Brock Cunningham becomes Texas' career wins leader after opening NCAA Tournament victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Like many coaches, Texas' Rodney Terry doesn’t like to single out players. You win as a team, and you lose as one, he preaches. Individual accolades never matter as much as shared success.

But during Thursday night's celebration in the Longhorns' locker room after Texas' first-round NCAA Tournament win over Colorado State, Terry gleefully pointed out Brock Cunningham, the graduate forward who became Texas’ all-time leader in wins with 110.

“A lot of guys have played in the program, and a lot of winning has gone on in this program,” Terry said. “We’ve had a lot of elite winners in this program, but this guy is the all-time winningest player.”

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As the room exploded in cheers, Cunningham grinned and exchanged hand slaps with teammates and the team’s support staffers.

A few minutes later, he took a moment to reflect on his career, which started with a redshirt freshman season in 2018-19, when he never took the court. Recruited by former Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart, Cunningham has played for two other head coaches, Chris Beard and Terry, as well as what he says are “dozens of teammates.”

“I’ve had some great coaches and great teammates, so really it’s more like a team award than anything,” Cunningham said. “But it feels good. You know, I redshirted my freshman year and didn’t play much that second year. I fought for everything. I was always trying to get recruited over, and I always worked my way into the lineup.”

To be specific, Cunningham has now worked his way into the rotation 146 times, which is also a program record. The Austin native who starred at Westlake High School surpassed A.J. Abrams — another home-grown product from nearby McNeil High who played at Texas from 2005 to 2009 — for most appearances in school history. With his 110th win, Cunningham broke the record of 109 that was shared by Abrams and Abrams' former teammate, Connor Atchley.

Cunningham’s performance in Thursday’s 56-44 win over Colorado State typified what he means to the team, Terry said. Cunningham came off the bench and finished with four points and four rebounds — about average for a player averaging 4.5 points and 3.8 boards — and added three steals in 18 minutes. More important, his defensive energy helped change the game.

Cunningham entered along with fellow reserves Chendall Weaver and Kadin Shedrick five minutes into the game with Texas trailing 8-2. The Rams would score just three more points in the first half as Texas seized a 27-11 lead at the break and cruised into Saturday's second-round matchup with Tennessee.

“Brock came in and gave us an incredible lift tonight and played the way he always plays, making winning plays and being a great leader for our guys,” Terry said. “The guys that he passed on that wins list, I got a chance to coach those guys. So it's a lot of winning and a lot of games that we've been able to put in the books. Brock’s just been an incredible ambassador for not only Texas basketball, but Texas athletics as a whole because he's a stand-up guy. He does it the right way on the court, and he does (it) the right way off the court.”

Cunningham, who hopes to play in Australia next season after earning his master’s degree in advertising in May, appreciated Terry's postgame nod in the locker room. But he also knows any slipping into sentimentality can wait.

“I'll look back on it (and) reflect a little bit more, but (I'm) just looking forward to this next game,” he said. “It’s March Madness. It’s on to the next game. There’s no time to celebrate.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball's Brock Cunningham becomes all-time leader in wins