ST. BONAVENTURE, NY — Let’s forget, for a moment, about the increasingly unscrupulous nature of college basketball.

Let’s put aside the likelihood (near-certainty) that if a transfer like Lajae Jones, or anyone, has a breakout season, he’ll be gone before even the St. Bonaventure bus pulls back onto campus after its final game, off to the highest bidder or to the (many times false) promises of glitz and glamor from the power conferences.

(Full disclosure: I know nothing of what Jones’ intentions might be. I used his name only as a hypothetical to illustrate one of the unfortunate realities of the current climate).

And let’s, for now, neglect the strong possibility (inevitability) that we’ll be talking about an almost entirely new Bona roster on this date again next year.

We’ve seen, and written, enough post mortems on the game as we knew it. We’ve taken these blows in stride — and they’re still coming; just last month, the NCAA announced that players can now transfer as many times as they want without penalty, severing what might have been the last hope that a kid remains at one school and doesn’t immediately chase the money at season’s end.

We’ve had enough bad news for one offseason.

It’s time for some positive headlines.

FOR BONA fans, the good thing, the best of things, is that there will always be the front of the jersey to pull for, and that will forever be the one thing to rally around, that binds school, community and alumni no matter the names on the back. There’s also, still, major college basketball being played just down the road, and that should never be taken for granted, even as the NCAA attempts to make the game we love so unlovable.

Mark Schmidt is still the coach.

The Reilly Center is still the Reilly Center.

Saturday nights will still be ripe for post-victory celebrations.

The other positive is that, after, again, entering the offseason with little in the cupboard, Bona now has the makings of a real roster, adding five new players over the last month via the transfer portal. And there’s seemingly some real potential there.

NOW, IT’S become virtually impossible to predict how an Atlantic 10 team will fare in the following campaign. Even Dayton, a destination, just lost senior sharpshooter Koby Brea to Kentucky and will likely lose DaRon Holmes II to the NBA.

Bona, though, on paper, appears to be solid.

Schmidt and his staff added two former four-star recruits and high-major transfer guards in Dasonte Bowen (Iowa) and Chance Moore (Arkansas, Missouri State). They landed one of the nation’s top juco players in the 6-foot-7 Jones and another highly-regarded one in 6-foot-3 sniper Jonah Hinton.

Most recently, they brought in an athletic 6-foot-6 wing in Valparaiso transfer Jaxon Edwards. And that’s in addition to having back veteran center Noel Brown, he of the NBA body and improving skill, and a pair of redshirt freshmen in Miles Rose and Duane Thompson, all three of whom displayed increasingly rare loyalty over the offseason and have a year in the program under their belt.

Schmidt and Bona have, again, done an admirable job of reconstructing the roster under difficult circumstances (and there’s still four scholarships available). It’s an intriguing group with a number of potentially strong pieces.

Will it be good enough to compete for an A-10 title? That remains to be seen. But it’s a group that fans can at least begin to become excited about, to banter about, to get behind, even if it’s only for a year. And “exciting” is a welcomed feeling after how bleak things have become this offseason.

Here’s what Schmidt recently had to say about four of his five new players (excluding Edwards, whose commitment isn’t official yet):

Dasonte Bowen, 6-3 G

“Dasonte is a quick guard and open-court attacker. He can score the ball at all three levels. He played and started games at the high-major level for two years and gained a lot of good experience. We see Dasonte pairing well with Jonah Hinton, playing in the backcourt together for the next couple years. We’re looking forward to welcoming Dasonte to the Bonnies this summer.”

Jonah Hinton, 6-3, G

“Jonah is a combo guard who can score in a variety of ways. He can really shoot the ball from deep. He’s a smooth player and has a great feel for the game. Jonah has a chance to be an All-Conference-type player in our league. We are really excited to add Jonah to the Bonnies backcourt.”

Chance Moore, 6-6, G/F

“Chance is a long, athletic scoring wing. He can shoot the ball from three and is a really good offensive rebounder. Chance has been a very productive player at a good level for the last couple years. He is ready to make an immediate impact for us in the fall. Chance fits our up-and-down style well. We can’t wait to get him in a Bonnies uniform.”

Lajae Jones, 6-7, F

“Lajae is a highly skilled, scoring forward. He’s someone that can get a bucket in a lot of different ways. “He is position flexible, as well; we see him (playing) some in the point forward role. He has a high basketball IQ and plays with a relentless motor. Lajae fits our style really well. He’s going to be a tremendous player for us for two years.”