St. Bonaventure Basketball: Jaylen Adams could carry the Bonnies to the Big Dance
St. Bonaventure basketball’s Jaylen Adams is one of the best guards in all of college basketball. Can he carry the Bonnies back to the NCAA Tournament?
College basketball often times revolves around star play. Teamwork and ball movement make for great teams and sometimes even championship teams, but in late-game situations, it is always up to the stars to make things happen. Sometimes, a game comes down to the final possession and each team needs to have their “go-to” player, the one who can go get a bucket when it matters most.
For St. Bonaventure basketball, Jaylen Adams is that guy.
Last season, Adams averaged 20.6 points (2nd in the conference) and 6.5 assists (1st in the conference). Although he did not take home the Player of the Year award (Richmond’s T.J. Cline won) in the conference, he will be one of the frontrunners this season. Adams is clearly one of the best players in the Atlantic 10 and he is the only returning player that made the All-Conference First Team last season.
For the casual college basketball fan, they might not have heard of Adams, but they will by the end of this year. The Atlantic 10 will be one of the most interesting conference races to follow this season, and St. Bonaventure should be competitive near the top because of Adams.
Adams will be the best player on the floor in just about every game that he plays this season, and that will make St. Bonaventure very dangerous. Adams has the ability to take over a game at any time, which is an incredibly valuable trait. When Adams starts to get things going from the floor, he is nearly impossible to stop.
It is Adams’ playmaking, though, that makes him such a dangerous player. Even when he is not getting his shot to fall, he is a threat to make things happen on the floor. He has excellent court vision and knows how to probe a defense before either attacking the basket, pulling up for a shot, or finding a teammate for an open look. It is these traits that make him a potential NBA player after his senior season with the Bonnies.
In addition to his own contributions, though, Adams will have his co-star Matt Mobley at his side once again this season. After transferring to St. Bonaventure from Central Connecticut, Mobley averaged 18.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season. This duo is one of the best one-two punches in the country and will surely make them a team to be reckoned with.
Over the past five seasons, the Atlantic 10 has sent an average of four teams to the NCAA Tournament (three teams in each of the last three seasons). With Adams entering the season as the top player in the conference, the Bonnies should improve as a team and could finish in the top three in the conference.
If they can finish in that upper tier of the conference, St. Bonaventure basketball will be in the at-large discussion for the NCAA Tournament. As far as at-large consideration goes, it helps that the Bonnies have a fairly solid nonconference schedule this season. With matchups against Maryland, Vermont, TCU/New Mexico, and Syracuse, their overall strength of schedule should boost their resume in addition to giving the team some experience playing in big games.
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On the whole, this St. Bonaventure basketball season lies on the shoulders of Jaylen Adams. Adams is the preseason favorite to win Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10, and he will look to turn some heads in big-time competition this year. Can Adams follow in the footsteps of former St. Bonaventure star Andrew Nicholson and carry the Bonnies to the NCAA Tournament?