Friday, October 24, 2008

12th Place - St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Head Coach: Mark Schmidt
Record at Bonas: 8-22 (1)

Home Court: Reilly Center (6,000)

Roster:
1 Ray Blackburn Jr G 5-10 185
3 Maurice 'Grease' Thomas Jr F 6-9 225
4 Chris Matthews Jr G 6-4 205
5 Jonathan Hall Jr F/G 6-5 225
12 Tyler Benson Sr F 6-7 210
20 Malcolm Eleby So G 6-3 200
21 Da'Quan Cook Fr F 6-9 225
24 Lewis Leonard Jr G 6-4 200
32 Mike Davenport Fr G 6-4 200
33 Marquis Simmons Fr F 6-8 210
44 Andrew Nicholson Fr C 6-9 220
45 Jake Houseknecht Fr F 6-8 200
50 D'Lancy Carter Sr C 6-10 260

First 5:

1- Blackburn (juco transfer from the Buffalo area is the perfect guy for coach Schmidt's preferred up tempo attack)
2- Matthews (Washington St. transfer will be asked to be team's leading scorer, a role which he should embrace. Very talented scorer.)
3- Hall (MVP of national JUCO title game last year can really play 2-4. He is well traveled but Schmidt likes his desire to win at all costs)
4- Thomas ('Grease' was UTEP's leading rebounder two seasons ago. He also has some nice moves around the basket, expect him to make an impact in the A-10)
5- Carter (he will be the only returning starter from last year. He is a nice rebounder who needs better endurance to stay on the floor longer.)

Second 5:

1- Eleby (sophomore needs to develop a reliable jump shot to be on the floor more.)
2- Leonard (juco transfer from Philadelphia is reportedly a big time scorer, should fit well in Bonas uptempo attack)
3- Benson (senior is reportedly a shooter who didn't shoot real well last season from deep)
4- Cook (redshirt freshman was academically ineligible last year and did not practice with team. The bonas faithful love his potential.)
5- Nicholson (the best prep big man in Canada last year is the prospect I am most intrigued about on this roster. he chose bona for their science program.)

Outlook:
This roster looks to have A10 caliber talent on it as opposed to last year. Coach Schmidt did a great job getting 8 wins out of that group. However he is going to have to mesh a lot of new faces this year but the league needs to be put on notice that the brown and white are no longer a pushover. IF they gell this team could move up accordingly. Davenport is a local kid out of Moeller who may have to wait a season or two for his chance. Simmons will not join the team until the second semester.

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