Mark Schmidt and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies have worked hard through the not even three-month long offseason to replace an unheard of 99.8% of their scoring from 21-22 season.
An insane task, but:
Never question the leadership of Mark Schmidt.
A head coach for the last two decades, Schmidt has made St. Bonaventure his home since the 07-08 season. His task when first hired? Navigate the program to not only compete but thrive in the A-10, a goal that was teased by Jim O’Brien in the 1980s prior to him leaving to coach at Boston College and achieved towards the end of Jim Baron’s tenure before he left to coach at Rhode Island.
For over a century, Bonnies basketball has been an institution in Olean, NY. During a two decade period between the 1951-1952 and 1970-1971 seasons, the Bonnies (then the Brown Indians) were ranked at some point within thirteen seasons, including three top-three finishes between the 1960-1961 and 1969-1970 seasons.
The program’s pinnacle could be arguably pinpointed on an exact date: March 14, 1970. Playing in the Elite Eight against Villanova in Columbia, SC, St. Bonaventure beat the Wildcats handedly: a 97-74 whooping led by 26 points from All-American, and future Hall of Fame center Bob Lainier. Lainier was poised for an ever bigger game until Wildcats’ wing Chris Ford accidentally collided with Lainier, injuring his knee and forcing him out of game play for the remainder of the tournament, ostensibly crushing St. Bonaventure’s title dreams.
Five days later, playing in their first and only Final Four, St. Bonaventure had no one on their roster to adequately defend Jacksonville’s 7’2 center Artis Gilmore (also a future Hall of Famer), who scored 29 points and secured 21 rebounds in the 91-83 defeat over St. Bonaventure. In fact, 6’5 forward Matt Gantt was the tallest player on St. Bonaventure’s roster that night. What if that Final Four matchup were a battle of the two future Hall of Fame centers? We’ll never know.
The following season was the beginning of the downfall of the program, their last nationally ranked season until the 2021-2022 season when the Bonnies were ranked 16th following their championship victory in the Charleston Classic, defeating Boise State and Clemson prior to facing and defeating Marquette in the championship game.
The 21-22 Bonnies roster was nearly identical to its 20-21 roster: in fact, its 82.5% minutes continuity ranked 5th nationally. Osun Osunniyi (4th all time in Bonnies’ history for career rebounds and 1st in blocks) was the rim running center, Kyle Lofton (3rd all time in assists and 7th in steals) was the dual threat point guard while Jaren Holmes, Dominick Welch and Jaden Adaway held down the other three starting spots, all 6’4-6’5ish and 205lb-215lbish in positionless roles. All starters played 30+ mpg, all were seniors and all have moved on to play pro ball (Adaway) or take their fifth year seasons elsewhere.
While it’s certain that Schmidt has never had to deal with this level of attrition before, he was in a similar position just four years ago.
At the time, the 2017-2018 season was arguably Schmidt’s best season in Olean. Led by senior Jaylen Adams (6th all time in points, 4th in assists and 8th in steals), the Bonnies finished the season 26-8, earning an 11-seed and defeating UCLA in the play-in 11 seed matchup in Dayton. Following their loss to Florida, Schmidt entered the following season with just 36.5% minutes continuity, which ranked within the bottom third of the nation.
That offseason solidified the bedrock of the team’s success over the last four seasons: On January 23rd the Bonnies had three exciting freshmen start for the first time: Kyle Lofton, Dominick Welch and Osun Osunniyi, three pillars of this program for the last four years.
Flash forward to March 29th of this year when St. Bonaventure lost in the NIT semifinals to Xavier. It was clear that the program was going to look very different.
Especially, the backcourt is going to look a lot smaller. The first three commits of the offseason were Hartford 6’3 180 senior guard Moses Flowers, Saint Peter’s 6’3 165 senior guard Daryl Banks III and Holy Child 5’11 165 sophomore point guard Kyrell Luc. What size they lack, the trio brings scoring (averaged a combined 39.3 ppg) and strong outside shooting (each player averaging at least 35.5% from three).
The next layer that began to take shape was the frontcourt. In May, Max Amadasun, a 6’10 245 former three-star recruit from Pitt, and Chad Venning, a 6’10 280 center from Morgan State transferred, both with three years eligibility remaining. Just a week after getting an offer from Saint Bonaventure, incoming freshman Melian Martinez, a 6’10 200 big from Santo Domingo, signed with the squad and brings long-term potential. He is currently ranked as the 60th best center in 247’s ‘22 rankings. Between these three, there’s a bit of uncertainty who will get the lion’s share of minutes, if any at all. More on that later.
The new group of forwards were the last to come together and it started with a bang in late-May when the Bonnies beat out ten high-major programs to haul in Brewster Academy’s Yann Farrell. Ranked as the #139 recruit in ‘22 by 247’s composite rankings, Farrell is the highest ranked high school recruit in the school’s history. Along with Farrell, Putnam Science Academy’s Barry Evans was signed back in the fall. The 6’8 205 forward out of Baltimore picked the Bonnies over nine other D1 programs including UMass, North Texas and Towson. In June, 6’9 195 sophomore Anquan Hill transferred from Fairleigh Dickinson. The NEC Rookie of the Year, Hill brings an athletic, versatile game. At FDU, Hill played all of his minutes at the 5 and if he does so at St. Bonaventure, there’s a good chance Schmidt’s lineups will be smaller and quicker than in the last four years.
