Carlos Zuniga broke out as a sophomore during the 1973-74 season where he was named the City’s Most Valuable sophomore by the Times-Picayune. He was part of the Big 3 along with Felton Young and Hayward Hewitt to lead the Tigers to a 35-6 record and a state runner-up finish. The Tigers split the season series with Brother Martin handing the Crusaders one of their only two losses on the year. They finished 18-2 in District with both losses coming to State Champion Brother Martin. Brother Martin prevailed 67-56 in the state championship game. The Tigers won the CYO and Terrebonne Tournament titles that season as well. 

Zuniga Led the Tigers to a 26-7 record in 1974-75 and led his team in scoring as a junior in route to All-District honors. After being named MVP of the prestigious CYO Basketball Tourney in 1975 after leading the Tigers to the championship with a 66-58 win over Rummel in which he scored 29 points. 

Zuniga dominated the headlines as a senior earning Most Outstanding Player on the Class AAAA All-State basketball team selected by the LSWA. He led the Tigers to a 32-3 record scoring 14.5 points per game to go along with 15 rebounds per game from his forward position. He was also named Most Valuable Player in District 11-AAAA and was named to the 6-man States-Item All-City team. 
Zuniga signed with Tulane University and played three seasons for the Green Wave from 1976-79.  

He was named to the Metro Conference All-Freshman team in 1977.
His best season came in 1977-78 when he led the Green Wave in rebounds (6.3 per game), minutes played (781), blocks (17), FG Made (156), FG % (.491), and steals (53). He still holds the school record for most steals in a game with 10. The steals record was set on Dec 18, 1977, against LSU. He earned 2nd Team All-Metro Conference honors that year as well. He played in 79 career games and averaged 11.2 points per game and finished his career with 884 points scored.

In 1981, Zuniga played a season for the Molten Stars in the Southern California summer pro league. Following his time for the Molten Stars, Detroit Pistons coach Scotty Robertson and General Manager Jack McCloskey signed Zuniga to a free agent contract where he went to training camp.