Sophie Cunningham’s legendary connection with the University of Missouri reached another milestone this weekend. The former Mizzou star has officially made history with her alma mater again, this time in a way no athlete (male or female) before her has.
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As shared on X, Cunningham has now been inducted into the general Mizzou Hall of Fame, joining an exclusive group that previously featured several big names, none of which were from sports. That makes her the first athlete ever inducted into the general Mizzou Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Alumni Association.
Sophie Cunningham played her entire college career at Mizzou, the University of Missouri, from 2015 to 2019, where she cemented herself as one of the greatest athletes in school history. She finished her career with 2,187 points, which made her the highest-scoring player in Mizzou Women’s Basketball history.
She also notably started in all 129 games of her college career, averaging 17.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, while successfully leading the Tigers to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. For all these achievements, last year, Sophie Cunningham was also inducted into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame. But this time, she went a notch higher.
The event that brought Sophie Cunningham back to campus was the annual Mizzou Homecoming festivities. Her professional season with the Indiana Fever had just concluded after a first-round playoff exit against the Las Vegas Aces. And because her season had wrapped up, her schedule cleared up perfectly for the weekend, and she ended up being a centerpiece of Mizzou’s Homecoming celebration.
She rode through the streets of Columbia in the back of a pickup truck during the Homecoming parade, waving to crowds who treated her like Missouri royalty. Later that afternoon at Faurot Field, she took the sidelines wearing a custom gray crewneck reading “Play Mr. Brightside,” a nod to Mizzou’s stadium anthem.
As part of the weekend’s peak festivities, she also attended the packed Homecoming football game at Faurot Field, where the No. 25 Tigers played the No. 8 Florida Gators. And she proved to be a lucky charm for the football team, as they dominated the Gators in a 45-17 blowout.
For Sophie Cunningham, going away to Missouri, however, did leave some unfinished business behind in Indiana. She is currently an unrestricted free agent after her one-year, $665,000 contract with the Indiana Fever officially concluded following the team’s elimination from the 2026 WNBA playoffs. That means she is completely free to negotiate and sign with any WNBA franchise when the free-agent negotiation period opens.
Speaking at the team’s exit interview, Indiana Fever general manager Amber Cox did praise Cunningham’s contributions to the team, but for her, there’s still a lot of time available to eventually reach a decision on Cunningham.
“Sophie’s had two really productive years for us in terms of shooting the basketball,” she said. “She is a really solid leader in the locker room, a great connector. She brings levity, but also brings a lot of experience, and she’s serious and is an important voice in our locker room when we need it.”
“She’s an unrestricted free agent, so we look forward to having those conversations. She had a really productive year, and we’ll see just where things take us. I mean, obviously, it’s really early, and we’ve got some time before we get to free agency,” she added.
During the 2026 WNBA regular season, Sophie Cunningham served as a crucial spark plug off the bench for the Indiana Fever, averaging 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. She also averaged 7.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game across the three playoff games against the Aces.
At the start of this season, she was quite vocal about her willingness to remain with the Fever, which eventually led to her just-concluded contract. If that’s still the case, then the decision now lies with the Fever front office.