St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball

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St. Bonaventure Bonnies
2021–22 St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball team
St. Bonaventure Bonnies logo.svg
UniversitySt. Bonaventure University
All-time record1399–1055 (.570)
Head coachMark Schmidt (15th season)
ConferenceAtlantic 10
LocationAllegany, New York
ArenaReilly Center
(Capacity: 5,480)
NicknameBonnies
ColorsBrown and white[1]
   
Uniforms
Kit body thinsidesonwhite.png
Home jersey
Kit shorts blanksides2.png
Team colours
Home
Kit body thinwhitesides.png
Away jersey
Kit shorts whitesides.png
Team colours
Away


NCAA Tournament Final Four
1970
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1970
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1961, 1968, 1970
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1961, 1968, 1970, 1978, 2000, 2012, 2018, 2021
Conference tournament champions
A-10: 2012, 2021
Conference regular season champions
WNY3: 1950, 1951, 1957 1958
A-10: 2016, 2021
For information on all St. Bonaventure University sports, see St. Bonaventure Bonnies

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball (formerly the St. Bonaventure Brown Indians) team is the college basketball team that represents St. Bonaventure University, located near the city of Olean, New York. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference and plays its home games at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies are currently coached by all-time coaching wins leader Mark Schmidt, who during his 12th season surpassed former coach Larry Weise with his 203rd victory.[2]

History[]

Beginnings[]

Of the major sports at St. Bonaventure, basketball was the last introduced. In 1902, the first team had been put together, mainly consisting of former football players. The coach of this team was university professor Patric Driscoll. Official records of these games were not kept. Proper facilities were not available until four years later when intramural games began to be played in a handball court on campus.

In 1916, Butler Gym was constructed, but wasn't finished by the time the intercollegiate team played its first game against University of Buffalo. This game was played in the Olean Armory. Games were cancelled until after World War I had ended. The first game played in Butler Gym was during the 1919-1920 season with Richard Phelan as the coach. Basketball prospered on campus in the decades between World War I and World War II. From 1942 to 1944, basketball was again put on hold for a world war. Following World War II, Anslem Kreiger, a former All-American Basketball player, took over the program, with a record of 15-10 over his two-year tenure.

Ed (Melvin) Milkovich took over the basketball team for a six-year period starting with the 1948–49 season. This was a period of great success for the program, with two appearances in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the first during the 1950–51 season when the team was eliminated in the second round. Further success came with the team's appearance in the 1952 NIT, where they made it to the semifinals. Over his tenure, Milkovich led the team to a record of 98–47.

Edward Donovan took over head coaching duties for the 1953–54 season, holding the position for an eight-year period. The team again made an appearance in the NIT in 1957, again making it to the semifinals [3]

Golden era[]

Under Donovan, the team made it to the NIT every year from 1957 to 1960. In 1961, the team made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament and finished third in its regional. However, this was Donovan's final season coaching the Brown Indians; in May 1961 he took a job as a coach of the New York Knicks.

Former Brown Indian Larry Weise took over the team starting with the 1961–62 season. In 1964, Weise led the team to the NCIT Tournament and the NIT. Under Weise's tutelage, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament in 1968, proceeding to the second round prior to being eliminated. In 1970, St. Bonaventure, led by future NBA-great Bob Lanier, was thought to have a legitimate shot at unseating UCLA for the national title. However, they lost Lanier late in their East Regional Final victory over Villanova to a torn ligament, causing the All-American to miss the Final Four. St. Bonaventure was upset by Jacksonville in the national semifinals, before losing to New Mexico State in the national consolation game.

Weise led the team to another trip to the NIT in 1971. In 1973, he relinquished his post as coach. He was replaced by Jim Satalin, another former Brown Indian. He led the team to a championship in the NIT in 1977. The next year, the team again made it to the NCAA Tournament and was defeated in the first round. In 1979, the Bonnies made another appearance at the NIT and again were defeated in the first round.[4]

Rebounding[]

In the 1999–2000 season, the Bonnies finished in second place in A-10 play under coach Jim Baron and lost to #6 ranked Temple in the A-10 Tournament championship. The Bonnies received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, their first bid since 1978. However, they failed to advance, losing to #19 ranked Kentucky in double overtime in the First Round. Following the season Baron moved on to coach fellow A-10 school, Rhode Island.

