Christen Cunningham enters his second season at Rhode Island in 2023-24. He first joined Archie Miller's staff as the program’s director of player development in July of 2022. In the summer of 2023, he was promoted to assistant coach.
Cunningham came to Rhode Island from Louisville, where he was a graduate assistant from 2020-22. During his time on staff, he also served as interim director of basketball operations.
Cunningham was a team captain for the Cardinals in 2018-19 as a graduate transfer, averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 assists per game while leading the team to a 20-win season and an NCAA Championship appearance. His 160 assists that year were the most for a Louisville guard in six seasons, and the 11th most in a single season in program history.
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The Georgetown, Ky. native was a three-year starter and team captain at Samford before transferring to Louisville. He set Samford’s all-time assist record with 514 and was fifth in the nation with a school-record 225 assists in 2016-17. Cunningham also finished his career 13th on the school’s scoring list with 1,283 career points.
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Before beginning his coaching career, Cunningham spent the 2019-20 season playing professionally in the Croatian Premier League and Adriatic Basketball Association.
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During his prep career, Cunningham was a first-team Herald-Leader all-city selection as a junior at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Ky., when he averaged 12.1 points per game. He transferred to Cordia High School in Hazard, Ky., for his senior season, averaging 18.7 points and 5.3 rebounds while leading his team to a 23-9 record. Cunningham played in the 2014 Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star Game.
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Cunningham earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Samford in 2018 and a master’s degree in sport administration from Louisville in 2019.
Updated 8/4/2023
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