By Bryce Kelly, Staff Writer
St. Bonaventure University basketball has a storied history. The men’s basketball team went to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 1970. The Bonnies that season led by future number one NBA draft pick Bob Lanier.
The Bonnies won the NIT in 1977 and have experienced a revival under coach Mark Schmidt. Schmidt’s team won the 2012 Atlantic-10 championship, led by NBA first-round pick Andrew Nicholson.
The men’s program has been to two NCAA tournaments in the past four years, earning a number nine seed in the 2021 NCAA tournament after the team won the A-10 regular season and postseason title.
While the men’s team has the more storied history, the women’s basketball team also has enjoyed success in the past.
Under head coach Jim Crowley, the Bonnies women had nine winning seasons from 2006-16 until Crowley departed for Providence College after the 2015-2016 season.
Under Crowley, the Bonnies made two NCAA Tournaments. The peak of the team’s success was in 2011-12 when the Bonnies went 31-4 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Considering that history, it is inexplicable how Jesse Fleming is still the head women’s basketball coach. Fleming has failed and is tarnishing the Bonnies’ rich basketball tradition.
After Fleming took over for Crowley after an NCAA tournament appearance, the program plummeted into despair. Fleming’s best season was his first when the team went 9-20 in 2016-17. Let me repeat that: the team went 9-20, five years after the program went 30-4. The program’s record under Fleming is 31-102.
Fleming’s supporters may argue that he deserves more time to build the program. After all, it took Crowley seven seasons until he had his first winning season. However, two key factors don’t make Fleming’s future look too bright.
One factor is the state of the program since the coaching change.
Crowley resurrected a program from Marti Whitmore, who had two winning seasons in seven years as head coach. But Fleming took over a program that had made two NCAA tournaments in the previous five years, including the year before Fleming got the job. Fleming inherited a much better program than Crowley and still turned it into a dumpster fire.
Another factor is the state of NCAA basketball.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, NCAA student athletes have been given a one-time waiver so players can transfer without sitting out the next year. Pundits are speculating this waiver could become permanent in future seasons, too.
When Crowley was struggling, the transfer rule mandated that players must sit out a year after transferring. This caused players to stick around even during tough times.
That’s not the case now. Players can transfer right away if they feel something isn’t right. And student athletes are fleeing the Bonaventure program under Fleming, as six players have already transferred from the program. Don’t be surprised if more leave.
Jesse Fleming’s story is a nice one. He graduated from Bonaventure, became an assistant, left for Bowling Green and came back to his school.
So what. I’d rather have a coach who has no tie to this place who gets wins and restores this once-proud program to credibility.
The fact Fleming remains as a women’s head coach makes me wonder if the Bonaventure athletic department cares about anything other than men’s basketball anymore.
It’s no secret men’s basketball is the cash cow for the school. Outside of basketball, Bonaventure’s athletics teams have a combined record of 17-65- 1 during this school year.
Fleming has had more than enough time and needs to go. Bonaventure needs a great men’s and women’s basketball team again. Bonaventure shouldn’t have paid a coach $155,000 in 2019 to win eight basketball games a year.
kellybw19@bonaventure.edu
