Mugshot by Radnor Township Police

(Updated) Former Villanova star and current Charlotte Bobcats forward Dante Cunningham was arrested on Friday while driving recklessly in Radnor Township. After police received reports of a reckless driver in a silver pick-up truck on Lancaster Avenue, they found Cunningham driving through Wayne.

Officers claim that the Villanova grad “had a strong odor of marijuana,” when they pulled him over. They they searched the vehicle, uncovering a Tupperware container of marijuana, a silver grinder and a pipe in the center console. They also found more marijuana stored inside an M&M’s container and a loaded BB gun.

The items tested positive for Marijuana and Cunningham told police that they belonged to him.

Cunningham was later released on $10,000 bail pending a hearing, and is being charged with a vehicle code violation, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia as well as the violation of a Radnor ordinance prohibiting the possession of pellet guns.

In some states, the commission of any felony while in possession of a gun (even a BB gun) will increase the legal penalty substantially.

(h/t to theNovaBlog for catching this)

UPDATE 5/4: The Charlotte Bobcats have released the following statement regarding this incident:

“We are aware of the unfortunate incident involving Dante Cunningham in Pennsylvania. We are in the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment until the legal process has run its course.”

A special thanks to Fact on Villanova Sports for finding and posting this video. The play made the SportCenter top-10, and deservedly-so.

Blazer’s Edge had the following parting thoughts on Dante:

I’ve always been a not-so-closet Cunningham fan.  His energy stands out.  When he gets rolling he has a swagger that’s near-unique on this squad.  He doesn’t strut but his normal walk speaks volumes.  He can be a demon chasing the rebound.  His elbow jumper is fantastic.  He’s a heck of a leaper.  And I don’t see how anybody can sit still when he’s on the court.  He shows you up by moving faster, harder, and better than you.  He’s like a blue collar guy with serious hops and a shot.  The issue for Cunningham has always been position.  He’s too small to play as a true power forward and too slow laterally to defend opposing small forwards.  Several times this year he was a square peg in a round hole.  But he was a fun peg to watch nevertheless.  That energy won’t be replaced easily.

Check out Charlotte’s remaining schedule here.

(Hat tip to reader Vinny ’06)

Those numbers skew low, however, because Cunningham started the season in a limited role off of the bench, but has been playing more minutes lately, and earning some starts.

In tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Cunningham set NBA career highs with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Trailblazers, and probably would have added a few more in both categories if he hadn’t been in foul trouble.

One of Villanova’s hardest working players is working his way to professional success.

Dante was not projected to see a great deal of PT this year.  True to those projections, he didn’t see the floor in ten of the first fourteen games this season through November 21.  Yet, he’s made the most of his time in the four games he played (13 total minutes), scoring 8 points on 4-6 shooting, and grabbing 4 rebounds.

Season-ending injuries to forwards Nicolas Batum (shoulder) and Travis Outlaw (broken foot) should create more opportunities for Dante.  Portland’s GM, Kevin Pritchard will not immediately seek reinforcements. “I want to give Juwan and Dante an opportunity; they deserve it,” he said after the Blazers’ 99-95 overtime loss in Atlanta.”    There are signs that Dante is taking advantage of the opportunity.  In yesterday’s Blazers win over Chicago, Dante played 14 minutes, scored 4 points (2-3), had 3 rebounds and one block.  OregonLive.com reports that Dante “apparently has bypassed Juwan Howard as backup power forward.”

Kyle Lowry is currently competing for the starting PG role on the Houston Rockets. Most observers expect Aaron Brooks to take on a larger role in the offense this year, but Lowry intends to give him a run for his money. Lowry told reporters, “I know me and Aaron are going to go out there, we’re going to battle, and Coach is going to make the decision on who is best to be the starter. I think we both want that job. Whatever happens happens. We both have to go out there and play and help the team win.” Coaches have been impressed by Kyle’s conditioning coming into camp. He recently scored 12 points off the bench (but had more total minutes than Brooks) in a preseason game against the Bucks.

Randy Foye is struggling to make an impact early on (despite his own confident projections) with the Wizards and Rotoworld seems to think he may have fallen out of the SG competition. Foye is apparently seen to fit better as the primary backup to Gilbert Arenas, though Flip Saunders did give him a start at the 2 over the weekend. In Sunday’s game (a loss to the Raptors), he scored 10 points (3-of-9 FG, 0-of-1 3pt, 4-of-4 FT), had two rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 22 minutes.

