Yost Cunningham (1986) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Yost Cunningham

Induction:
1986
Class:
1940

Playing alongside fellow hall of famers Jule Rivlin, Harold McCloud, George Ayersman, Boot Elkins and Andy D’Antoni, Audy Yost Cunningham Jr. was known as the steadying influence who led some of Cam Henderson’s early Marshall basketball teams to new heights. The Elkins, W.Va., native came to Marshall after winning all-state honors in basketball in both his junior and senior seasons, helping Elkins High School win the state championship in 1935 and winning tournament MVP honors in a runner-up effort in 1936. Cunningham was not a big scorer at Marshall – Rivlin and McCloud led the way in that department – but Cunningham rose to the position of team captain because of his consistency and steadying influence in Henderson’s zone defense and “quick break” offense. In Cunningham’s sophomore season, the 1937-38 Big Green set a school record for wins with a 28-4 record and won the Buckeye Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title with a perfect 10-0 record, and received the school’s first postseason berth as Marshall was invited to the fledgling NAIB National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., where Marshall beat Peru State (Neb.) in a first round game before falling to Washburn University (Kan.) 53-51 in its second-round action. Marshall repeated as the Buckeye Conference champion the following year, then competed as an independent when that league dissolved prior to the 1939-40 season. Over the course of Cunningham’s three-year career with Marshall, the team registered a combined record of 75-13 (.852). After graduating from Marshall he became a player and coach for the American Airlines teams in the Chicago industrial leagues. Cunningham was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.