BY TOM SEIPP, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
It’s been 604 days since the Reilly Center has been packed with rowdy students for a men’s basketball game. For the 16 home games at St. Bonaventure this year, fans will return with a treat: the ability to watch one of the best 25 teams in the country; or at least that’s what the AP Poll suggests.
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies come into the 2021-22 season with high expectations. Not only from the diehard students and alumni that attend the university, but from people all over the country. Wednesday, it was announced that the Bonnies were unanimously chosen as the No. 1 seed in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll.
“To be picked No. 1 in such a good league with great coaches, great programs and great players is a great honor and we don’t take lightly,” head coach Mark Schmidt said. “We built it.”
Expectations have been high nationally thanks to the return of all five seniors, including two preseason A10 First Team selections: Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi.
Lofton, a first team all-conference honoree and a Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team honoree in the 2020-21 season, returns as the senior leader and point guard for the Bonnies. He’s been the Bonnies leader since his freshman year, leading the Bonnies in points, assists and steals last season.
Osunniyi returns after a big year for the 6-foot-10 center. Osunniyi only progressed as the year continued, closing out the Atlantic 10 Championship being named Most Outstanding Player after winning the 2020-21 A10 Defensive Player of the Year. Last year, Osunniyi nearly averaged a double-double, accumulating 10.7 points-per-game and 9.4 rebounds-per-game.
The Bonnies also return their other three starters: Jalen Adaway, Jaren Holmes and Dominick Welch.
Bonnies fans know what to expect from their starters, and they’ll be tested early in Schmidt calls “the toughest non-conference since I’ve been here” and “the toughest in the last three decades.”
Bonaventure will open up at home on Nov. 9 against Siena and follow it up with a Sunday evening matchup with Canisius on Nov. 14 before making a trip to South Carolina. The Bonnies will play in the Charleston Classic, a mid-season tournament, on Nov. 18 against Boise State. Other teams they could matchup against include Ole Miss, Marquette, Temple and West Virginia.
After that test, the schedule doesn’t lighten up. After the Charleston trip, the Bonnies will host Northern Iowa (Nov. 27), Coppin State (Dec. 1), Buffalo (Dec. 4) and Loyola (Maryland) (Dec. 8) at home.
To conclude the non-conference schedule, the Bonnies go on the road for the final three games: at a neutral site in Newark, New Jersey against UConn (Dec. 11), a neutral site game in Charlotte, North Carolina against Virginia Tech (Dec. 17), and their lone true road game on the non-conference schedule, at Northeastern (Dec. 22).
The Bonnies will be featured many times on national television, especially on ESPN’s Friday Night Atlantic 10 Showcase, highlighted with home dates with VCU and Richmond.
It will be a tough task for Bonaventure to go against a much tougher schedule. But, depth is an option for Schmidt. After a great group of newcomers enters for the Bonnies, Schimdt can turn to his bench for the first time in a few years.
The one name that stands out is Karim Coulibaly, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh. Coulibaly started 20 games a year ago for Pitt, averaging 5.2 PPG and 3.9 rebounds-per-game. In the first few weeks of practice, his play has stood out to the coaching staff.
“Karim has played at a high level, he’s a physical guy, knows how to play,” Schmidt said. “If there’s one guy in the first three weeks of practice that has stuck out to the coaching staff it’s Karim. He’s tough, physical, and can shoot the ball from the premier. “
Coulibaly is a big addition for a Bonaventure squad that was limited with their frontcourt depth behind Osunniyi last year.
The Bonnies bring in two freshmen who could also make an immediate impact: Joryam Saizonou and Justin Ndjock-Tadjore.
Saizonou, a freshman point guard out of the Netherlands, could provide depth at the point behind Lofton, who had the third most minutes-per-game in the nation last year. Ndjock-Tadjore could be a depth piece behind Adaway/Holmes/Welch.
Quadry Adams, a transfer from Wake Forest, Oluwasegun Durosinmi, Linton Brown, Anouar Mellouk and Pedro Rossi round out the incoming class for 2021. Brett Rumpel, a freshman from Binghamton, New York, will redshirt.
The Bonnies have a lot of expectations for this upcoming year, and after a long summer waiting, we’ll finally get to see them soon.
“The only expectations that matter are our expectations,” Schmidt said. “The games are won on the court. Last year was last year, this is a whole new year.”
seipptw19@bonaventure.edu
