Cunningham Doesn't Regret Leaving UCLA

FRESNO, Calif. - Gary Cunningham had the job every aspiring basketball coach in America wanted in 1979, and he gave it up.

He just smiled, shook hands, thanked everyone and walked away from UCLA one day to become an associate professor and athletic director at Western Oregon State College.

It was like Tommy Lasorda leaving the Dodgers to coach high school. Like Pat Riley bolting the Knicks to take over at Brooklyn Community College. Like Madonna slinking off some Hollywood backlot to join a local convent.

UCLA was the mecca of college basketball in those days, and Cunningham, a longtime servant at John Wooden's throne through the glory years, had fashioned an impressive 50-8 record and captured two conference titles in his two seasons as a head coach at Pauley Pavilion.

So why leave? Too much pressure? Too many spoiled Westwood boosters? Too tough on him physically and emotionally?

Nope. Gary Cunningham left because he wanted his future to be behind a desk, not in a courtside seat. He saw himself as an administrator, not a coach. It was that simple.

"Nobody would ever understand it but Gary Cunningham," said the tall, gentle, bespectacled 52-year-old who is now the athletic director of Fresno State.

"I know a lot was written about the pressure and everything at the time. But for me, there was much less than coaches from outside (read Gene Bartow) received. I never felt anyone was gunning for my job.

"I just didn't want to do it. I had to do what was right for me. And I simply enjoyed administration more."

Now, after eventful, culture-jarring stops in Oregon, Wyoming and California's San Joaquin Valley, Cunningham has a different kind of a winning streak.

Maybe he isn't as instantly recognized as a Bobby Knight or a Mike Krzyzewski, but in his chosen field, he is every bit as much of a nationally known star.

In 6 1/2 years, Cunningham has built the fastest-rising collegiate athletic program in the country at Fresno State.

The school, which recently moved into the more prestigious Western Athletic Conference, sells about 26,000 season tickets for football and regularly fills its 41,041-seat Bulldog Stadium. It always has had a strong, sometimes fanatical basketball following and already has established NCAA attendance records in both soccer and softball. It also led all of Division I with a baseball attendance figure of more than 170,000 last season.

More than 25,000 tickets for the Freedom Bowl football game - in which Fresno State upset USC 24-7 - were sold in Fresno.

"It's been a challenge, but it's been fun to be a part of all this," Cunningham said. "The great thing here is that we have no competition from pro teams or other schools. We are the focal point of the valley, and it is the fastest-growing area in the state."

Needless to say, the good folks from America's raisin capital went nuts about its victory over the more glamorous, nationally recognized Trojans.

Even before the upset victory, Cunningham called the Freedom Bowl game an "historical event for us. People are ecstatic about our playing USC, because we've never been able to schedule them.

"We play Cal regularly but never have played SC. This gives us a chance for regional and national recognition that we haven't had before. It creates an awareness of us."

Part of it has to do with image, too. Fresno has taken some hard knocks over the years.

"It has been a much-maligned city," Cunningham said. "But the quality of life here is a well-kept secret. It is hot here in the summer, and it is an agricultural community. Most people say, `Let's drive through here as fast as we can.' We used to be the same way, until we lived here. Now we love it.

"That's the big thing about the Freedom Bowl. It gives this city some pride."

Pride is something Cunningham brought with him to his administrative desk. As both a player and a coach, he was a big part of the most successful basketball program in NCAA history, and he harbors warm memories of those years.

"There was so much excellence in that period of time," he said. "You look back now, and you never realized how special it was to be national champion. I was part of eight NCAA championship teams, and you see now how hard it is to get there even once.

"Some say it is more difficult to win in basketball these days, but I don't have any doubts about Coach Wooden. He would still be a giant today.

"He was so well organized and such a great teacher. And he could adapt both to different talent and different times. He is just a very special person.

"I still remember a sign above his desk. It read: `Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.' Some people might think that's corny. I don't."

Beside his many duties at Fresno State, which include overseeing $29 million in new facilities, Cunningham has been president of the 2,300-member National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and currently is serving in a second three-year term on the committee to select the field for the 64-team NCAA Basketball Tournament.

One thing he never will be accused of is failure to prepare.