Cade Cunningham Tabbed Gatorade Player of the Year Finalist
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State 2020 signee Cade Cunningham was tabbed one of three Gatorade Player of the Year finalists Thursday morning.
Cunningham was named along with USC commit Evan Mobley and sophomore guard Emoni Bates.
Past Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of Year award winners have gone on to combined for five NBA MVPs awards, 69 All-Star appearances and 26 have been drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Past winners include Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd.
The announcement of the 2019-2020 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year announcement has been temporarily postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This excerpt on Cade Cunningham is from the Gatorade Player of the Year program’s press release.
“The 6-foot-7, 215-pound senior forward had led the Eagles to a 25-0 record, a No. 1 national ranking and a berth in the GEICO High School Nationals at the time of his selection. Cunningham averaged 13.9 points, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals through 25 games for one of the deepest prep teams in the country. A McDonald’s All-American selection, Cunningham is one of five finalists for the Naismith High School Trophy. He is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 recruit in the Class of 2020 by 247Sports.com.
Cunningham has volunteered locally as a youth mentor and a youth basketball coach. “Cade Cunningham is an outstanding leader,” said Carlos Sample, head coach of Scotlandville Magnet (Baton Rouge, La.) High. “He plays with a high basketball IQ and confidence in his game. Cade stays even-keeled through the entirety of the game and has all the things you look for in a floor general.”
Cunningham has maintained a 3.51 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at Oklahoma State University this fall.”
Cunningham was also named the 2019-20 MaxPreps High School Boys Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday afternoon. That came just a few weeks after he was named the Naismith HS Player of the Year.
In late January, Cunningham was also named a McDonald's All-American, becoming the eighth Cowboy in program history to earn the honor.
Mike Boynton and Co.’s 2020 class is ranked No. 10 in the country and consists of Cunningham, four-star guard Rondel Walker, four-star forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and three-star wing Montreal Pena. There’s still two remaining spots in the class.
