Photo: @BonniesMBB/Twitter
BY JONNY WALKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team debuted a retooled roster during its annual exhibition game with Division III Alfred University Wednesday night in the Reilly Center.
Bona’s starting lineup featured three returners — Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference First Team guard Daryl Banks III, forward Assa Essamvous (formerly known as Yann Farrell) and Preseason All-Conference Third Team forward Chad Venning — alongside two graduate transfers — guards Charles Pride (Bryant) and Mika Adams-Woods (Cincinnati). However, head coach Mark Schmidt said he expects upwards of ten players to see significant minutes on a game-to-game basis this season.
“The guys that start the game — I don’t really care,” said Schmidt. “I guess you get introduced, and you can, you know, wave to your girlfriend in the stands … I think we have nine-to-ten really good players that, if they share the ball and play together — we have a pretty good group.”
Stemming from Schmidt’s “Iron Man Five 2.0” group that played the most minutes of any lineup in the country three seasons ago, the 17th-year head coach has a reputation for relying heavily on his starters. Just last season, Banks logged the most minutes per game of any player in the country while starting all 32 of Bonaventure’s contests.
But Schmidt said he expects his team’s depth this season to limit his starters’ minutes.
“We have a lot of good players,” said Schmidt. “Guys aren’t going to play 35, 40 minutes a game. They’re going to share some time.”
Schmidt said he has seen no dropoff in production between his first and second units. He called that second group an extension of the first, viewing it as a way to insert four or five “new starters” with fresh legs into games.
“You look at [big-men] Chad [Venning] and Noel [Brown], or [guards] Moses [Flowers] and Daryl [Banks III] — there’s no slippage,” said Schmidt. “All these guys are going to play. Now can they accept playing 22 minutes a game rather than 30 minutes a game? We’ll see.”
None of Bonaventure’s key players voiced concern regarding the possibility of seeing reduced minutes.
“When you have a team like this, everybody has to make certain sacrifices,” said Banks, a team captain. “But, the main goal is to win, so we’re doing what it takes to win.”
Flowers, Banks’ co-captain, agreed that the team has united around the common goal of maximizing wins — even at the expense of individual success.
“It’s nice knowing that you can give your all, and then when you come out [of] the game, your teammate has your back — and it’s gonna be the same thing back,” said Flowers.
Despite starting Bonaventure’s final 11 games of last season, Flowers came off the bench during Wednesday night’s exhibition. The redshirt-senior guard registered a team-high 12 points in only 14 minutes, hitting three of five 3-point attempts and drawing a foul on another.
“I see my role being the same [as last season],” said Flowers. “Just coming in to defend, making shots, getting to my spots, creating for my teammates and rebounding. So, I don’t think nothing has changed. Regardless — start or no start — I just play my game and do what I can to help the team win.”
Pride, a graduate-transfer, appeared to replace Flowers in Bona’s starting lineup. At Bryant, Pride earned multiple all-conference honors and led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
“I feel like I fit pretty well with this group,” said Pride. “My best attributes are probably just being a winning player. I don’t really care how many points I score, or whatever. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win — whether it’s go get 15 rebounds or find open players.”
At point guard, Schmidt gave Bonaventure’s other graduate transfer, Adams-Woods, the start over returning-starter Kyrell Luc. Adams-Woods had 10 points in 20 minutes. However, Luc still managed six points in 14 minutes. Schmidt declined to name Luc or Adams-Woods the permanent starter going forward.
“Whoever was out there was going to play really well,” said Schmidt. “That’s good for me as a coach but [also] good for our team.”
Forwards Essamvous and Venning rounded out Bona’s starting lineup. Essamvous totaled two points and one rebound in 14 minutes. Venning finished with 11 points on six shots but split time with Brown, a redshirt-junior transfer (George Washington).
“It’s not holding us back. It’s only propelling us further,” said Venning. “So, of course I don’t feel no way about it.”
The Bonnies’ regular season starts Monday at 7 p.m. The team will host Longwood in the Reilly Center.
“If we can stay unselfish, and we can be happy for the success of the other players, their other teammates, then we’re gonna have a chance to have a successful season,” said Schmidt.
walkerjc20@bonaventure.edu
