The Missouri Tigers began announcing the 2025 class for the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame on Monday.
First up was women’s basketball great Sophie Cunningham.
Cunningham joined the Tigers in 2015 and played four seasons, instantly becoming a key part of the best sustained run in Missouri women’s basketball history as she was named SEC Freshman of the Year.
As a freshman, she already led the team with 14.0 points per game to go with 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field. She helped lead the Tigers to the first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade and the first trip to the second round since 2000-01.
Then she led the team back to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore, marking the first time the Tigers made it in consecutive years since making the first round in 1984-85 and the second round in 1985-86. It was the first time the Tigers ever made the second round in consecutive seasons.
Her 17.5 points and 3.4 assists per game once again led the team, while she also grabbed 5.3 rebounds per contest and reached double-figure scoring in 26-of-31 games, while reaching 32 points in three games. She was named to the All-SEC First Team, and was an AP All-America Honorable Mention.
In her junior season, the Tigers went back to the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive year, marking the first time Mizzou had reached that mark since a run from 1983-84 to 1985-86.
Cunningham was the only player in the country to shoot better than 54 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line as she climbed the all-time scoring ranks in program history. She was named First Team All-SEC for a second consecutive sason and was an AP All-America Honorable Mention, also for a second consecutive year, while being a finalist for Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year, the John R. Wooden National Player of the Year and the Naismith National Player of the Year.
Then came her senior season and a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, making the second round for a third time.
She averaged 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game and became the first player in program history to be named to an All-America team, earning Third Team honors from the Associated Press.
Cunningham finished her career as Mizzou’s all-time leading scorer with 2,187 points and all-time leader in made free throws with 537. At the time of her departure, she ranked second in 3-pointers made with 238, second in 3-point percentage at 40.3, second in free-throw percentage at 83.9, third in points per game with 17.0, fourth in assists at 390, fourth in field goals made with 706 and eighth in field goal percentage at 50.1.
She was named to the All-SEC First Team for a third consectuve season, becoming the first player in program history to earn three All-Conference First Team honors. She was once again a finalist for the Cheryl Miller, the Wooden Award and the Naismith.
Since her graduation, the Columbia native has gone on to have a productive WNBA career, averaging 8.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, starting 92-of-182 career appearances.
She spent her first six seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, but was traded during the past offseason to join the Indiana Fever and phenom Caitlin Clark.
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