Breya Cunningham was part of the highest-ranked freshman class in Arizona women’s basketball history. She’s shown flashes of why, but her development to her full potential will come elsewhere. The sophomore post player announced her intent to transfer on Tuesday.
When Cunningham could stay on the floor, she was dominant. The problem was staying on the floor due to a propensity for fouls.
Cunningham was Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention in 2024. As a sophomore, she was All-Big 12 honorable mention. Had she been able to play more than 22.1 minutes per game over her 65 games at Arizona, there’s no doubt she could have been much more.
In her two seasons as a Wildcat, Cunningham averaged 9.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. She shot 54.2 percent from the floor and 51.7 percent from the line. She had a big jump in production to 11.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg as a sophomore, but the foul trouble continued to plague her.
Cunningham averaged 3.7 fouls per game over her two-year Arizona career. She made some adjustments as a sophomore and head coach Adia Barnes made some changes in some of her defensive schemes to try to protect Cunningham from the whistles. While fellow post Isis Beh had far fewer fouls this year than last despite playing a more demanding position and far more minutes, her sophomore teammate continued to struggle and was extremely frustrated.
Cunningham’s fouls went from 3.8 pg to 3.6 pg and she fouled out of five games instead of eight, but she still spent long stretches of first halves on the bench this year. She ended with four or more fouls in 17 of 32 games as a sophomore.
There were rumors that Cunningham would leave after last year. Several sources reported public displays of hostility by her family towards head coach Adia Barnes during her freshman season. Her only comment about her status then was that she intended to return to Arizona. This year is different. The sophomore will take her considerable talents elsewhere next season.