2003 scandal[]

Jan van Breda Kolff was hired to continue the rebuilding Baron had achieved. However, he, instead, did the opposite. The 2002–03 men's basketball season was marred by a scandal after a transfer student from a junior college, Jamil Terrell, was permitted to play even though he had not completed his associate degree and was therefore ineligible for one year.[5] The team was forced to forfeit every game in which he played and was barred from the A-10 Tournament. In protest, players voted to sit out the last two games of the regular season. Head coach Jan van Breda Kolff, athletic director Gothard Lane, and school president Dr. Robert Wickenheiser were all ousted.[6] St. Bonaventure's chairman of the board of trustees, William Swan, took his own life in August 2003, feeling that he had let down his alma mater by failing to prevent the scandal.[7]

St. Bonaventure docked itself three scholarships from 2003 to 2005 and the NCAA subsequently put the team on three years' probation and banned them from postseason play in 2003–04.[8][9] Subsequently, the Bonnies failed to achieve a winning record until the 2010–11 season under coach Mark Schmidt.

Renewed success[]

In the 2011–12 season, the team enjoyed more success than in any season since the 2003 scandal. Led by conference Player of the Year Andrew Nicholson — the 19th pick by Orlando in the 2012 NBA Draft — they accumulated a 20–12 record during the regular season. They then won the school's first-ever Atlantic 10 Tournament title, beating Saint Joseph's, UMass, and Xavier. The conference title earned them an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost 66–63 to ACC champion Florida State in the second round at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

After Nicholson departed for the NBA, the 2012–13 team failed to qualify for the 2013 A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn. However, the 2013–14 Bonnies qualified for the A-10 Tournament, advancing to the semifinals. They upset the #1 seed Saint Louis on a buzzer-beater shot by Jordan Gathers, the nephew of the late Hank Gathers. That play made the SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the Night. In the 2014–15 campaign, the Bonnies had a winning record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the A-10 Conference Tournament. On February 7, 2015, Bonnies guard Marcus Posley hit a buzzer beater shot to upset the nationally ranked VCU Rams and Shaka Smart at the nearly sold-out Reilly Center. The students, and many fans, rushed the court to celebrate after Posley's shot went in.

The 2015–16 Bonnies finished in a three-way tie for first place in the A-10 regular season.[10] The Bonnies were upset in their first game of the A-10 Tournament, losing in overtime to Davidson.[11] The Bonnies failed to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament and were considered one of the "first four out" by the selection committee, their poor non-conference strength of schedule and lack of non-conference quality wins being listed as the reasons they were not selected for a bid.[12][13] Their omission was widely considered to be one of the largest snubs of the year, if not all time, being the first team to ever to have an RPI ranking in the top 30 and a conference regular season title to their name, and not receive a bid. It came as such a surprise to so many in the college basketball world, that it prompted the Atlantic 10 athletic director to issue a public statement voicing her dissatisfaction with the committee's decision to exclude the Bonnies.[12] The following year, St. Bonaventure alum Brian Toolan wrote a short book about the Bonnies' 2015-2016 season, entitled "Snubbed".[14]

The 2017-18 Bonnies tied the school's season record at 25 wins, a record previously set by the 1969-1970 Final Four team.[15] The 25-win season resulted in an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament as an 11-seed, where the Bonnies went on to beat the UCLA Bruins 65-58 for their first NCAA tournament win since 1970.[16] The 2017-2018 season marked the Bonnies' seventh NCAA tournament appearance in program history and the second under head coach Mark Schmidt.[15] The Bonnies later lost to the Florida Gators 62-77 in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.[17]

On February 27, 2021 the Bonnies clinched the first ever outright Atlantic 10 regular season title in program history when Davidson defeated VCU 65-57.[18] The successful season continued two weeks later when, on March 14, 2021, the Bonnies won their first A-10 tournament title since 2012, beating VCU 74-65.[19] With this win the Bonnies secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, their second in 4 years.

