Cunningham headed to UNCW

Adam Cunningham always wanted to attend North Carolina-Wilmington.

As it turns out, not only will the Jacksonville High senior do just that, he will also play for the Seahawks soccer team.

Cunningham signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Division I UNCW Wednesday afternoon on the JHS campus during National Signing Day.

“It was great,” said Cunningham of the signing. “Now all I have to do is get (the rest) of the paperwork filled out.”

The four-year varsity player for head coach Dave Miller’s Cardinals made known his interest in attending the college not far from Jacksonville following his verbal commitment early in the season.

After also considering Elon and Coastal Carolina, Cunningham still had his heart set on Wilmington. Taking classes and playing soccer at UNCW has been a goal of the 18-year old since before his high school career.

“It was the school in general,” said Cunningham. “I wanted to go there for business, it is near the beach, it has a good soccer program and it is close to home.

“I thank my parents for giving me the opportunities.”

Cunningham, the son of Curtis and Karen Cunningham, will earn a full scholarship with half coming from athletics and the other half from academics.

“I am happy for Adam,” Miller said. “He gets a chance to play at the next level and I expect him to step in and contribute.”

Under head coach Aidan Heaney, the Seahawks last season went 4-13-1 overall and finished 10th in the 12-team Colonial Athletic Conference at 3-8. Cunningham anticipates adjusting nicely and quickly proving himself.

“They were very young, they were the youngest team in Division I,” Cunningham said. “If I work hard in the spring and summer hopefully I will show them what I have during the fall.

“I have to get my fitness up, get in the weight room and always be touching a ball.”

Those goals were similar to many of the things he did in high school to emerge as one of the area’s standouts.

As a senior, Cunningham was the fifth in the area in scoring with 13 goals and 20 assists and his efforts were certainly acknowledged as the midfielder earned a spot in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association 3-A all-state team and shared The Daily News Offensive Player of the Year honor.

This fall, Cunningham, who was the Most Valuable Player in Jacksonville’s state championship game victory over Mooresville in 2005, led the Cardinals to a share of second place in the tough Mideastern 3-A/4-A Conference and a third consecutive trip to the NCHSAA 3-A East Regional final.

Jacksonville’s bid for a third straight state title game berth fell short following a 1-0 defeat to state runner-up Wilson Fike.

But that loss couldn’t overshadow Cunningham’s presence over the past four years. Miller pointed out his player finished his career with over 50 goals and 50 assists.

“Adam is a team player and he is very unselfish,” said Miller, who added that former Jacksonville standout Brett Patterson is now a Seahawk assistant. “He works hard and he has a good understanding of the game.

“One of his goals was to make guys around him better and that is what helped us the past four years.”

And while Cunningham would like to do the same from the UNCW midfield, just finding time on the pitch would suit himself just fine.

“Where ever they need me I won’t complain,” he said. “I have good vision and smarts on the ball, I work hard and I learn from watching a lot of soccer on T.V.

“I just hope to work really hard to get on the field.”