“An 18-13 team last season, a group that went 10-8 in the conference. Mark Schmidt would crack the top three of every coach in this league if asked who the best X-and-O guys are. He does a stellar job. Do like the inside-out combo of Dion Wright and Marcus Posley, though. Teams 7-10 on our list could easily wind up with the same record in-conference.” - CBS Sports, 2015
CBS Sports predicted the St. Bonaventure Bonnies to be 9th this season in the Atlantic 10. This Saturday, the Bonnies won their fifth straight game against St. Louis. Shortly after, our fate of regular-season standings was tied up with two other games. An hour later, St. Bonaventure, Dayton, and VCU were all named A10 regular season co-champions. VCU earned this ten times since 1981 and Dayton only once before this year. But for the Bonnies, they clutched the only regular season championship in school history. They also end with 22 wins, tied with the school record of most wins in a season.
The A10 tournament will begin this Wednesday in Brooklyn. Dayton being the 1 seed, VCU the 2, and Bonas as the 3 seed, based off their season records. You can bet that this weeks tournament will be an exciting one. At large bids are on the line for multiple teams, including the Bonnies.
Led by seniors Dion Wright and Marcus Posely, the Bonnies continue to put on a show for America. With Dion averaging around 16 points per game, next to Marcus’ almost 20 points per game, both seniors reached the 1,000 point milestone this season. Marcus stunned the NCAA with his 47 point game against St. Joes, the most in a single game by a Division I men’s basketball player this season. And people are taking notice. Some say we might be the “Cinderella team of the NCAA tournament this year,” and most want it to be true. SBU finished their season with a 22-7 record and a 14-4 conference record. The 14 wins racked up in conference this year are the most in program history as the Bonnies captured their first ever Atlantic-10 Regular Season Champion title (even though it is split three-ways between the 14-4 VCU Rams and Dayton Flyers).
Even though Mark Schmidt is known for saying “you’re only as good as your seniors,” it has not just been Posley and Wright who have carried this team to new heights. Jaylen Adams rounds out what people call ‘The Big 3’ of Bonaventure. The sophomore guard from Maryland has been outstanding, scoring 18 points and dishing out 5 assists a game. Jay’s impact on the team goes much further than what the statistics can show, however. He acts as the Bonnies floor general on the court -- nothing happens on offense without it going through Adams’ hands. Jay has also created a culture on the team focused on finishing down the stretch, a skill that has eluded Bonaventure basketball teams in past years. With seconds left on the clock and a play needing to be made, you can catch Jay tapping his wrist to his teammates, motioning to an imaginary watch, reminding them that “It’s Winning Time.”
The one-two punch of Adams and Posley make up arguably the best guard combo in the league. Big names in sports like Dick Vitale, Doug Gottlieb and Andy Katz are pointing out just how good these two have made Bonaventure. Good enough, that is, to be put into just about every major sports website’s mock bracket for the March Madness tournament.
Wright, Posley, Adams, and the incredibly talented supporting cast of the Bonnies have a long way to go before they can think about making into the big tournament. Three crucial games in the Barclay’s Center loom ahead, and if this team wants to make certain they earn a spot in the Big Dance, they will need to win all three games.
That’s a very tall task -- a task that this team is surely looking forward to. Welcome to March, where small schools get a crack at the powerhouses and anything can happen on any given day. All it’s going to take is a few wins to burst out of the ‘Bona Bubble’ and on to the national scene.
St. Bonaventure basketball fans, it might be time to dust of the dancing shoes again. You’ve officially been put on notice, America. The Bonnies are back.
A very special thank you to Matt Mattia for all his help with this article! Go Bonnies!
