| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1940 or 1941 (age 85–86)[1] |
| Playing career | |
| 1960–1962 | UCLA |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1965–1975 | UCLA (assistant) |
| 1977–1979 | UCLA |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1979–1981 | Western Oregon State |
| 1981–1986 | Wyoming |
| 1986–1995 | Fresno State |
| 1995–2008 | UC Santa Barbara |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 50–8 |
| Tournaments | 3–2 (NCAA) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Gary Cunningham (born c. 1940/1941) is an American formerbasketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head men's basketball coach at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1977 to 1979, guiding theUCLA Bruins to a 50–8 record in two seasons. UCLA won conference championships and finished with a #2 ranking in the final polls both seasons. Cunningham has the highest winning percentage of any coach in UCLA men's basketball history (.862). He left to become an associate professor and athletic director at Western Oregon State College, citing a love of administration more than coaching.[2]
Cunningham played basketball at UCLA on the varsity team from 1960 to 1962. He played in the first Final Four appearance for the Bruins in the1962 NCAA tournament. He appeared on the cover ofSports Illustrated on March 19, 1962.[3] Cunningham was selected by theCincinnati Royals in the seventh round as the 58th pick of the1962 NBA draft.
Cunningham was an assistant coach at UCLA underJohn Wooden from 1965 to 1975. In 1965 he was the coach of the UCLA freshman team that featured high school All-AmericansLew Alcindor andLucius Allen. The freshmen defeated the UCLA varsity, rated number-one in the nation, by a score of 75 to 60 in the first game ever played atPauley Pavilion.
Cunningham retired in the summer of 2008 after 13 years as theathletic director at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins(Pacific-8/Pacific-10 Conference)(1977–1979) | |||||||||
| 1977–78 | UCLA | 25–3 | 14–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1978–79 | UCLA | 25–5 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| UCLA: | 50–8 | 29–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 50–8 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
