• One More Year for Cunningham

    Bradley Tech girls basketball coach Alina Cunningham told me that she will coach at least one more year at the school. How her players will react when or if she tells them, or if she hasn't already, will be a different story.

    She took over the job for longtime coach Ken Willams who retired as a teacher and coach. Cunningham played at Tech under Williams. She also played in the old Easter Seals girls all-star game at the Bradley Center back in 1989, when the facility was brand new at the time.

    Cunningham previously coached at Milwaukee King when she took over a losing program and turned the Generals into winners. She guided that team to the state tournament in 2004, losing in the Division 1 semifinals in Madison. Many people will remember the epic battles that her teams had against Milwaukee Vincent and Milwaukee Washington. King stopped the Purgolders' conference winning streak, which stood at 105 games.

    She resigned from her post at King and took some time off to raise her youngest child before getting the itch to coach from the sidelines again. Now Cunnningham thinks that this upcoming basketball season will be her last, because her oldest son will be in high school, and she probably wants to devote her time to family.

    One thing that she will miss as coach if she does step down after the 2012-13 season is beating her husband, John, on a regular basis. Her King teams beat his Milwaukee Madison teams on a regular basis, but she claims that she doesn't rub it in at the dinner table. She simply had better teams than he did.
    Comments 1 Comment
    1. CoachC's Avatar
      CoachC -
      John Cunningham has coached at St. Joan Antida High School the last 2 years.