The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team will be on the big screen this season 14 times, five of those on ESPN programming.
CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network will be rounding out the national appearances, making it the most nationally televised games for Bonaventure since Mark Schmidt took over the program in 2006.
Bonaventure’s athletic director Tim Kenney was very pleased with the announcement. He said that he had no surprised feelings at all, as he expected the team to gain some national exposure.
“I was taken aback a little bit that ESPN took five games, which was great for us,” said Kenney. “Knowing where we’re going to be and looked upon as our place in the conference and with the A10 being a high profile conference, you assume there was going to be some more national coverage. I wouldn’t say surprised, I was more pleased.”
The national recognition demonstrates the hard work and accomplishments that have been achieved over the past few years, according to Kenney.
The program has seen unreachable heights recently under Schmidt’s coaching.
“I think people have taken notice. When you think about what they look for on television, they want to see an exciting crowd, a nice looking arena and a good game,” said Kenney. “We’ve always had the atmosphere in the RC. We’ve done things to step it up on an image standpoint with the floor and table and how it looks on television. Combine those steps behind the scenes with what the team has been able to do. You put those two together and that’s a good recipe for what television is looking for what they put games on the air.”
The Reilly Center will be hosting multiple exciting games this year, including a Saturday night game against University of Rhode Island that will be aired on ESPN2.
“The Rhode Island game is going to be a good one, but having ESPN come in for our Yale game is a big one that I’m looking forward to because they’re going to have a great team this year,” said Kenney. “Those two are probably the most I’m excited for.”
Kenney expressed the frustrations the program can feel due to the university’s location. He said how it can be difficult to schedule weekend games due to travel and coverage.
“I look at the schedule overall, and I’m very pleased,” said Kenney. “The disappointing part is we only have one Saturday night in-conference game. But that’s what happens when you’re being dictated by where you play, so that’s part of what you have to deal with. Those games are the most intriguing.”
The men’s basketball team will be kicking off their season on Nov. 10 at the Reilly Center against Niagara University.
odonneke16@bonaventure.edu