Seasons[]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1998–Present)
1994–95 St. Bonaventure 18-13 9-7 4th NIT Tournament
1995–96 St. Bonaventure 10-18 4-12 5th
1996–97 St. Bonaventure 14-14 5-11 5th
1997–98 St. Bonaventure 17-15 6-10 4th NIT Tournament
1998–99 St. Bonaventure 14-15 8-8 4th
1999–00 St. Bonaventure 21-10 11-5 2nd NCAA Tournament
2000–01 St. Bonaventure 18-12 9-7 5th NIT Tournament
2001–02 St. Bonaventure 17-13 8-8 3rd NIT Tournament
2002–03 St. Bonaventure 13-14 7-9 6th
2003–04 St. Bonaventure 7-21 3-13 5th
2004–05 St. Bonaventure 2-26 1-15 6th
2005–06 St. Bonaventure 8-19 2-14 13th
2006–07 St. Bonaventure 7-22 4-12 12th
2007–08 St. Bonaventure 8-22 2-14 14th
2008–09 St. Bonaventure 15-15 6-10 11th
2009–10 St. Bonaventure 15-16 7-9 8th
2010–11 St. Bonaventure 16-15 8-8 7th CBI Tournament
2011–12 Bonaventure 20-12 10-6 3rd NCAA Tournament
2012–13 Bonaventure 14-15 7-9 11th
2013–14 Bonaventure 18-15 6-10 9th
2014–15 Bonaventure 18-13 10-8 6th
2015–16 Bonaventure 22-9 14-4 1st NIT Tournament
2016–17 Bonaventure 20-12 11-7 5th
2017–18 Bonaventure 26-8 14-4 2nd NCAA Tournament
2018–19 Bonaventure 18-16 12-6 4th
2019–20 Bonaventure 19-12 11-7 5th Tournaments canceled due to COVID-19
2020–21 Bonaventure 16-4 11-4 1st NCAA Tournament
St. Bonaventure Bonnies: 483–381 (.559) 269–287 (.485)
Total: 483–381 (.559)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Postseason[]

NCAA Tournament results[]

The Bonnies have appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 7–10.

NCAA Final 4
Year Round Opponent Result
1961 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place Game		 Rhode Island
Wake Forest
Princeton		 W 86–76
L 73–78
W 85–67
1968 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Regional Third Place Game		 Boston College
North Carolina
Columbia		 W 102–93
L 72–91
L 75–95
1970 First Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Third Place Game		 Davidson
North Carolina State
Villanova
Jacksonville
New Mexico State		 W 85–72
W 80–68
W 97–74
L 83–91
L 73–79
1978 First Round Pennsylvania L 83–92
2000 First Round Kentucky L 80–85 OT
2012 Second Round Florida State L 63–66
2018 First Four
First Round		 UCLA
Florida		 W 65–58
 L 62–77
2021 First Round LSU L 61–76

NCAA Tournament seeding history[]

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

Year '00 '12 '18 '21
Seed 12 14 11 9

NIT results[]

The Bonnies have appeared in 16 National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 18–17. They were NIT champions in 1977, and were the tournament's top overall seed in 2016.[20]

