(Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series detailing the state of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team amid the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Today: How Bona and its players are handling this period of self-isolation.)
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — From the time the season tips off in early November, Mark Schmidt, as you might imagine, is essentially concerned with only one thing: the 12- or 13-man team in front of him.
The 13th-year St. Bonaventure men’s basketball coach typically doesn’t go out to see recruits during that November to mid-March timeframe, “other than maybe Christmas or whatever.” He delegates that part of the job to his assistants, who split their time between coaching, scouting upcoming opponents and dropping in to watch prospective players in games or at practice.
Those assistants — Steve Curran, Sean Neal and Tray Woodall — had long been out evaluating 2020 recruits before the COVID-19 outbreak forced the current mandatory dead period, which late Wednesday was extended through May 31. Then, too, Bona has a long track record of landing its biggest difference-makers in the regular signing period.
In that way, it feels comfortable about where it stands from a recruiting standpoint, even though it won’t get to visit or host any of those prospects for at least the next two months. As Schmidt noted Wednesday, “the hard thing is I can’t go out and make that final decision, or we can’t go (see) new guys that are popping up or transfers or guys in the portal; we can’t go out there and evaluate them.”
But Bona, to the best of its ability, has been working around those obstacles through phone calls and texts, word of mouth, technology — anything that might help it secure its top targets from afar.
In the meantime, amid all the uncertainty that has come as a result of the rapidly spreading coronavirus, and with the extra time on his hands due to those recruiting restrictions, Schmidt has put more of his focus onto what has always mattered to him most: his current players.
Those returning guys, like regular students, have been at home since mid-March, when the university made the decision to transition to online-only classes for the remainder of the semester. That, of course, has led to the disruption of their regular spring routine and a challenge that Schmidt and his teams have never had to face before: navigating a prolonged period of self-isolation.
Instead of starting their individual workouts, the Bonnies — like the rest of us — have had to wonder when this all might come to an end. Instead of engaging in offseason weight and conditioning programs with strength coach Darren Fiske, they’ve resigned to doing what they can from inside.
Bona, though, has been getting by, Schmidt said — from both an academic and physical standpoint. Its ability to remain connected despite the distance has been rooted in the one-on-one relationships between players and coaches.
From an academic and health standpoint:
“Each assistant has three or four guys that they’re responsible for, and that’s throughout the year,” Schmidt noted. “They’re like the big brother, making sure he’s doing what he’s supposed to, touching base with our academic advisor. And now those coaches are talking to their guys everyday, making sure they’re doing the academics. They have to check in with (Joel Rosencrance, director of athletic academic support services) once a day, and they have to send their work in.
“It’s like they have study hall at home now. They show us their work. The online situation is a little bit different, but so far, so good.”
He added: “You want to make sure in those phone calls that they’re making the right decisions, that they’re washing their hands and doing everything they’re supposed to do to stay healthy.”
The most difficult aspect of this new reality caused by COVID-19, however, is being unable to actually play.
Without 24/7 access to the Reilly Center and with all public gyms and weight rooms shut down for the foreseeable future, the Bonnies have obviously been limited in what they’ve been able to do from a basketball standpoint, aside from perhaps shooting around in a driveway or a local park.
Their next even remotely competitive runs may not come until the June summer school sessions, when they hold late-night pickup games, or even later. It’s yet another obstacle they’re trying to work around.
“From the workouts, they can’t do anything,” Schmidt acknowledged, “so it’s just … you do what you can in your house. So if you have some weights, doing situps, pushups, dips, doing as much as you can to stay in as good of shape as you can.
“It’s not the perfect situation. It’s difficult. But you’ve got to do what you can do so you don’t fall that far behind.”
And so, Bona will continue to make the most out of what has been a rough time for everyone. The good thing is that it’s in no different a situation from every other collegiate basketball team in the country.
(J.P. Butler, Bradford Publishing Company group sports editor, can be reached at jbutler@oleantimesherald.com)
