St. Bonaventure Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Bonnies
In a top-heavy Atlantic 10, St. Bonaventure Basketball appears primed to be a dark horse contender – and a potential NCAA Tournament bubble team.
In returning nearly everyone from a fifth-place Atlantic 10 team last season, 13th-year head coach Mark Schmidt and St. Bonaventure Basketball have the experience needed to breakthrough and become a force yet again in the A-10.
The Bonnies are coming off a 19-12 regular season that saw them pick up marquee non-conference victories over NCAA Tournament squads Rutgers and Hofstra, complemented by an 11-7 A-10 record where they feasted on teams below them.
Schmidt’s crew were not necessarily spectacular last season, by any means. They were average statistically, ranking eighth in offense in the A-10 (69.1 ppg), seventh in scoring defense (66.9), and eighth in margin (+2.3). But, they were one of the better rebounding teams (fourth in offensive rebounds, fifth in defensive rebounds) and were fourth in assist/turnover ratio.
Their record reflects this, also. Despite the victories over Rutgers and Hofstra, they started the season 0-3, falling to Ohio, Vermont, and Siena – and picked up an awful loss to Canisius shortly after. In conference play, they only secured two wins over teams above them in Duquesne and Richmond. Some of their losses were 25-point-plus blowouts to VCU, Davidson, and Saint Louis.
But that winning record – both in and out of conference – indicates that the Bonnies were doing something right last year, and that can be traced to the talent on the floor – among them, their exceptional starting five, all of whom are returning for another shot.
Four of the five were double-digit scorers – the fifth just a point shy in his average – and two, point guard Kyle Lofton and center Osun Osunniyi, are all-conference honorees. In addition, the Bonnies will receive a much needed-offense boost in a handful of incoming transfers.
Schmidt has had a history of success in his tenure at St. Bonaventure, and – despite the occasional struggles – last season continued multiple impressive streaks for the program if his coaching bio is any indication:
"Schmidt’s Bonnies continued their streak of rising to the top of the A-10 with their sixth consecutive season of double-digit conference wins, the longest active streak among all Atlantic 10 programs. SBU scored 19 victories overall, the seventh year in a row of 18 or more wins, and finished fifth in the A-10 regular season standings – the fifth straight year the program has finished in the league’s top five. At the end of the season, sophomore point guard Kyle Lofton gave the program five straight years with a First Team All-Conference selection."
Most of this starting lineup, Lofton and Osunniyi included, have been in the position of competing for an NCAA Tournament bid before. The Bonnies reached the A-10 Championship tilt in 2018-19 as a four-seed, in a season that saw the duo land on the All-Rookie Team in the A-10.
In late October, Andy Katz named the Bonnies one of the “Top 10 Programs Deserving More Love” – and they warrant that distinction. Past Richmond, Saint Louis, and Dayton – the consensus top three – the A-10 is incredibly deep, and filled with teams that will fight for an NCAA Tournament bid. Undeniably, the first in line among those teams is none other than St. Bonaventure.