Year Round Opponent Result
1951 First Round
Quarterfinals		 Cincinnati
St. John's		 W 70–67
L 58–60
1952 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place Game		 Western Kentucky
Dayton
Duquesne		 W 70–69
L 62–69
W 48–34
1957 First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place Game		 Cincinnati
Seattle
Memphis
Temple		 W 90–72
W 85–68
L 78–80
L 50–67
1958 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place Game		 St. Joseph's
Xavier
St. John's		 W 79–75
L 53–72
W 84–69
1959 First Round
Quarterfinals		 Villanova
St. John's		 W 75–67
L 74–82
1960 First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place Game		 Holy Cross
St. John's
Bradley
Utah State		 W 94–81
W 106–71
L 71–82
L 83–99
1964 First Round Army L 62–64
1971 First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place Game		 Purdue
Hawaiʻi
Georgia Tech
Duke		 W 94–79
W 73–64
L 71–76
W 92–88
1977 First Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Championship Game		 Rutgers
Oregon
Villanova
Houston		 W 79–77
W 76–73
W 86–82
W 94–91
1979 First Round Alabama L 89–98
1983 First Round Iona L 76–90
1995 First Round
Second Round		 Southern Miss
Marquette		 W 75–70
L 61–70
1998 First Round Vanderbilt L 61–73
2001 First Round Pittsburgh L 75–84
2002 First Round Syracuse L 66–76
2016 First Round Wagner L 75–79

CBI results[]

The Bonnies have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational. Their record is 0–1.

Year Round Opponent Result
2011 First Round UCF L 54–69

In accordance with school policy, since 2014, the team has declined all postseason tournament invitations other than the NCAA tournament and NIT.[13]

National polls[]

St. Bonaventure has finished in the Final Top 25 rankings 6 times in the AP Poll.

St. Bonaventure Final Rankings
Year Record AP Poll†
1952 21–6 15
1959 20–3 19
1960 21–5 9
1961 24–4 3
1968 23–2 3
1970 25–3 3

† The Associated Press began compiling a ranking of the top 20 college men's basketball teams during the 1948–1949 season. It has issued the poll continuously since the 1950–1951 season. Beginning with the 1989-1990 season, the poll expanded to 25 teams.

Coaches with NCAA Tournament appearance[]

Coach Years Win–Loss Win % Final Four NCAA tourn. appearance
Eddie Donovan 1954–1961 139–57 .550 0 1
Larry Weise 1962–1973 202–90 .692 1 2
Jim Satalin 1974��1982 155-93 .625 0 1
Jim Baron 1993–2001 132–131 .502 0 1
Mark Schmidt 2007–pres 245–184† .570 0 3

† - As of March 14. 2021

All-Americans[]

St. Bonaventure has had ten All-Americans in its history.

Player Count Years
Ken Murray 1 1950 AP Honorable Mention
Bob Sassone 1 1952 AP Honorable Mention
Tom Stith 3 1959 AP Honorable Mention 1960 First Team, 1961 First Team
Freddie Crawford 1 1961 AP Honorable Mention
Whitey Martin 1 1961 AP Honorable Mention
Bob Lanier 3 1968 Second Team, 1969 AP Second Team, 1970 First Team
Earl Belcher 1 1981 AP Honorable Mention
Mark Jones 2 1982 AP Honorable Mention, 1983 AP Honorable Mention
Andrew Nicholson 1 2012 AP Honorable Mention
Jaylen Adams 1 2018 AP Honorable Mention

Retired numbers[]

The Bonnies have retired eleven jersey numbers in honor of twelve players.

St. Bonaventure Bonnies retired numbers
No. Player Position Career Year of Retirement
13 Ken Murray G 1946–1950 1969
14 Bill Butler F 1964–1968 1969
22 Sam Stith G 1957–1960 1969
25 Earl Belcher F 1977–1981 1991
Essie Hollis F 1973–1977 1988
George Carter F 1964-1967 December 4, 2021
31 Bob Lanier C 1967–1970 1975
34 Roland Martin PG 1958–1961 1969
42 Tom Stith F 1958–1961 1969
44 Andrew Nicholson F 2008–2012 February 21, 2014
53 Greg Sanders F 1974–1978 December 3, 2016
54 Freddie Crawford G 1960–1964 1970

Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees[]

See also: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Name Pos. Years Inducted
Bob Lanier F 1967-1970 1992

SBU wins vs. the AP Top 25[]

Since the 1993–94 season, SBU has played a total of 48 games against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll. SBU has a record of 11–37 against such teams. They have a record of 0–8 against teams in the Top 5 during this span. The Bonnies also hold a record of 9–9 against ranked teams at the Reilly Center since 1993.

