Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 5 coaching performances of 2017-18
By Stu Luddecke
Mark Schmidt: St. Bonaventure Bonnies
It’s not like Schmidt pulled off the miraculous by putting his team in contention for the A10 title and winning an NCAA Tournament game over UCLA. There was, after all, an abundance of talent on the Bonnies roster. The duo of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley was not only one of the best backcourts in the A10, but perhaps in all of college basketball.
With those two stars and a bevy of versatile role-players like Courtney Stockard, LaDarien Griffin, and Idris Taqqee at Schmidt’s disposal, it would have been disappointing for the Bonnies to not at least be top 4 in the conference. Still, they handled their business and outperformed the already high expectations set for them. We all knew they would be good, but I’m not sure how many people foresaw them beating a program like UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. Those who did were probably banking on their knowledge of Schmidt’s coaching prowess – that type of excellence has become his standard.
Next. Analyzing each 2018 recruiting class for the A-10. dark
Ultimately, more than a few A10 coaches would have been competitive and near the top of the conference with the Bonnies roster, but it’s hard to see them maximizing its potential to the degree that Schmidt did. In terms of coaches with good teams, he’s my vote for the guy that did the most relative to what he had.