By Mikael DeSanto
Sports Assignment Editor
This season will mark a year of change for the St. Bonaventure University women’s basketball team, as new players have arrived on campus to build upon the success of last season. One of those new coaches is Jesse Fleming, a 2005 journalism and mass communication graduate of the university.
While in school at Bonaventure, Fleming was a student manager for the women’s team, eventually becoming an assistant coach and associate head coach for former Head Coach Jim Crowley. After 11 years with the program, Fleming spent time with Stony Brook and Bowling Green as an assistant coach, before finally making the move back to Bonaventure this past summer.
“I love the program. I was a part of it for 10-11 years [and] was a student here when things weren’t going so [well],” Fleming said. “It means a lot because we have become such a good program and it is something that I want to come back in, protect and build on that legacy.”
Fleming said that another factor that made the move make sense was the connections he and his wife Stephanie, a former diving coach for the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, had here.
“My wife got her graduate degree here, so we have got a great group of friends here,” Fleming said. “We have gotten a lot of support from our administration here. I think it was just the right time to come back and I think I was a good fit to lead the program in my first job.”
He said the familiarity with the program and school will help him with the job immediately.
“I know what we can really sell as a university. I think that is something that I can step right in and it’s not learning,” Fleming said. “Recruits can sit in my office and I can say, ‘Hey, I went here, this is why Bonaventure is a great place and this is why you should come to St. Bonaventure.’ I think that has been a huge advantage for us and I can say it is a great place because there is a group of people around here.”
Since he coached under Crowley, Fleming expects his style to be similar, but with some key differences.
“I hope that you watch film and you watch us on TV, and you see echoes of the past teams,” Fleming said. “We are trying to put our own spin, especially offensively. We are probably running a little bit more plays than [Crowley] did in the past, having a little bit more options, maybe being a little bit more versatile there, but we will see how that goes.”
Fleming said he has specific goals in mind for his team this year and a philosophy for them to live by.
“My expectation is that we are going to defend, is that we are going to be really tough, I think everything else will work itself out,” Fleming said. “My goal right now is, and it is a boring old cliché, we have to be getting better every day. If we are not getting better now every day over the next couple months, then we are in trouble, and our girls need to adapt that.”
But looking back on the tradition of the team, Fleming said he sees something special in his team this year.
“I do think there is something to be said of [that] they can totally leave their own mark with the other players leaving and moving on,” Fleming said. “This is their chance to make their own team. This is my first year as a head coach, so we can continue that tradition together, and I think that should be really exciting for them. They also have a chance to contribute in their own special way.”
As changes are occurring within the program, there are changes coming about outside the team, namely a change in the format of the conference tournament.
Opening round games will now be played at higher seeds’ home arenas, and Fleming sees the benefit of it.
“I think it is great. When I was in the Mid-American conference that was the style we played for the last couple years,” Fleming said. “It keeps those mid-pack games near the end of the year, you are battling for a home game. It gives you really something to play for, even if you are having a middling season.”
Outside of basketball, Fleming said he enjoys following his favorite football team, spending some time on the links and eating good food.
“[I’m a] big Buffalo Bills fan, so I spend a lot of time grumbling about the Buffalo Bills,” Fleming said. “In the summer I am a golfer and then I just like to eat my wife’s food a lot, she is a great cook, so those are some of my favorite things outside of hoops.”
desantmj13@bonaventure.edu