Year Opponent Result Site
1950–51 #19 Siena
#15 Villanova
#17 Cincinnati 		W 47–45
W 74–69
W 70–67 		Home
Away
Neutral
1951–52 #11 Western Kentucky
#18 Siena
#4 Duquesne 		W 73–60
W 69–44
W 49–31 		Home
Home
Neutral
1955–56 #16 Memphis W 79–67 Home
1956–57 #14 Canisus
#5 Seattle 		W 57–48
W 85–65 		Home
Neutral
1959–60 #14 Providence
#9 Villanova 		W 90–89
W 72–70 		Home
Away
1960–61 #3 Bradley W 75–61 Home
1968–69 #18 Marquette W 84–62 Home
1969–70 #17 Purdue
#10 Davidson
#10 NC State 		W 91–75
W 85–72
W 80–68 		Neutral
Neutral
Neutral
1971–72 #12 Providence W 98–82 Home
1977–78 #17 Syracuse W 91–84 Home
1977–78 #16 Providence
#14 Syracuse 		W 72–64
W 70–69 		Home
Neutral
1993–94 #23 George Washington
#19 West Virginia 		W 71–67
W 72–66 		Home
Home
1997–98 #13 Xavier
#20 Rhode Island
#20 Massachusetts 		W 80–77
W 86–81
W 72–70 		Home
Home
Home
1999–00 #23 Temple W 57–56 Home
2013–14 #21 Massachusetts
#18 St. Louis 		W 78–65
W 71–68 		Home
Neutral
2014–15 #18 VCU W 73–71 Home
2015–16 #15 Dayton W 79–72 Away
2017–18 #16 Rhode Island W 77–74 Home

References[]

  1. ^ University Colors (PDF). St. Bonaventure University Writing Style Guide. September 18, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  2. ^ "Lofton Powers Bonnies Over Mason; Schmidt Now Bona's All-Time Coaching Wins Leader". GoBonnies. St. Bonavneture University Department of Athletics. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  3. ^ http://web.sbu.edu/friedsam/archives/basketball/rise.htm
  4. ^ http://web.sbu.edu/friedsam/archives/basketball/Middle%20Era.htm
  5. ^ Wise, Mike (2003-11-04). "BASKETBALL; Picking Up Pieces of a Shattered Program". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  6. ^ "Glockner: Bonnies trying to put scandal behind them". ESPN.com. 31 October 2007.
  7. ^ Wise, Mike (4 November 2003). "Picking Up Pieces of a Shattered Program". New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". articles.nydailynews.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "National Collegiate Athletic Association - Press Release Archive". fs.ncaa.org.
  10. ^ "2015-16 A10 Men's Basketball Final Standings". A10.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  11. ^ "@BonniesMBB Falls in OT to Davidson in A10 Quarters". GoBonnies.com. March 11, 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  12. ^ a b Price, Jacob (2016-03-14). "The A-10 commissioner is irate about St. Bonaventure getting snubbed". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  13. ^ a b Butler, J. P. (March 16, 2015). No tournament for Bonnies. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  14. ^ Toolan, Brian (November 11, 2016). Snubbed: A Basketball Season of Triumph, Crisis and Despair at St. Bonaventure University. No Frills Buffalo. ISBN 978-0997831719.
  15. ^ a b "St. Bonaventure Receives At-Large Bid To NCAA Tournament; Will Face UCLA In First Four Tuesday". GoBonnies. St. Bonaventure University Department of Athletics. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  16. ^ Associated Press. "Bonnies stun UCLA 65-58 for 1st NCAA Tourney win in 48 years". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  17. ^ Associated Press. "Florida bounces Bonnies after their 1st NCAA win in 48 years". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  18. ^ "St. Bonaventure Clinches 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Regular Season Title". GoBonnies.com. St. Bonaventure University Department of Athletics. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  19. ^ "St. Bonaventure men's basketball wins A-10 Championship 74-65 over VCU". WKBW. 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  20. ^ "Monmouth, Bonnies, South Carolina, Valpo top seeds in NIT". USAToday.com. USA Today. March 13, 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

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