ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — He referred to it as a “scary time” and “probably the most nervous you are as a head coach” given all the unknowns.
Mark Schmidt felt that way even last year, when his St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team, with five starters back from an NCAA Tournament appearance, opened the year with a middling Siena squad.
And now? That feeling has only become more amplified.
Three days after an uneven showing against Division III Alfred in its lone exhibition, Bona will roll out virtually an entirely new squad, which could include three freshmen starters, for its first real contest. It will be taking on a veteran Saint Francis (Pa.) team that, after an injury-plagued 2021-22, returns five of its top six scorers and is expected to compete at the top of the Northeast Conference this winter.
In previous seasons, perhaps this is viewed as a “gimme”. This year, however, even as a 12.5-point favorite according to some services, this is merely Step 1. And that transpires tonight when Bona meets the Red Flash (7 o’clock, WPIG-FM, ESPN+-live stream) in its season-opener inside the Reilly Center.
“You’re always nervous,” Schmidt, now in his 16th season, with a mark of 268-195, acknowledged. “If you’re not nervous, you shouldn’t be coaching or playing. It’s just different. We probably haven’t put in all the stuff that we need to put in. We knew it was going to be a slow process. As I said after Alfred, we’re taking baby steps in this long journey for the next five months …
“You’re always concerned that you haven’t covered every scenario, but I was nervous last year when we had veteran guys, so hopefully we can go out there and do what we need to do and we’re prepared and we can play well.”
TONIGHT’S FOE is a representation of just how much has changed over the last two years.
In December of 2020, after a delayed start to their season, the Bonnies were supposed to open at home against this same Saint Francis program. But a positive COVID test mere hours before tip caused its cancellation, an occurrence that would happen semi-frequently over the next two campaigns.
That was when Bona had a veteran-laden team with sky-high expectations and the coronavirus was still raging. Now, Schmidt has a brand-new squad, and it comes with an understanding that there will almost certainly be growing pains … perhaps even as early as Game 1.
The Red Flash, after struggling to a 9-21 record (5-13 conference) amid a litany of injuries, are healthy to start 2022-23 while having returned three of five starters and all four double-digit scorers from last year. Chief among that group is junior forward Josh Cohen, who led Saint Francis in both scoring (12.9 points) and rebounding (7) and was named the NEC’s Most Improved Player and a preseason all-conference honoree.
Also back is third-leading scorer Myles Thompson (11.2 points) and a pair of solid guards in Maxwell Land and Ronell Giles Jr., who averaged 10.8 and 11.1 points, respectively. Behind them, Saint Francis was chosen to finish third in the NEC this winter.
Bona’s inexperienced group, then, will be facing a battle-tested opponent from the outset. But that’s a challenge it looks forward to meeting throughout the year.
“I would assume most of the teams that we’re playing are going to have more experience than we have,” Schmidt said. “It is what it is. We just have to overcome it.”
Of the Red Flash, he added, “Saint Francis is a good team and they have a lot of returning guys, so it’s going to be a big test for us. They know how to play, they’ve been in the system. We’re a little bit behind the 8-ball, but I expect our guys to go out there and play well; that’s the goal.”
IN THIS ONE, Bona will have the benefit of being at home, in a season-opener, in its first game since reaching last year’s NIT Final Four.
It will also hope to rely on being the Atlantic 10 team with A-10 talent. Guards Daryl Banks III and Kyrell Luc provided the first indication Wednesday that they’ll be the go-to guys everyone expects, with Banks III totaling 18 points, seven assists and three steals and Luc adding 17 points and four assists. Bona also has a pair of freshmen in Yann Farell (10 points, 11 rebounds vs. Alfred) and Barry Evans (12 points, 8 rebounds) who seem poised for the same kind of upside-turned-stardom path that the previous crop of Bona youngsters, including Kyle Lofton, followed.
Schmidt wouldn’t commit when asked if he intended to use the same, or a similar, rotation against the Red Flash. And even after an intrasquad scrimmage, secret scrimmage and exhibition, he knows the Bonnies, with 12 new players, aren’t quite where he wants them to be.
“Five weeks is not enough,” he said with a laugh. “You probably need 15 weeks. But we’re getting better, we’ve shown some progress.”
Still, after missing out on its opportunity in 2020, Bona’s expectation is to go 4-0 against Saint Francis under Schmidt (having also won in 2008, ‘11 and ‘16) and 13-3 in home-openers.
The coach’s message to his young team on the eve of doing it for real for the first time?
“You get the nerves out (by) … make a play on defense, get a loose ball, do a blue-collar-type thing,” he said. “Take a charge, get yourself into the game that way. You’re going to make mistakes, just play hard and trust yourself and play to your strength.”
Perhaps hinting at what he didn’t like in the Alfred game, he added, “You get the butterflies out by (making those types of plays), not going in there and just firing a shot up the first time you touch it.”
