There likely aren’t a large number of college basketball fans today that remember the scandal that rocked St. Bonaventure back in 2003, after all most of the current players and people attending the school weren’t even alive then. The Bonnies program completely fell apart after an ineligible player took the court that season, leading to the firing of the head coach, athletic director, and school president. St. Bonaventure would enter what was a dark era in program history in the following years.
New look in Olean
Fortunately it was the hard work of Mark Schmidt brought St. Bonaventure back from the brink. Schmidt arrived in Olean in 2007 and actually got the Bonnies into the NCAA Tournament just five years later. During a nine-year stretch from 2014 to 2023, Schmidt had the Bonnies above .500 in A-10 play with numerous Top 5 finishes and a few more postseason trips.
Even recent years weren’t exactly bleak. St. Bonaventure struggled to 13th in the A-10 this past season, but let’s not ignore their pair of 20-win seasons right before then. Schmidt’s 19-year run was filled with memories and revival, but as many know that long stretch came to an end this offseason.
Woj factor
One big change in recent years in Olean was the hiring of former NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski as the program’s new general manager. An alumnus of the school, Wojnarowski opted to step back from his reporting duties and focus on building a winner for his Bonnies, though this past season’s results argue that he hasn’t quite had that success that he expected.
Coming off a 17-17 season and that rough finish in the A-10, St. Bonaventure is far from the disastrous position that Schmidt inherited 19 seasons ago. Incoming head coach Mike MacDonald certainly has a difficult task but let’s not pretend like the former D1 head coach is trying to rebuild this thing from the ashes. With Wojnarowski’s major role in recruiting and building this program, you could argue it’s a really desirable landing spot but is that truly the case?
After assisting John Beilein at Canisius, MacDonald became head coach of the Golden Griffins for nine years and really didn’t make much headway. He spent the last two decades with more successful leadership at the D2 and D3 level, but can the former Bonnie really build success as he jumps to the A-10?
Wait and see
There are still a lot of moving pieces and we likely won’t get a firm grasp on how this team really looks until we see them take the court in four months. In this era of NIL and the transfer portal it’s harder than ever for a mid-major program like St. Bonaventure to consistently build something and Wojnarowski seems to understand that. The Bonnies and their new leadership know it’s all about winning games and building momentum, but did this program make the right choice by moving past Schmidt and pinning their hopes on MacDonald?
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