By Mike Hogan, editor-in-chief
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY – The music blasting through Amadi Ikpeze’s speaker bounced off the white-painted walls of the Reilly Center as he shot baskets alone on Tuesday morning around 10:30 a.m.
He turned the music off and walked to an empty section of blue bleachers facing Bob Lanier Court. Ikpeze, the lone senior on the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team, thought back to the surreal experience he had last Thursday in Brooklyn, New York.
The Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship: canceled. The NCAA Tournament: canceled. The entire sports world came to a screeching halt amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Ikpeze, in the middle of a pregame nap, got a knock on his door at the team hotel.
“We were supposed to leave to go to the arena in 30 minutes,” Ikpeze said. “The managers told us we had a team meeting and that the whole tournament was being canceled.”
While the news stunned Ikpeze, the NBA had suspended its season the night before. He had an intuition that college basketball could be next.
“At first I was thinking, ‘dang is this really it? Is this how it’s going to end,’” Ikpeze said. “Seeing the situation, if the NBA could do it, college was probably next. Health is the number one priority. It’s really out of our control. At least it wasn’t an injury or something else that ended my career.”
Ikpeze said Bonnies’ head coach Mark Schmidt expressed a similar message during the team meeting at the hotel.
“He said he felt sorry for me and all of my teammates,” Ikpeze siad. “We were grinding all year, and we felt like we were in position to make a run. We realized it was a bigger situation than most had thought, and the decision was in our best interest.”
Ikpeze had a lot of peaks and valleys during his four-year Bona career. He played in 120 games and started 36 times. He averaged just over three points per game and 2.7 rebounds per game. Ikpeze was a known fan-favorite, especially among students. The team named him a captain prior to the season. Ahead of this season, Ikpeze’s work ethic caught the eye of Schmidt and the coaching staff.
This offseason, Ikpeze took better care of himself and he got into better basketball shape.
While Ikpeze didn’t get the chance to compete in a Bona uniform for the last time in Brooklyn, he has arrived at proper closure on his collegiate career through reflection.
“I find closure just knowing how much I’ve matured during my time here,” Ikpeze said. “And just really understanding what it means to be a basketball player. I feel like I learned that games are always exciting, but it’s the days that lead up to the game and the days after that make good basketball players.”
Ikpeze said, “Staying in the gym, staying prepared. Just staying ready for the opportunity.”
As his young teammates continue their collegiate careers, Ikpeze also finds closure by knowing he set a good example for them every day.
“They can do amazing things here,” Ikpeze said. “I feel like the main thing that hopefully I helped these guys realize, is that you need to work. Coach always tells us that success isn’t free. You pay rent every day. I wasn’t the best player, but I came to work every day, did the little things and made sure I got better.”
As Ikpeze continued to gaze at Bob Lanier Court, he said he doesn’t know what will come next. But as four years at St. Bonaventure taught him, he’ll be prepared.
“Yeah. Just trying to stay ready for whatever opportunity presents itself next.”
