Linton Brown to St. Bonaventure Basketball in a win-win for both sides

For many programs this offseason, there has been a frantic search to get starting-caliber talent from the transfer portal to bolster their respective rosters for 2021-22. However, there are a few teams that don’t have anything to worry about, including St. Bonaventure Basketball.

That’s because they have the pleasure of returning all five starters from this past season, combining to start 104 of 105 games. All of them were double-digit scorers, led by the guard/center duo of Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi. Guards Dominick Welch and Jaren Holmes continued to be impact contributors, while Miami (OH) Jalen Adaway was a nice surprise after sitting out the year prior.

The starting lineup is set but the bench was another issue. Since 95% of the team’s production comes from the starting lineup, many of the reserves saw little pathway towards more playing time so just about all of them opted to enter the transfer portal. At one point this offseason, the Bonnies were down to just six scholarship players on the roster. The good news is that they have been able to upgrade its bench, including landing an intriguing guard for both now and the future.

One of them is Linton Brown, a 6’5 combo guard that played from Indian River State at the Junior College ranks. He was one of the best this past season, averaging 18.4 ppg and 5.0 rpg, while making 48% of his three-point attempts. Brown had several big scoring performances, including back-to-back 30+ point efforts. One of them was a 33-point effort at Palm Beach State, including five made three-pointers.

The JUCO All-American had a number of D-I offers to consider, including many where he would’ve started and played big minutes. However, he settled for what will be a bench spot with not many minutes available for 2021-22 with St. Bonaventure.

Yet I would argue that this is one of the better decisions made this offseason concerning specifically JUCO players. This is a very unique time since so many college basketball players have been given an extra year of eligibility due to the covid-19 pandemic. With plenty of current seniors taking advantage and coaches purposely leaving roster spots open for potential transfers, what the market would normally look like for Junior College transfers has been in flux.

Brown’s move to play for the Bonnies has more of a long-term benefit for both sides. The player has an extra year thanks to the NCAA move so Brown has three seasons to play with St. Bonaventure. So even if he doesn’t play much this season, he’d have two full years to be a key piece on the roster.

As for the team, head coach Mark Schmidt knows it’s difficult to recruit players knowing they’ll have a bench role with at most, 10-15 mpg. He also knows that he’ll have to recruit heavily in the coming months for the 2022 recruiting class, knowing he could very well lose all five starters. Brown is one of the best options the team could’ve realistically landed for this upcoming season and he’s capable of taking over on the perimeter for 2022-23; taking care of two birds with one stone for the coaching staff.

With transfer pickups Quadry Adams and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly also joining the roster, St. Bonaventure arguably improved since the end of last season and even though Richmond is loading up, the Bonnies should be the favorite to win the Atlantic 10 next season. And with Brown around, is building up for the future after the senior lineup departs as well.