And leading the way for OSU is Cunningham, a 6-foot-4 junior with explosive jumping ability who impacts the game on both ends of the floor.
Early in the 2007-08 season, this was a program in turmoil. The Beavers lost their first four conference games, costing former coach Jay John his job. They ended up finishing 0-18 in the league.
Craig Robinson was hired from Brown to rebuild. And in his first season, Oregon State went 18-18, and won the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) postseason tournament title over Texas-El Paso.
Over the past two seasons, Oregon State has gone 25-38.
“We had such a good first year winning the CBI that people were expecting it to go up, then up, then up from there,” Robinson said. “We kind of knew as a staff that it was going to get worse after the CBI before it got better. We knew that, and we were prepared, so we were just trying to work as hard as we could.”
Robinson has been able to recruit tall, team-oriented players to fit his style. Defensively, the Beavers are as good as any team in the Pac-12 – with Cunningham and Ahmad Starks national leaders in steals.
“Our motto has been, ‘Just one day at a time.’ We are not thinking ahead about what would happen if you are 10-3 or 11-2. You don’t cloud your mind nor your process with those thoughts,” Robinson said. “You just focus on what is ahead of you. It has been good for us. I think you have to take that sort of attitude when you are trying to change a culture.”
Cunningham scored 35 points in a game earlier this season against Hofstra. He had 37 in the win over Texas. Many observers, including his own coach, think he could be the conference’s best player.
“I feel like that (37 against Texas) helped me out. In the past couple years … (we) didn’t get a lot of recognition because of our losing seasons,” Cunningham said. “Winning in the (nonconference season), and having great teammates has really put us on the (map) this year.”
