Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507572
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3 5 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M I t's not unusual anymore for college athletes to end up playing for more than one school over the course of their careers. But even by the current standard, defensive lineman T.A. Cun- ningham is a well-traveled football player — and he's not even in college yet. A four-star prospect in the On3 Indus- try Ranking, as well as the No. 280 overall prospect nationally and No. 29 defensive lineman, Cunningham played for three high school teams in his first three years. A native of Georgia, he started out at Lilburn Providence Christian Academy before transferring to Johns Creek High, where he enjoyed a breakout sophomore season with 66 tackles and 7 sacks. Cunningham then headed west, but his move to the Los Angeles area last summer went awry when the Califor- nia Interscholastic Federation ruled him ineligible. That decision was eventually reversed, and he was able to begin play- ing at Los Alamitos High. Cunningham ended up seeing action in only seven games, though, finishing with 17 tackles and 5 quarterback hurries. He returned to the Southeast this year and was originally intending to play for Florida powerhouse Miami Central Cath- olic, which has won the past four Class 2M state championships. But Cunning- ham ended up back home in Georgia and enrolled at Grayson High while recuper- ating from an unspecified injury. He is not expected to play football this season. When it came to his college choice, the 6-foot-6, 275-pound Cunningham sought stability, and he found it with Penn State. Coach James Franklin and his staff had stayed in contact throughout his journey. He repaid their dedication by committing to them in July. BWI recently talked to Cunningham about his path to Penn State. BWI: You've been on the recruiting radar for what seems like forever. How did it feel to get the decision out of the way? T. A . CU N N I NG H A M : I'm just happy to be done with the process. It's been a roller coaster of emotions and dif- ferent things. I'm happy to have it over. My path was a little less traditional THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED On the heels of an unorthodox high school football career, defensive lineman T.A. Cunningham is eager for the stability that PSU offers I N T E R V I E W T . A . C U N N I N G H A M S E A N F I T Z | S E A N . F I T Z @ O N 3 . C O M Cunningham joined the Nittany Lions' class in July, two weeks after taking an official visit to campus. The four-star defensive lineman chose PSU over Texas A&M and Miami. PHOTO COURTESY CUNNINGHAM FAMILY