NCAA Basketball: Top 25 preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season
21. St. Bonaventure Bonnies
The Bonnies were the Atlantic 10 regular-season champions last season and made the NCAA Tournament. And they did so without having a single senior on the roster, as all five starters were juniors. So the program didn’t even need to worry about an extra year of eligibility, as all five came back for their true senior campaign.
That includes big man Osun Osunniyi, who averaged nearly a double-double per game while also blocking just under three shots a night. The 6’10 center is considered to be the best interior defender in the country and now that Charles Bassey and Neemias Queta are gone, Osunniyi will get the national attention as the best mid-major big man not named Drew Timme of Gonzaga.
It's the middle of CFB Saturday, so here are some thoughts on a school that has *zero* care for CFB: The @BonniesMBB. Y'all didn't tell me Osun Osunniyi was one of the best big man passers in the country--Schmidt loves to use him as a facilitator from the elbow/TOK pic.twitter.com/hPA9PH3pk7
— Riley Davis (@Riley_Davis3) September 11, 2021
Yet Osunniyi may not even be the best player for St. Bonaventure. That would be Kyle Lofton, the point guard and lead ball-handler that led the team with 14.4 ppg and 5.5 apg. He had at least five assists in 16 of 21 games and is a quality defender as well.
Between these two are three other starters (Dominick Welch, Jaren Holmes, and Jalen Adaway) all of whom are 6’6 and averaged at least 11 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Each of them is interchangeable in lineups and can guard just about anyone on the court that isn’t a center. They’re also good and efficient shooters as well that take the pressure off of Osunniyi and Lofton.
The bench has been completely revamped and features power conference transfers, Abdoul Karim Coulibaly from Pittsburgh and Quadry Adams from Wake Forest. These two, along with JUCO transfer combo guard Linton Brown (Indian River State College), will get the bulk of the bench minutes and form a quality 8-man rotation that makes them the team to beat in the A-10.
Many teams will have experienced players thanks to the extra year of eligibility but few will have the chemistry early on in the season that the Bonnies will already have. That will give them an advantage in the non-conference slate, which will bolster their at-large resume once again for a potential postseason run.