CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – You’ll have to excuse Urban ASAK (Texas) forward Brock Cunningham, but he hasn’t had time to peruse the adidas Gauntlet stats lately, he’s been busy dropping buckets and taking names in actual games.
So it’s 100 percent authentic when he wears a perplexed frown and asks a follow-up question to the initial question: How does it feel to lead the Gauntlet in scoring?
“Are you serious?” Cunningham said. “I am?”
Indeed.
Cunningham tops the list, pumping in 23.5 points per game through two sessions, a substantial jump from the 14 points he managed during his high school season at Westlake (Austin, Texas).
“I had no clue I was leading,” said Cunningham, who checks in at No. 3 overall in the Gauntlet for rebounds at 10.8 per game. “That’s pretty nice. I still think I need to shoot the ball better, but I’ll keep working on it. The biggest thing for me isn’t scoring though; it’s defense.”
Yes, you read that right; Cunningham leads the league in scoring and, no, that wasn’t his primary focus.
“My biggest goal was to attempt to play lockdown defense and to win,” Cunningham said. “Scoring, for me, comes after I play good defense so once I get that down, maybe I’ll score more.”
Cunnigham’s rise doesn’t surprise Urban ASAK coach Mike Murphy at all.
Last July, Cunningham finished off the summer ball season with a preview of things to come this season averaging 22 points per game at a tournament in Vegas.
“He’s got great footwork, he knows where to be and he knows how to chase down rebounds,” Murphy said. “He’s also got range out to be about 30 feet. He’s an elite player, there’s no question. It’s just good to see that other people are starting to give him the credit he deserves.”
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