Cunningham Hangs Up His Gaucho Jersey
By John Zant '68

Gaucho sports fans may have wanted Superman when UCSB hired a new director of athletics 13 years ago, but instead they got a Clark Kent kind of guy — Gary Cunningham, a mild-mannered administrator who had long since replaced his No. 55 UCLA basketball jersey (he was co-captain of the Bruins’ first Final Four team in 1962) with business attire.

The UCSB job turned out to be the most prolonged and the last full-time position of Cunningham’s 29-year career in athletic administration. He announced in January that he will retire at the end of the 2008 school year. His future agenda includes fly fishing, golf, travel and doting on his two grandchildren. He and Barbara, his wife of 46 years, will continue to live in Santa Barbara.

There were some bright flashes of accomplishment in the modest metropolis of Gaucho athletics under Cunningham’s watch, and he recently looked back at his tenure with a measure of pride.

He pointed to the six Big West Commissioner’s Cups that UCSB has earned in the past seven years. The cup is awarded annually to the school that has the best overall performance in conference sports. Cunningham may have to make room for another one in June. “With our successes in winning Big West Conference Championships in men’s and women’s in basketball and swimming, we are in first place to win the Big West Conference Commissioner’s Cup,” he said. In addition to numerous league titles, the Gauchos won the NCAA men’s soccer crown in 2006 and were runners-up in 2004. “Another achievement is the coaching staff we’ve been able to hire at UCSB,” Cunningham continued. “They are multi-dimensional people. They are not only concerned with winning, but also with the student-athlete having a quality experience, graduating and becoming a successful citizen.” Among the coaches he hired are Tim Vom Steeg (men’s soccer), Paul Stumpf (women’s soccer), Bob Williams (men’s basketball), Marty Davis (men’s tennis), Wolf Wigo (men’s water polo) and Bob Alejo (strength and conditioning).

“The third area is this building,” Cunningham said. He was seated in his office on the second floor of the Intercollegiate Athletics Building that was constructed in 2005. Behind his desk was a window overlooking the backstretch of Pauley Track. “The students believed in us,” he said, “and assessed themselves the money to build this beautiful building.” With 43,000 square feet of space, the building houses coaches’ offices, a learning center, weight room, training room, auditorium and the Phil Womble Hall of Champions.

One of the athletic director’s favorite rituals is a special ceremony for athletes on the eve of their graduation from the university. “There’s nothing more gratifying to me than to see our student athletes graduate,” he said. “We’ve done it the last two years in our auditorium. They wear their caps and gowns, and I give them a hood. It’s really neat. I hope we continue that tradition.” Cunningham has earned a few degrees himself, but he never refers to himself as “Doctor,” as many officials with non-medical doctorates are apt to do. His academic background in the University of California system — his Ph.D. is from UCLA’s school of education — made him the first choice of Chancellor Henry Yang to oversee UCSB athletics in 1995. Cunningham had spent the previous nine years at Fresno State.

“He was head and shoulders above the rest,” Yang said. “The hallmark of his career is a passion for both athletic excellence and academic values.”

Janis Ingham, the university’s faculty athletic representative, said her first impression of Cunningham was that “he’s such a gentleman.” Then one day Ingham saw his competitive nature. She was sitting beside him during a soccer match at Harder Stadium. They were in the east stands, opposite the side where the spectators are conventionally seated.

“There was a man behind us, screaming and yelling for the visiting team in our ears,” Ingham recalled. “Gary said, ‘Sir, you’re welcome to sit here, but if you want to cheer you have to go to the other side where the fans are.’ The man said, ‘This is America. I can cheer if I want,’ and he started yelling even louder. Gary’s eyes were blazing and he said, ‘Be quiet if you’re going to sit over here.’ The man said, ‘Who are you anyway to tell me what to do?’ Gary stood up to his full height (6 feet, 7 inches) and said, ‘I am the athletics director and I’m telling you, you can’t sit here. Move.’ You could almost see his heart beating out of his shirt. I said to myself, this is the competitive athlete that never goes away . . . the basketball player, the coach. As athletic director, he was much more elegant. He was patient, patient, patient . . . but finally, I saw him go: Snap.”

Cunningham is a rare basketball coach who can say he has a winning record against John Wooden. He was coach of UCLA’s freshman team that played the varsity on opening night at Pauley Pavilion in 1965. Led by Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Lucius Allen, the yearlings defeated the No. 1-ranked varsity 75-60. Cunningham later became Wooden’s assistant, and for two seasons (1977-78 and ’78-79), he was the second successor to the legendary coach. The Bruins went 50-8 under Cunningham before he retired from coaching and went into athletic administration.

During almost three decades in the business, Cunningham served on some of the NCAA’s most important committees, and in 2005 he was the first recipient of the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Lifetime Achievement Award, which was subsequently named after him. “The first NCAA Convention I went to,” Ingham recalled, “I walked around with Gary, and everybody said, ‘Young lady, you’re really fortunate to be working with him.’”

Perhaps the highest honor of Cunningham’s life is his continuing friendship with Wooden. After Wooden suffered a broken wrist and collarbone this year, Cunningham was one of the first non-family members to visit his 97-year-old mentor. Other than that relationship, Cunningham downplays his UCLA ties. “I’ve always rooted for people that pay my check,” he said. “My loyalty is right here at UCSB. It’s been a great run for me. My one regret is that I couldn’t do all the things I wanted to do in terms of facilities, in terms of giving the coaches everything they need. Our shortcomings are not caused by lack of desire, but lack of money.

“I think I can walk away and say I did the best I could, and I’m leaving UCSB better than it was when I came. I look for my successor to take it further.”