Recruiting Report: Garrett Cunningham (2016)
SPRINGFIELD — The 2014-15 season was not an easy one for the Parkview Vikings. With five seniors starters returning, including former Missouri State commit Zach Cameron and guard Autry Acord, expectations ere high for the Vikings. But things slowly began…
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Continue ReadingSPRINGFIELD — The 2014-15 season was not an easy one for the Parkview Vikings.
With five seniors starters returning, including former Missouri State commit Zach Cameron and guard Autry Acord, expectations ere high for the Vikings. But things slowly began to fall apart last season. First, Cameron missed several games early in the season with a knee injury. Then Acord, who was in the midst of an all-state type season, went down with a torn ACL. Then, senior guard Connor Ratcliff was lost for the season due to injury.
The year ended with the Vikings 11-16 overall and longtime head coach Bill Brown stepped down and former Webb City head coach Landon Cornish took over.
But the season wasn’t a total wash. The injuries gave several young players an opportunity to shine, and the Vikings entered this season with five players returning who finished out the 2014-15 season in the starting line-up.
Chief among them was the emergence of 6-foot-6 2016 post Garrett Cunningham. He finished the season having averaged 10.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and shot 56 percent from the field. But that only tells part of the story.
With the Vikings ailing, Cunningham became the teams’ go-to offensive player down the stretch and averaged 16.9 points per game over the final nine games of the season.
“Last year’s experience tested me to see what I could really do,” Cunningham said. “Now I know what I can do and this year I am just working at getting better at it.”
Cunningham shas a versatile skill set, not only able to score in the paint, but is capable of operating on the perimeter as well.
“Patience and perimeter work,” Cunningham said of what he worked on this summer. “I’m trying to get to college and I’ve got to get my perimeter game stronger.”
After missing the Vikings first game of the year and getting off to a slow start this season for a Parkview team that has started 3-3 overall. Cunningham has been Parkview’s most consistent performer this season. He is averaging 15.2 points per game and 8.2 rebounds, while shooting 64 percent from the field.
“Garrett has done a really good job on the inside and he is so tough to guard,” Cornish said. “He is such a match up problem, and he can put it on the floor too. We do a lot of dribble drive stuff and got him really involved in that.”