April 23, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Junior forward Dante Cunningham and sophomore guard Scottie Reynolds headline the list of Villanova Basketball award winners announced today. The two will be among those honored tonight at the 2007-08 Villanova Men's Basketball Banquet in King of Prussia, Pa.

Cunningham (Silver Spring, Md.) topped the Wildcats in rebounding in 2007-08 at 6.5 rpg and was second on the squad in scoring at 10.4 ppg while starting all 35 games. That work helped earn him the Villanova Basketball Award. Previous winners include Michael Bradley (2001), Brooks Sales (2002), Randy Foye (2005), Mike Nardi and Will Sheridan (2007).

Reynolds is the 2008 recipient of the Most Outstanding Player Award. The native of Herndon, Va., was a second team All-BIG EAST Conference selection last season with a 15.9 ppg scoring average. He also topped the `Cats in assists with 113 (3.2 apg). Those who have captured this award in prior years include Gary Buchanan and Ricky Wright (2003), Allan Ray (2004 and 2006) and Curtis Sumpter (2005 and 2007).

The Jake Nevin Award, given each year to the Villanova player "whose selflessness provided an outstanding example to his teammates", belongs to junior forward Shane Clark. The Philadelphia native averaged 7.1 ppg and started 17 games despite battling injuries and illness during the campaign. Earlier recipients of this honor include Andrew Sullivan (2002 and 2003), Jason Fraser (2005) and Cunningham (2007).

The Paul Arizin Award winner in 2008 is junior swingman Dwayne Anderson. This award is presented to the Villanova player who improves most and Anderson is a worthy recipient. After seeing limited minutes in his first two seasons on the Main Line, Anderson became a starter and integral component in the Wildcat attack. His insertion into the starting lineup on Feb. 9, helped ignite the stretch run that lifted Villanova into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Former winners include Kyle Lowry (2006) and Reynolds (2007).

Junior forward Frank Tchuisi is the recipient of the Alexander Severance Award, which goes to the Villanova player "whose hard work and dedication in the classroom demonstrated a commitment to reaching his full potential." Previous winners include Andreas Bloch (2002), Tom Grace (2003), Fraser (2006) and Ross Condon (2007).

Tim Thomas, the 1997 national freshman of the year at Villanova, is this year's Alumni Appreciation Award winner while the Special Recognition Award goes to alumnus Tom Ford, Villanova class of 1985.

Villanova finished the 2007-08 season with a 22-13 record and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the third time since 2005.