100 Years of Carroll Basketball

A Message from President Tom Evans

For the past 100 years, basketball has been a part of Carroll College. In commemorating this milestone, we celebrate alongside the players, coaches and fans that have made invaluable contributions to this legacy at Carroll.

So often it is not the tally of the win-loss record that is remembered, but rather it is the camaraderie and lifelong friendships that are forged both on and off the court. As alumni have shared stories with me, they naturally talk about games played. In equal measure, they treasure their later memories in the stands as spectators and fans of Saints basketball. Most importantly, they describe to me that what they learned on the court and in the classroom at Carroll College prepared them “Not for school, but for life.”

There is something special about a game in which the season occurs during the darkest and coldest months of winter. As such, it is a game that brings generations of people together as one family for entertainment and fellowship while cheering on our Saints.

Please join me in honoring the rich tradition of Carroll basketball and congratulating those who have played a part in its success over the years. We look forward to yet another 100 years of basketball on the Hilltop!

Thomas M. Evans, Ph.D.
President

A Message from Coach Dr. Carson Cunningham

What a great opportunity to be able to celebrate 100 years and counting of Carroll College Men’s Basketball! The breadth and strength of our decades-long tradition is impressive. When Carroll College first jumped center, World War I had not yet begun, no ships had passed through the Panama Canal, and not a single scheduled airline flight had taken place.

Since its inception, Carroll basketball players have won 1,098 games, raised families, carried out successful careers, watched their grandchildren grow up, and served in wars, from the Great War to World War II and beyond. Through it all, Carroll College basketball has endured.

Basketball is imbued with creative possibility, with power and with grace. At its heart is a moving athletic trinity: ball, man, rim. A trinity that can lead to inspiring action by like-minded individuals, individuals who like to compete, to grapple, to seek, and to love. At a place like Carroll College—a place of learning at the heart of which sits the ultimate trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit—basketball can be particularly moving. That’s because Carroll basketball players are also imbued with creative possibility and moved by the power of grace, on and off the court.

Together, basketball and Carroll make for an inspirational pair. And we should celebrate this, all of us, whether you’re a current or former player or coach, a member of the support staff, a Carroll graduate, or a fan. We should celebrate this because, when done well, the Carroll College basketball tradition has reflected the values that underpin Carroll College, values that we all cherish: respect for one another, selflessness, grit, joyousness, and love.

I’m so grateful to be a part of this tradition and I’m honored to play a role in leading Carroll basketball into the future. Here’s to a great celebration of our past. And here’s to a future that stirs the soul.

Carson Cunningham, Ph.D.
Head Coach, Men’s Basketball

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