By Anthony Gannon
Sports Editor
It was a busy summer for Bonaventure athletics following the memorable seasons from the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Everything ranging from the Olympics to Orlando held its own little Olean touch. St. Bonaventure Athletics had a busy year keeping up with the Bonnies’ sports success, while also receiving a record $368,359 in donations, according to gobonnies.com. Last year’s donations raised a full $150 more than the previously documented record from the 2009-10 fiscal year.
Bonaventure athletics gained its biggest exposure on June 28 when SBU basketball legend Andrew Nicholson was picked 19th overall in the National Basketball Association’s annual draft.
When Nicholson reaches the court against the Denver Nuggets November 2, he’ll be the first Bonaventure player in the league since J.R. Bremer played five games with the Golden State Warriors in the 2003-04 season.
Coaches from around the Atlantic 10 and professional scouts gave Nicholson many positive reports which boosted his status from a fringe first round prospect to a definite middle first round player.
Nicholson’s contributions for St. Bonaventure on and off the court moved the Magic to select Nicholson so early in the draft. He should be able to help the Magic immediately with his strong game around the basket and a reliable jump shot past the NBA three-point-line, according to nba.com scouting reports. The Dwight Howard blockbuster trade cleared up court space that Nicholson will be expected to occupy.
Junior men’s swimmer Kevin (Jimmy) Martin competed at the Olympic Trials in the 100 meter Freestyle event. Martin finished the trials ranked 82nd with a time of 51.14. The qualifying time for the event was 51.49 which Martin surpassed in March with a 51.39 time. At the Atlantic 10 swimming championships, Martin swam a time of 44.82 which was four seconds faster than Scot Robinson’s winning time in the Olympic Trial.
Another Bonaventure Olympian, Stef Collins, started for Great Britain in the Olympic Tournament. She’s made the most international appearances for Great Britain and was the starting point guard for this year’s Great Britain Olympic team. Collins is the third leading 3 point shooter in Bonnies history and is currently ninth all-time in points scored.
Despite Bonaventure not having a football program since 1952, there was still gridiron news about the Bonnies with Jack Butler’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During his induction speech, Butler talked shortly of his days at St. Bonaventure and what led him to choose the game instead of taking a path to the priesthood, which he had initially considered.
Butler is considered one of the best defensive players of his era, as evidenced by his election to the hall, and 52 years after he stopped playing the game due to a debilitating knee injury, Butler was welcomed to Canton with open arms. Black and Gold throwback uniforms with Butler’s playing number of 80 were littered among the landscape of fans that made it to the ceremony. In his time after the game he started a professional football scouting agency that is still used today by several NFL teams today. Butler was one of six players inducted this year and second Steeler inducted this year after Dermontti Dawson.
Athletic stories from across the Bonaventure landscape made 2012 a banner year, literally and figuratively. With the new semester and athletic seasons starting, the Bonnies stand poised to have another memorable year inside and outside the lines.
gannonam10@bonaventure.edu
