CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Phil Cunningham returned to the campus of Campbellsville University today to speak to student-athletes from the human performance department.
Cunningham, who played basketball for the Tigers from 1988-1990, is now the head basketball coach at Troy University in Alabama. A native of Campbellsville, he started his career at Kentucky Wesleyan where he won a NCAA DII National Championship before transferring to CU to play for his father – the late Lou Cunningham.
After earning his bachelor's degree in business administration, Cunningham joined the staff with his father for the 1990-91 season. He helped lead the program to a District 32 championship and an appearance in the NAIA Tournament.
"It was a great experience to give back to Campbellsville," said Cunningham. "For the students to see exactly the path that I had taken and maybe some can relate to it and learn from it. Just to give them the opportunity on how someone like me — who sat in that same chair, 25 years ago — and got to do everything I have been able to do through athletics. Ironically, it all started at Campbellsville."
He spoke about his coaching background and how he got to be the head coach for Troy University. He preached that networking was a key for his success and getting out and working summer camps would be a great help to all future coaches.
"It's who you know," said Cummingham. "I had to prove myself as a coach, I had to be a good recruiter and show excellent work ethic to climb the coaching latter."
Tim Rogers, a Faculty Athletic Representative, was key to getting Cummingham on campus.
"I think it is a special time when we can have an alumnus come back and speak with our students," said Rogers. "He's had success after leaving Campbellsville, that has paved his own path. Coming back to CU and sharing is a powerful way to share his story. This experience is something that the student-athletes can't buy."
One of his favorite, or his biggest thrill in coaching, is that he is always dealing with young people — molding and shaping their minds for the future. Cunningham also spoke about how he deals with the stress and pressure of being a head coach.
"The success of an individual, depends on how successful the organizations is," said Cunningham. "For them to be successful, they have to have the ability, a work ethic and the personality — be a people person. If you have all of that, you will rise to the top."
One of the last points the DI coach offered was to always surround the team around the motto, 'It's WE not me.' Lindsey Burd, the NAIA Women's Basketball Player of the Year, who wants to become a coach herself, liked that statement.
"For me wanting to be a coach, the most important thing that he said was having the team know it's WE and not me," said Burd. "A coach should show their team that they are a unit and not one individual or player is more important than others."
