D.J. Cunningham during an All Ohio Red AAU game in June 2008. (Photo Provided)

WATERFORD — Born and raised in Waterford, D.J. Cunningham traveled across borders and seas to pursue a career in basketball before returning to the familiarity of his hometown to raise a family.

Before Cunningham was the head coach for the Waterford Wildcats boys basketball team, he was seeing how far he could go professionally in the sport. Cunningham comes from a long line of farmers and basketball enthusiasts.

“I was actually the third generation to play and my kids coming up through school now will be the fourth generation … there’s a lot of history there with our family and the Waterford basketball team,” he said.

On his dad’s side, basketball was more than a sport. It tied generations together, integrating their love for basketball with the demands of running a farm. Cunningham said his family settled in Waterford in the early 1900s after moving from New Martinsville, W.Va.

“My great-grandfather farmed, my grandfather farmed and helped some other farmers in the area as well, and my granddad grew up during the war, and they moved around a couple different places in Waterford during that time,” said Cunningham. “They all went to Waterford High School.”

D.J. Cunningham’s dad, Tim Cunningham, in a Waterford Wildcats basketball uniform from 1981. (Photo Provided)

Cunningham is the oldest of his two siblings and said his mom’s side also grew up in the area in Lowell after immigrating from Germany.

Basketball had always been a significant part of his life. He described a time when his granddad installed a hoop and court outside on the farm and he would always play in the moments between helping out around the farm.

“Anytime I was over at the farm, being able to sneak off and play on the outside court was always a lot of fun,” said Cunningham. “My granddad put in a lot of work in my early years, getting the correct shooting form down and really working on the fundamentals.”

Cunningham said he always loved to play basketball and growing to be 6-foot-11 definitely helped him pursue that path. Starting in the fourth grade, there was a really close group of guys that played together all throughout his time at Waterford.

“We were just a competitive group, and it didn’t really matter what sport it was,” he said. “I had a lot of success in high school with basketball.”

The UNC Asheville Big South champion team photo from March 4, 2012. (Photo Provided)

Cunningham said the Waterford Wildcats made it to district finals his senior year but lost to the state champions, Oak Hill High School, in 2009.

“As the years went on, I just continued to love the game more and more … I was putting a lot of time into it and was able to branch out into AAU to where I was playing year-round,” he said.

Cunningham said there weren’t the same opportunities for his granddad and dad as there were for him with basketball, although they were both very good players back in the day. They all shared a love for the sport which led him to pursue it at an advanced level.

Cunningham joined an AAU team in Parkersburg his junior year and said he ended up getting picked by the D-1 Greyhounds which was based in Cincinnati.

“They were a large AAU program at the time, and there were some big names there like O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker who were in the NBA and had started on that AAU team,” he said.

From front left, Jack, Hallie, RayLynn, back left, Braylon, Ashleigh, and D.J. Cunningham pose for a family photo. (Photo Provided)

Cunningham said he ended up switching to All Ohio Red and played regionally and nationally.

Cunningham graduated from Waterford in 2009 and signed to play for UNC Asheville in North Carolina. He said he spent five years at the university.

“Obviously (Asheville) is a much bigger city than Waterford but a lot of people in Asheville shared that love of a slower-paced life where not everything needs to be rushed,” he said.

When he graduated in 2014, Cunningham signed a professional contract with Limburg United in Belgium.

“I actually got hurt following my senior season. … I ended up missing out on the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which is a big showcase that a lot of NBA coaches are at,” he said. “It’s a weekend for college players where they bring the top 64 college seniors and split them up into different teams and spend the weekend playing in front of NBA coaches.”

D.J. and Ashleigh Cunningham’s wedding day at a Waterford farm July 11, 2020. From front left, Julia Brooker, Bernard “Buzzard” Brooker, Jack Cunningham, Emma Cunningham, back left, Brenda Eddy, Ivan Huck, Cindy Huck, Ashleigh Cunningham, D.J. Cunningham, Jean Hoops, Bob Hoops, Melissa Fisher and Tim Cunningham. (Photo Provided)

Cunningham said he got hurt the night before the invitational.

“I missed my shot there, but I was honored to be chosen as one of the top 64 players to be there … kind of missed my opportunity at getting a shot at playing in the NBA my first year out,” he said.

Cunningham said he continued having issues with his shoulder while he was in Belgium and had become homesick. He ended up making the decision to return to Waterford and start working full-time.

“I’ve always been kind of a history buff so I enjoyed the history there … it was unique to go over there and see the area and their way of life,” said Cunningham.

He said the scenery was amazing and it reminded him of home with the rolling countryside and laid-back lifestyle. He spent weeks driving around and admiring the scenery.

“It’s definitely a part of my life that I’ll never take for granted, but it was a great learning experience,” said Cunningham. “Sometimes home is just what the meaning of the word is and even though somewhere else might feel like home, it just isn’t quite it.”

He said when he was in his 20s he was used to being on his own so going to Belgium was the big next step for his life.

“It was a great opportunity for me to see a different part of the world, and I was fortunate enough at Asheville to be able to go to a lot of different places,” he said.

Among the places he visited while on a basketball team were the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Some of his highlights included playing in the ESPN Bracket Buster; playing in the original Boston arena, TD Garden; and Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University. Cameron Indoor is a place he would like to revisit and take his kids to see one day.

Cunningham returned to Waterford around 2014 and entered the workforce in the oil field. He said he spends a lot of time in southeast Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania for work.

He entered his fourth year as the Waterford Wildcats boys basketball coach for the 2025-26 school year.

“It was a little bit of a difference to see some things that had changed and it wasn’t anything vast … whether it be something as simple as a big oak tree in somebody’s front yard that was no longer there or just little things that kind of started to stand out with the more time that I’d spend back in the area,” he said.

Cunningham settled back into his hometown and married his wife Ashleigh the summer of 2020. They have four children: Braylon, RayLynn, Jack and Hallie. He said his kids have shown interest in basketball but he doesn’t force them to play.

“Our sixth-grader Barylon is playing basketball right now and they’re on their tournament schedule,” he said. “They all show interest in it; it’s hard for them not to because they’re around it so much but I don’t overly push them.”

Cunningham said Ashleigh grew up in the area and they graduated high school the same year. He said when he returned to Waterford they reconnected and he has a “happy marriage and a happy life.”

“We’ve got a great community; it’s a very tight-knit family atmosphere and everybody looks out for each other,” he said. “If somebody falls on hard times or is in need of something, our community has always been great about stepping up and answering that call to help in any way they can.”

Cunningham said watching his kids grow up puts the timeline of life into perspective. He said he’s grateful to have had the experiences he did.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com