(EDITOR’S NOTE: Following is the fourth in a six-part series centering on the coming St. Bonaventure men’s basketball season from the five writers from the Times Herald and Bradford Era who will be contributing to the Bona coverage this year. Today: A look at the potential depth chart for the 2022-23 campaign.)
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Daryl Banks III brings experience to the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team that none of his teammates can boast.
Banks, vaulted into college basketball fame last March with his 27-point performance that helped 15th-seeded Saint Peters shock Kentucky on its way to the Elite Eight, joins the Bonnies as the team’s only player with NCAA tournament experience. With a broad skill set that translates to both ends of the floor, however, Banks brings much more than notoriety to coach Mark Schmidt’s program.
Made evident in Banks’ selection by his teammates as one of two team captains, the redshirt junior seeks an immediate impact in the Bona backcourt. After losing four guards who each averaged 38 minutes per game, Banks could be Bona’s next go-to scorer as the program begins a new chapter.
“I’ve been in college for three years now, so I’m just trying to use my experience and transfer that over to the guys on the court,” Banks said at last week’s team media availability. “But I’m also new to the system, so I’m trying to listen to what Coach Schmidt is saying.”
BANKS PLAYED three years at Saint Peter’s in his home state of New Jersey, where he averaged 7.6 points per game as a freshman before upping those to 11.0 and 11.3 points per game, respectively, over the last two years.
A lifetime 35% 3-point shooter who makes 84% of his free throws, Schmidt will ask much of Banks, but knows the 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard has the prowess to handle it.
“(Banks) has a great skill set,” Schmidt said. “He has great mannerisms and a really good IQ for the game. He shoots the ball, he takes you off the dribble and he has a solid frame. If there’s one guy on our team that has done it at a high level, it’s him.”
Schmidt referenced Banks’ breakout game against Kentucky, one that sent the No. 2 Wildcats home in the Round of 64 before Saint Peter’s won two more games to reach the East Region final of the NCAA tournament. Banks scored six points in the Peacocks’ Round of 32 win over No. 7 Murray State before turning in 14 points against No. 3 Purdue and seven in their Elite Eight loss to No. 8 North Carolina.
That run gives Schmidt optimism that Banks will be able to successfully jump from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) to the Atlantic 10 and that his other captain — redshirt junior guard Moses Flowers — can make the jump from Hartford and the America East.
“I think the guys understand and appreciate what (Banks and Flowers) have done … and those two guys are going to be main guys,” Schmidt said. “They’ve done it — they haven’t done it in the Atlantic 10, but (Banks) did it against Kentucky, etc. Now, we need to do it against teams like that every night.”
DESPITE BANKS’ veteran status, learning Schmidt’s system is a continued process.
Banks trusts Schmidt and his staff, however, and was just as complimentary of the 16th-year Bona boss as Schmidt was of him.
“We just want to buy in with what Coach (Schmidt) has to say because he’s obviously had a lot of success at this level,” Banks said. “He’s a genius. I can’t really say anything else. He’s really a genius. He does a lot of homework and he’s played the game; he’s been in our shoes. He can relate to us because he’s played at the highest level.”
Banks was referring to Schmidt’s playing days at Boston College, of course, when the Eagles made three NCAA appearances from 1982-85 and won six tournament games during that span. Banks is Schmidt’s type of player, valuing defense to pair with his diverse scoring skills.
“I’m someone that likes to get after it on the defensive end,” Banks said. “That sets the tone and the energy for the game. When your defense is going, that’s what wins championships. Offense can go up and down; you never know. Defense brings solid energy to a team, so that’s how I approach the game.”
Not far off from Schmidt’s oft-used adage, ‘Offense is fickle.’
“(Banks) can play multiple positions and he’s probably the guy who has grasped the offense and the defense the best so far,” Schmidt said. “He can shoot the ball from 3, he has a middle game and he can get to the basket.
“He’s everything that we thought he would be, and I think the reason he came here is to challenge himself, play in the Atlantic 10 and show that he’s a really good college basketball player. It wasn’t just one game against Kentucky.”
BANKS RECOGNIZES the responsibility that comes with team captaincy, plus the pressure that pairs with his pedigree. He’s felt at home at SBU, however, and hopes to be a positive light that leads an entirely new-look team.
“The family environment here, I felt it when they recruited me,” Banks said. “Everything they were telling me felt genuine … I knew right away that this was the best decision.”
Setting the standard at practice, maintaining vocal leadership and keeping his teammates on the same page fuel Banks’ leadership strategy. Bona’s youth, he said, reminds him of the team he played on his freshman year at Saint Peter’s.
With 12 of 13 players set to make their Bona debuts this winter — including himself — Banks seeks to be a big-time presence on a team yet to establish its identity.
“Just because we’re young doesn’t mean anything,” Banks said. “It doesn’t matter where it comes from, but everyone being there for each other is an important thing going down the road because, when things get rough, it’s going to be about how we respond. It’s just getting guys to buy in as I’m buying in myself.”
(Jeff Uveino, Bradford Publishing Company assistant group sports editor, can be reached at juveino@bradfordera.com)
