Nicknamed "the Twirl",[1] he played college basketball for the Robert Morris Colonials and Detroit Mercy Titans.

[1][2][5] Cureton was required by NCAA rules to sit out a year due to the transfer, when Vitale left for the Detroit Pistons and was replaced by Smokey Gaines.

[2] Cureton paired with future NBA player Terry Duerod to lead the Titans to the 1979 NCAA tournament,[1][6] losing to Lamar 95–87 in the first round.

[8] Cureton had a stellar senior season in 1979–80, averaging 19.9 points and 9.1 rebounds, and was inducted into the Detroit Mercy Titans Hall of Fame in 2007.

He became a journeyman for the rest of his career, traded to the Chicago Bulls in 1987, and then playing for the Los Angeles Clippers (1987–88) and Charlotte Hornets (1988–89, 1990–91),[3] with another stint in between in Italy with Philips Milano (1989–90).

They stopped touring in March 1994, and Cureton joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association.

[18] Following eight games with the Skyforce,[18] he signed with the Houston Rockets near the end of their 1993–94 season,[11][16] in time to qualify for their postseason roster.

In the playoffs, he filled in for injured forward Carl Herrera, becoming a key rotational player as a backup to Hakeem Olajuwon and Otis Thorpe.

[11] Houston planned to invite Cureton to their 1994–95 training camp,[19] but he blew out the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and was troubled by some nerve damage.

[20] In 1996, Cureton played six months with a Buenos Aires team in Argentina's Liga Nacional de Básquet.

He parted ways with the team in January 2005 and returned to the Long Beach Jam, where he served as chief of basketball operations for the rest of the season.