSINESS

Titan guard Kenroy Jarrett said his decision to return to the lineup last week with the broken bone in his right hand still not healed is worth the risk.

“If I get hurt again, I get hurt,” Jarrett said. “But I didn’t want to miss the last six games of the season and possibly the conference tournament. In the career of a college basketball player, six games is a lot. I would like to think any player in Division I would do what I have done.”

Jarrett, who sat out two games with the injury, said his hand held up well in the last two games. It is padded and wrapped with tape to protect it. Jarrett wears a brace when he is not playing.

Jarrett had been expected to be out the rest of the season, but he sought a second medical opinion and was given permission to play.

“He’s been playing pain-free,” Hawking said. “He’s done an outstanding job the last two games. It shows how committed Kenroy is to this team.”