Likely No. 1 draft pick Cade Cunningham ‘worthy of all the accolades,’ KU’s Self says
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self watched Oklahoma State freshman sensation Cade Cunningham showcase his skills at spring and summer AAU recruiting events the past many years.
It’s now time for Self to see what it’s like to go against the ultra-athletic, 6-foot-8, 220-pound first-team AP preseason All-America guard from Arlington, Texas, who has averaged 17.8 points and 6.1 rebounds a game heading into Tuesday’s Big 12 battle between KU and OSU.
Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
“He is certainly worthy of all the accolades he’s been getting,” Self said of Cunningham, the former Montverde (Florida) Academy standout, who has averaged 33.4 minutes a game for the Cowboys (8-3, 2-3 Big 12), who received votes in this week’s AP poll. KU, ranked No. 6 in the AP poll again this week, will enter the game 10-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
“I think that Cade is the best freshman in the league hands down, but is he the best player? I think so. He’ll be one of the first taken in the draft,” Self noted of Cunningham, the No. 1 player in the recruiting Class of 2020 according to Rivals.com. He is projected by ESPN and Yahoo Sports to be the No. 1 player chosen in the 2021 NBA Draft.
“What I like about him the most is he’s a basketball player. He’s just a basketball player,” Self noted. “He can play 1 through 4, maybe 5. He rebounds his position. He’s got size. He’s got unbelievable vision. He can score all three levels. He has great pace and the game is in slow motion to him. That’s a tribute to his IQ and his feel and also his talent.”
Cunningham has connected on 45.3% of his shots. He’s converted 16 of 43 three-point tries for 37.2% and 46 of 56 free throws for 82.1%. He’s also dished 42 assists against 38 turnovers.
“He’s a big guard who can create his own shot, kind of a do-everything,” said KU senior point guard Marcus Garrett. “He can pass. He can shoot. He can handle the ball. Basically everything kind of runs through him.”
Cunningham scored five points with five assists and six rebounds in a 70-54 victory over Kansas State on Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas. Prior to that, he’d scored in double figures in four Big 12 games. He scored 25 points in both an 87-84 home loss to West Virginia and a 77-74 setback at Texas. Cunningham also had 17 points and eight rebounds in a 77-76 home loss to TCU and 13 points and seven boards in a 82-77 overtime win at Texas Tech.
“He’s terrific, but they have more than him, and they’re a very athletic team,” Self said of the Cowboys, who also receive 8.1 rebounds a game from 6-5 junior guard Isaac Likekele.
Back to Cunningham … he considered KU for a time in recruiting but ultimately picked OSU over North Carolina, Kentucky and Florida.
OSU was considered the heavy favorite after Cunningham’s brother, Cannen, was hired as an assistant coach in late June of 2019, prior to the start of the 2019-20 season.
“We talked to Cade. Certainly Jerrance (Howard, KU assistant) was involved with Cade,” Self said. “After his brother was hired, although I know some schools were there until the end, we weren’t one of those at the finish line. We felt we could put our time and energy into others that maybe we had a better shot of getting.”
Though Cunningham likely will leave OSU for the NBA after this season, Self noted his presence can help the Cowboys recruit in the future.
“Getting a player like Cade and him going high in the draft will encourage other top prospects to say, ‘Hey I can go to Oklahoma State and this can happen to me.’ That’s helped us in the past,” Self said. “Of course we haven’t landed those type of prospects (one and dones) the last two or three years. There will be a time we do. When that happens it kind of opens the floodgates a little bit to others.”
KU may enter this game as healthy as it has been in a while. Garrett played 32 minutes in Saturday’s 63-59 home win over Oklahoma after missing Tuesday’s game at TCU because of concussion-like symptoms.
“I was feeling great during the game. I feel moving forward I’m only going to get better,” said Garrett, who was hit in the head by Texas’ Jericho Sims late in the Jayhawks’ loss to the Longhorns on Jan. 2 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Meanwhile, reserve combo guard Bryce Thompson is currently listed “day to day.” Thompson, a freshman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, missed the last three games because of a back injury.
“He is trying to get back as soon as possible. The doctors said he would start improving at a rapid rate in two weeks. It’s right at two weeks,” Self said, noting Thompson returned to practice on a limited basis Sunday and also practiced some on Friday.