Update: Randy Foye came off the bench and scored 21 points (19 in the fourth quarter) in the Wizards’ rout of the LeBron-less Cavs. Foye lead the team with 5 assists and also had 2 steals in 24 minutes. Mike Miller lead DC in scoring with 24 points. This performance helps Foye’s quest for minutes this season, but if he hopes to secure a starting job, he will have more work ahead.

Dante Cunningham is currently projected as the third-choice power forward on Portland’s roster. He was one of only two players who didn’t set foot on the court in the Blazers’ preseason opener. He doesn’t appear to be destined for a lot of minutes in his first season (having less than 20 minutes over the last two exhibition games). He was also recently spotted napping at Dodger Stadium (and having a prank played on him).

Tim Thomas was brought in by the Dallas Mavericks to provide help off the bench (specifically hoping boost their chances with 3-point shooting).  He had arthroscopic surgery on his knee last month, so his impact on the Dallas Mavericks roster this season largely remains to be seen. It has been speculated that he may provide value with post defense as well.

Finally, Malik Allen was traded over the summer to the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 49 games for the Bucks last season. Denverstiffs.com believes that if Allen can demonstrate an ability to hit his shots from 15-feet, that he can earn some significant minutes off of the Denver bench.

It is based on the old Air Jordan commercials of the same name.

Enjoy.

The pundits unanimously have proclaimed that the sky is the limit for this year’s version of the Wildcats, IF Mouphtaou Yarou is as good as we all hope. The theory is that Villanova will succeed only if a suitable replacement for Dante Cunningham is found. While most of us believe that Mouph will be effective, the question remains: could Villanova win without him?

With a guard-heavy lineup in 2005/2006, Villanova won a share of the Big East regular season title, a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and made an appearance in the Elite Eight. In 2005/2006, the frontcourt rotation consisted of Will Sheridan, Dante Cunningham, an injury-slowed Jason Frasier, Chris Charles, and Shane Clark. While Dante Cunningham contributed as necessary that year, he was hardly the player he became four years later. Jason Frasier, who came into Villanova as one of the most heralded players in his class, had been plagued by injuries and was relegated to picking up his minutes off of the bench. Jay Wright’s strongest lineup featured four guards and Will Sheridan for most of the year.

That’s not to say that Will Sheridan wasn’t a good player (lest I be accused of such a thing). However, in the scheme of college basketball, he was hardly the dominant big that most of the “experts” believe will be the key to Villanova’s success. What our frontcourt did in 2005/2006 was provide solid defense, and take advantage of the obvious opportunities on offense. Sheridan’s top stat categories were blocked shots and rebounds, after all.

Back to the question I started with: Can Villanova win without Yarou? The only returning frontcourt player from last year’s team, Antonio Pena hasn’t quite reached Will Sheridan’s levels of minutes, rebounding or blocked shots, though he has shown flashes of ability in his two seasons thus-far. Mo Sutton, the redshirt sophomore, brings a ton of height and a great shot-blocking instinct to this year’s team, in high school he averaged double-digit rebounding as well. If either of these players develops enough to fill Will Sheridan’s shoes, you can expect a good season from the Wildcats.

Players like Taylor King and Isaiah Armwood should also contribute in the frontcourt this semester, and have shown some level of offensive talent. Armwood is an athletic player with a good 15-foot shot (sound familiar?). None of our big men this year may do for us what Dante Cunningham did last year, but the range of frontcourt talent on the 2009/2010 Wildcats will surely produce enough to win quite a few games.

Without a dominant Mouph, the heights that this team can achieve are somewhat uncertain. With an excellent backcourt it may not be necessary to replace Dante Cunningham’s scoring but his defensive presence will be missed.

The Wildcats can win without an All-Big East big man this year. Mouph doesn’t need to be Dante Cunningham for the ‘Cats to have success. Hopefully that won’t be the case. I asked Chris Charles what he thought about Yarou, and his response was, “defend, rebound, set good screens & finish inside, I’ve seen him play this summer. He’ll be a beast!”

Blazers’ GM, Kevin Pritchard noted that Cunningham and fellow 2nd round pick Jeff Pendergraph will “ sign contracts before the season starts and give them roster spots.”

Cunningham finished 6th in rookie scoring during the Summer League. He finished 4 games averaging 18.25 points and 5.75 rebounds.

Check out this article about Dante being a “Second Round Surprise“.

Cunningham, the 33rd pick by the Portland Trailblazers scored 21 points and had 9 rebounds in 31 minutes in an 87-92 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Anderson was undrafted but is currently on the Washington Wizards’ Summer Squad, they will have their first game today against Cleveland.