ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — It was 1:25 on a Friday afternoon, more than 24 hours before the next St. Bonaventure men’s basketball game, and Jaylen Adams already had an audience.
The senior guard was shooting – what else? – 3-pointers at one end of the court while teammate Matt Mobley did the same at the other. A woman stood with two others in one of the corner doorways of the Reilly Center, watching, counting aloud how many Adams made in a row.
“Five … six … seven,” she said.
If he wasn’t already before these last two games, Adams has become a must-see attraction.
In the 48 hours after his 44-point, 10 3-pointer outburst against Saint Louis, the 6-foot-2 point guard has been made well aware of his place in history.
He found out via Twitter that he’s just the third player in Bona annals to go for 40 points in back-to-back games, alongside legends Bob Lanier and Tom Stith. He’s the first Division I player to accomplish that feat since N.C. State’s T.J. Warren in 2014. He broke into the top 10 in program history in scoring and is closing in on becoming the highest-scoring guard.
Amid that whirlwind, he’s continued to shoot … and shoot … and shoot. He’s not done leaving his mark on St. Bonaventure just yet.
“Obviously, it’s something special,” he said, when reminded of his recent accomplishments. “I’m proud to be a part of those names. Those are really special names in Bona history; for me to join them is really special …
“But I understand that the season is nowhere near over. Coach (Mark Schmidt) always says we haven’t come this far to come this far, so I want to keep it up and build off it.”
The circumstances surrounding these Bonnies are beginning to become eerily similar to what they were six years ago — their last NCAA Tournament season.
On Feb. 18, 2012, Bona was 6-5 in conference play and underachieving on the season as a whole. That night, Andrew Nicholson had a 32-point, 13-rebound double-double in an 81-61 win over Rhode Island.
We know how it played out from there: Nicholson became otherworldly, leading the Bonnies to seven wins in the next eight games, culminating with an Atlantic 10 Tournament championship.
On Wednesday, the Bonnies were 6-4 in conference play and still making their way back from a poor start to January. That night, Adams almost literally couldn’t miss, going 14-of-18 from the field and 10-of-13 from 3-point range in a 79-56 victory over Saint Louis.
How will it play out from here? The hope is that once again, beginning with Wednesday, an A-10 Player of the Year candidate can guide Bona to seven wins over these final eight games.
In these final weeks of his collegiate career, Adams is playing for the team he desperately wants to return to the NCAA Tournament. He’s also playing for himself and his legacy.
The Baltimore native is only 18 points away from surpassing Marques Green (No. 8 all-time) as the highest scoring guard in Bona history. At his current clip (20 ppg) and, say, another 10 games, he’d finish sixth all-time in scoring. He’s 33 away from the school record for 3s and has an outside chance of finishing No. 2 in assists.
There’s also the NBA to think about. As of now, he’s projected by NBAdraft.net to go in the second round, No. 53 overall, to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Adams, though, understands: In order for any of this to happen, he’s going to have to bear the brunt of it down the stretch, similar to how Nicholson did in 2012.
“I think as the leader of the team, I kind of have to,” he said. “Between me, Matt and Idris (Taqqee), just being the three seniors, we understand it’s our last go-around, so I think it’s going to be on all three of our backs and everybody else is going to have to follow.”
In the meantime, Adams is going to enjoy the ride.
Late Wednesday, his name was trending on social media as a result of his epic shooting display against the Billikens. On NBA draft deadline day, he was the subject of a tweet by leading NBA reporter and Bona alum Adrian Wojnarowski that read, “ESPN sources: This guy isn’t getting traded.”
Today’s game against Richmond was already sold out, but now there’s a few dozen names on a waiting list for tickets.
Call it the Adams Effect.
“It’s just testament to the work. I’ve put in a lot of work to get to this point,” he said. “I owe it all to my parents, my mom’s support and my dad’s … just teaching me how to play basketball, really. I owe it to both of them, and I’m glad I can get to this point and I want to keep it going until I’m gone.”
(J.P. Butler, Bradford Publishing Company group sports editor, can be reached at othbutler@gmail.com)