It would be remiss to review the offseason without spotlighting the three returning players, but considering that only one of these players played last season and played for just a total of 30 minutes, it seems more fair to profile this group as newcomers. Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, a 6’7 195 sophomore from Quebec, is a late-bloomer who didn’t play basketball until he was fifteen. Understandably, his fundamentals are still developing, but he is noted as a slasher thanks to his athleticism and vision. He’s an exciting project for sure.
Anouar Mellouk, a 6’8 205 redshirt freshman from the Netherlands is a similar story to JNT with Mellouk starting to play basketball during his freshman year of high school. His 7’1 wingspan, up-tempo ability, rim-protection and motor are perfect ingredients for a switchable defensive disruptor.
Brett Rumpel, a 6’4 190 redshirt freshman from Binghamton, NY, is a scoring combo guard noted for his competitiveness, an ability to break down defenders and comfort shooting midrange and beyond. Rumpel was arguably the most touted recruit of the ‘21 offseason, with seven D1 offers including DePaul, George Washington and Fordham.
Ostensibly, the 22-23 season will be an entirely new roster with an opportunity to make major changes in strategic philosophies. The Lofton/Osunniyi/Welch era was known for its slow, hard to rattle offense that rarely attacked the rim while the Jaylen Adams led teams played at a faster pace. With smaller guards and athletic forwards, there’s a good chance these next few years will play at a pace closer to what we saw prior to the Lofton/Osunniyi/Welch era.
With no continuity, it’s anyone’s guess on how rotations will be set, but it’s almost certain that Schmidt will experiment as the season progresses. Here’s my guess in what the starting lineup will look like in opening day:
PG: Kyrell Luc 5’11 160. Stats from Holy Cross: 13.9p, 3.6r, 2.4a, 2.7 to, 1.5s, 40.7 2p%, 35.5 3p% (about one-quarter of FGAs are from deep) in 32.5 mpg. 3 years of eligibility remaining.
It’s Luc’s job to lose. The A/TO ratio is a bit alarming, but it’s easy to take those stats with a grain of salt playing for the Crusaders, who have been 17-62 during Brett Nelson’s three year tenure.
G: Moses Flowers 6’3 180. Stats from Hartford: 14.1p, 6.3r, 1.8a, 2.0 to, 1.5s, 56.9 2p%, 36.1 3p% (about 40% of FGAs are from deep), 4.1 ftas (tied for 201st in nation) in 31.3 mpg. 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Flowers was the alpha-guard at Hartford last season and the Bonnies can use a ball-dominant bucket-getter in their starting lineup.
G: Daryl Banks III 6’3 165. Stats from St. Peter’s: 11.3p, 2.6r, 1.4a, 1.5 to, 1.1s, 39.9 2p%, 36.7 3p% (about 40% of FGAs are from deep) in 26.7 mpg. 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Banks III became a household name after dropping 27 on Kentucky during St. Peter’s monster upset over the not-so-likeable Wildcats. Banks III is a high IQ two-way guard who can shoot from outside. No chance Banks III would have played big minutes for Shaheen Holloway if he did not bring defensive intensity and sauvy, so it is exciting to imagine Banks III pestering the top guards in the A-10.
F: Yann Farrell 6’6 190 freshman.
Throughout the years, Schmidt has shown that he is not afraid to start freshman. Combining Farrell’s pedigree with his athleticism, toughness, rebounding, motor and ability to defend multiple positions makes for a nice profile to pair with scorers Luc/Flowers/Banks.
F: Anquan Hill 6’9 195. Overall stats from FDU: 7.7p, 5.2r, 1.3a, 1.3 to, 0.6s, 0.9b, 48.0 2p%, 27.6 3p% (about 15% of FGAs are from deep) in 24.1 mpg.
Stats from the last 13 games of the season: 12.2p, 6.9r, 2.1a, 1.6 to, 0.9s, 0.8b, 51.0 2p%, 42.1 3p% (18.5% of FGAs are from deep) in 32.2 mpg.
First looking at his physical stats, I was tentative starting Hill at the 5, but comparing Hill’s freshman year listed size (6’9 195) to Osun Osunniyi’s freshman year (6’10 190) made me more confident and allows Schmidt to play more five-out offensive sets if need be.
Guard depth:
Brett Rumpel 6’4 190, redshirt freshman
Big depth:
Max Amadasun 6’10 245. Three years of eligibility remaining. 21 career minutes at Pitt. Was #252 prospect in class of ‘20, according to 247.
Chad Venning 6’10 280. Three years of eligibility remaining. Stats from Morgan State: 7.2p, 3r, 1b, 50.9 fg% (all 2PAs) in 13.8 mpg
Melian Martinez 6’10 200, ranked #60 center in class of ‘22, according to 247.
Forward depth:
Barry Evans 6’8 205, freshman.
Justin Ndjock-Tadjore 6’7 195 sophomore
Anouar Mellouk 6’8 205 redshirt freshman
OOC games as of 7/12/22
11/7 v St. Francis (PA)
11/15 v South Dakota State in Sioux Falls, SD
TBD v Bowling Green and/or Southern Indiana, part of the Campus sites schedule of the Gotham Classic
11/25 v Notre Dame at Belmont, NY, part of the Gotham Classic
12/11 v Iona at Brooklyn, NY
12/22 @ Northern Iowa
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