By Jeff Uveino, Sports Staff
It is no secret that St. Bonaventure has one of the most highly-acclaimed lineup of guards in college basketball, but there is one less-known player who will play a big part in keeping the Bonnies’ wheels turning—Idris Taqqee.
Entering his senior season, Taqqee will serve as one of the team captains this season, along with Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley. The leadership role is one that he does not take lightly.
“It means everything. I have to be an example and when they have questions I need to be ready to answer them,” Taqqee said. “Especially when we’re in practice, I have to be more on my game and know everything from every point of view, so it’s definitely something that I like.”
Taqqee started all 32 games for the Bonnies last season, averaging 33.8 minutes per game. He finished fifth in the A10 with 2.3 offensive rebounds per game, and scored 6.8 points per game. Taqqee is a lifetime 42% shooter from the field, and a 65% free throw shooter. The 6’4 guard will be looking to improve upon those numbers in order to be a difference maker for head coach Mark Schmidt this season.
“I watched a lot of film making sure that my weaknesses are being tweaked a little bit,” Taqqee said. “This year we need to take every day to make sure we’re doing our job. Last year we lacked consistency, so this year we need to be more consistent.”
With this being his last year at St. Bonaventure, Taqqee took a moment to reflect on his time here, and what playing in front of the famous ‘Wolf Pack’ in the Reilly Center has meant to him.
“It’s meant everything, this has been the place for me since I got here,” he said. ” We do it for us, but we also do it for the fans and everyone that comes and supports us. They get to see how hard we’ve been working, so we definitely put it out there for everyone that supports us.”
From a team standpoint, the Bonnies are a popular pick to make a deep postseason run this year. After losing to Rhode Island in the quarterfinals of the A10 tournament last season, expectations are higher this year.
“We just have to take it a day at a time. Don’t look ahead too far, stay focused every day,” said Taqqee.
A trip to the NCAA tournament would certainly be icing on the cake for a senior who will have put in four years for this program.
“That would be great, just to cap it off,” said Taqqee. “It’s definitely something I’ve had my eye on since I arrived here, it would be a great experience.”
The Bonnies will open up regular season play today at home vs. Niagara University at 8 p.m.
