Bunge's career was interrupted, and his entire life impacted, by flareups of ulcerative colitis that was discovered during his freshman year at Maryland.

Born in Delanco Township, New Jersey, Bunge played football, basketball and baseball at Palmyra High School.

[2] He was high school teammates with future Wake Forest Hall of Fame inductee Dave Wiedeman.

It was assumed that Wiedeman was going to attend Maryland with Bunge, before eventually enrolling at Atlantic Coast Conference rival Wake Forest University.

In the Final, Maryland defeated defending National Champion, #13 ranked North Carolina 86–74 to capture the ACC Tournament.

"[9] In the 1958 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, Maryland Won their First round (86–63) against Boston College, then lost in the East Regional semifinal (71–67) versus the Temple Owls.

Bunge suffered from ulcerative colitis that was first discovered during his freshman year at Maryland, and he had lost 55 pounds at that time.

[12] Following the 1959–60 collegiate season, Bunge was selected to play in the Shrine East-West basketball game at Madison Square Garden.

The final team was made up of seven collegiate stars, four AAU players (Burdette Haldorson of the Phillips 66ers) and one representative of the US Armed Forces (guard Adrian Smith).

This compromise meant that many top college players were left off the team, including Bunge and Future Hall of Famers Satch Sanders, John Havlicek and Lenny Wilkens.

[14][15] Before the 1960 NBA draft, Bunge was contacted by the New York Knicks, Syracuse Nationals, Fort Wayne Pistons and Philadelphia Warriors, among others.

[16] Hall of Fame players Oscar Robertson (#1), Jerry West (#2), and Lenny Wilkens (#6) were selected just ahead of Bunge.

[17] In the era before sports agents, Bunge had a contract dispute with the Warriors' President and General Manager Eddie Gottlieb.

[5] Ultimately, Bunge and another 1960 first round pick, Lee Shaffer, signed with Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams, bypassing the NBA.

[12][6] In January 2018, the 1958 NCAA Tournament Team was honored by Maryland at halftime of their game vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes, with Bunge in attendance.