The West Coast Conference will induct its ninth annual Hall of Honor class on Saturday, March 4 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. Former USD baseball coach, John Cunningham, will join nine other individuals, one from each member institution, and be honored during the 2017 West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.
The 2017 induction class features three Olympic medalists, three NCAA single-season scoring leaders, two program career wins leaders, two first-round draft selections, two national players of the year, one NBA champion, one NBA career statistical leader, six All-Americans (totaling 16 selections), six conference player of the year accolades and eight conference coach of the year honors.
"The West Coast Conference is honored to celebrate the accomplishments of these former student-athletes and coaches," said West Coast Conference Commissioner Lynn Holzman. "The 2017 Hall of Honor class represents our 10 schools' long-standing commitment to the holistic development of student-athletes through the fostering of an environment of athletic and academic excellence. These 10 individuals exhibit how participating in college athletics is a transformative experience."
The 2017 WCC Hall of Honor class includes: BYU's Tina Gunn Robison (Women's Basketball), Gonzaga's John Stockton (Men's Basketball), Loyola Marymount's Paul Westhead (Men's Basketball), Pacific's Jennifer Joines-Tamas (Volleyball), Pepperdine's William "Bird" Averitt (Men's Basketball), Portland's Shannon Mac Millan (Women's Soccer), Saint Mary's Mark Teahen (Baseball), San Diego's John Cunningham (Baseball), San Francisco's Brittany Lindhe (Women's Basketball) and Santa Clara's Dick Davey (Men's Basketball).
"Being inducted into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor means a great deal to me because, since my college days, I have either played with or against and coached with or against many of those already so honored," said John Cunningham. "I am so looking forward to joining them in this prestigious group."
John "JC" Cunningham began his USD career in 1962 when he was hired by former Athletic Director Phil Woolpert (JC's USF basketball coach) to be the Freshmen Basketball Coach, Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach, and Director of Intramurals. He assisted baseball Coach Mike Morrow in 1963 and took over the program in 1964. During the next 35 years he directed the Toreros baseball team to 843 victories, 16 winning seasons, and four NCAA regional appearances, including trips to the College World Series in 1971 and 1978. He was named the WCC Coach of the Year twice (1993 & 1998). Forty-seven of his players signed professional contracts with 10 advancing to the Major Leagues.
In 1988, school officials honored him by renaming the baseball field "Cunningham Baseball Stadium." In 1991, his peers voted him into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The Society for American Baseball Research (Ted Williams Chapter) recognized him as one of the 25 most influential people in San Diego involved with the sport of baseball. In 2003, he was inducted into USD's Chet and Marguerite Pagni Family Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2005, he received the prestigious ABCA's Lefty Gomez Award, amateur baseball's top award for service to the sport of baseball. In 2013 with the grand opening of USD’s Fowler Park and Cunningham Field, USD retired his uniform number (#33) and a banner is displayed in right center field in his honor.
A native San Diegan, Cunningham attended Saint Augustine High School and then went on to graduate from the University of San Francisco. At USF he played four years of basketball and baseball. In 1959 he was named USF's "Athlete of the Year" and was an honorable mention selection on the Catholic All-America basketball team. The highlight of his basketball career, however, came in 1960 while serving in the U.S. Army. After being named to the All-Army and All-Service basketball teams, Cunningham was a participant in the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team tryouts. He would go on to sign a professional baseball contract with the Baltimore Orioles organization.
From 1965-1978 Cunningham organized, managed and coached a franchise in the California Collegiate Baseball League — one of the best summer collegiate leagues in the country at the time. During those years he won over 300 games and eight league titles.
Currently the department's Director of Transportation, Cunningham has logged hundreds of thousands of miles on the Toreros team bus assisting team travel for all USD athletic teams. He is also a committee member for the annual Tony Gwynn Baseball Classic where he plays a key role in securing top collegiate teams from across the country for an outstanding field each year. Cunningham’s son, Geoffrey, a 1996 USD graduate, is a very successful artist and a businessman in the golf industry (UCSDAthletics).
