The Cunningham name is synonymous with Warrnambool basketball.
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And now it's Malakye's turn to make his name in the sport.
The 17-year-old has just been accepted into BigTyme Sports Preparatory Academy in Rockwall, Texas, and will finish high school there.
The year 11 Warrnambool College student will be a senior (year 12).
The school offers professional level athletic training and will help the teenager further develop as a player.
"My dad was just sending out my game footage to different prep schools around the country (United States) and I think I had about seven to choose from and BigTyme popped up right at the last second and as soon as they did I was like 'that's the one I want to go to'," he said.
"Just their program, watching the games on YouTube, it's a program I think I can fit into."
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It comes after his older brother AJ went to college in Maine two years ago for basketball.
Cunningham said AJ had to come back to Australia because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Even though he did it for college and I'm doing it for high school, it's still having that person who can tell me what the experience is going to be like and what to expect," Cunningham said.
The young gun - who also has a 10-year-old brother, Amiyus - flies out on Boxing Day and will jump straight into the program.
"A lot of my classes will be online and I'll be playing with the school's national team, they have two teams - there's a regional team and a national one," he said.
"The national team travels all over the country to play."
The Warrnambool youngster is going to use the next month to tune up for the experience.
"I'll be straight into the season and straight into school and training so I'm trying to stay match-fit playing here," he said.
"I'm going to play the first few rounds of CBL (Country Basketball League) before I head out."
Cunningham is also playing in the inaugural under 23 Seahawks Championship League on Thursday nights.
He plays for the Jack Huxtable-coached Bombers and is loving the new tournament.
"It's something else for kids who aren't in squad (representative) teams and who aren't doing that kind of stuff to feel like they're a part of something so I think it's pretty good," he said.
The shooting-guard/small-forward said his dad Bobby - a former Seahawks star player and coach - was his basketball inspiration.
"(I'm) watching his old tapes and then trying to emulate that into my game," he said.
"I'm looking at old tapes and I can see the similarities there so modelling my game after him has definitely helped me get to where I am."
Cunningham also gave a shout out to his mum, Jasmine, and all his basketball mentors including the likes of Alex Gynes, Tim Gainey, James Mitchell and Tom Symons.
Warrnambool Seahawks and Mermaids chairman Jacob Sobey has confirmed Gynes will lead the Seahawks in the Big V for the next two years while Lee Primmer has also signed for the next two seasons as the Mermaids' Big V mentor.
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