Over the 32 days leading up to college basketball season, we’re profiling 32 different teams who could be in the NIT mix, aided in this effort by those who know them best (or the closest we could get). Today, SBUnfurled responds by email to our questions about St. Bonaventure.
SBUnfurled uses data visualization, analytics, and more to cover St. Bonaventure, the Atlantic 10, and college hoops as a whole. SBUnfurled is the creator of U-Rate, a player ratings formula. Their work can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @SBUnfurled, and online at sbunfurled.com.
Here’s the full list of 32 for 32’s published so far, with links:
- Auburn, with the Sickos CBB Committee
- BYU, with Mitch Harper
- Cincinnati, with Zach Fries
- Dayton, with Tyler Cronin
- Duquesne, with Tristan Freeman
- Indiana, with Matt Cox
- Iona, with Sam Federman
- Iowa State, with Joe Stunardi
- James Madison, with Bennett Conlin
- Loyola, with Ky McKeon
- Michigan, with the Sickos CBB Committee
- Missouri, with Jim Root
- North Texas, with Harry Miers
- Northwestern, with John Templon
- Notre Dame, with Stuart McGrath
- Ohio State, with Mark Titus
- Oregon State, with Andy Dieckhoff
- Penn State, with DJ Bauer
- South Carolina, with Brian Rauf
- St. Bonaventure, with SBUnfurled
- St. John’s, with the Sickos CBB Committee
- Syracuse, with the Marshall Street Podcast
- Texas, with NIT Stu
- Utah, with Andrew Crowley
- Virginia Tech, with Ken Pomeroy
- Washington State, with Dave Andersen
- Wisconsin, with Cole Amundson
The Barking Crow: Let’s start with last year. After their dramatic run to the 2022 Final Four, the Bonnies fell a little flat in ’23, finishing 14–18 overall and tied for eighth in an A-10 that wasn’t its best. What needs to happen for this team to contend again for an NIT berth?
The staff did a good job patching together a pretty competitive roster after being left with a bare cupboard very late in the recruiting season. But with no returning minutes, an entire system to learn, and a whole roster to gel, we had some steep peaks and valleys. This season, we’ll return our top six contributors and mix in three impact transfers and three freshmen. The team can hopefully hit the ground running after a full season learning Schmidt’s system and an offseason together.
TBC: St. Bonaventure only has one NIT title to its name, but it’s made the Final Four seven times, with 2022 a resurrection of a proud tradition after 45 years without a win in an NIT game (note: one win in an NIT game—my mistake). What weight does the NIT tradition carry in Olean, and how would another strong showing in 2024 affect that?
We did beat Southern Miss in the 1995 NIT, a team coached by the captain of our 1977 NIT Championship team, Jim Baron. That ‘77 team is especially celebrated here, with that team having the biggest banner in the Reilly Center alongside our 1970 Final Four, and the team celebrated with pictures and murals around the arena. While 2022 was a disappointing season considering our expectations and strong November, fans and students rallied in March to invade Virginia and then MSG.
TBC: One of the biggest stories of that 2022 NIT was how well the Bonnies traveled, especially to the Final Four at Madison Square Garden. What kind of turnout should we expect at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the event St. Bonaventure makes another run this March?
The Bonnies got beat their last game in Hinkle a decade ago, when Butler was in the A10. The fan turnout for our NCAA Tournament game in Indy back in 2021 isn’t a good gauge due to it being the COVID Bubble Tourney. Indiana isn’t a big alumni region for us like NYC is, unfortunately. If the Bonnies made a run in Hinkle and got back to a Final Four, I think we’d still see a few hundred students/alums/fans make the trek and make sure they’re heard.
TBC: St. Bonaventure’s women’s basketball team has made four WNIT appearances, but it’s been a bleak seven years. Is there any hope of WBIT or WNIT contention from the women’s team this year?
If not this year, I think our women’s program will be resurrected quite soon. The coach from our WBB Sweet 16 team left for Providence, but returns to Olean this season looking to bring the program back to where it was when he left.
TBC: The NIT is a chaotic beast. What is the most chaotic thing about this year’s Bonaventure team?
I’d love to see a chaotic 1-3-1 zone we implemented back in 2018 return. I think our roster has the size, length, and defensive assignment understanding to cause some chaos on the perimeter. It’ll largely depend on if the guys can rebound, and if Schmidt trusts them enough to get away from our usual pack-line man-to-man D.
TBC: What do you wish more people knew about St. Bonaventure?
St. Bonaventure is the smallest school to ever play in a Final Four. Despite being one of the smallest schools in Division 1, and having the least athletics expenses in the A10, the Bonnies remain consistently competitive in hoops due to our player development, a passionate fan/alumni base, and Schmidt & Co. at the helm. Until last season, we had won double-digit games in the conference for eight straight seasons – a streak only topped by Temple in the 80’s and 90’s and UMass in the 90’s.
TBC: Dare we dream of a Bonnies NIT title?
Bona fans didn’t get to properly experience a big Bona game in Indy in 2021 (or should I say the people of Indy didn’t get to experience Bona fans before a big game). I’m already annoyed just thinking about all the lame Hoosiers references, but one can still dream of a championship.
