The scenery, of course, was different.
Rather than at a table inside the Barclays Center, Mark Schmidt sat in front of a glass St. Bonaventure logo in his Reilly Center office. Instead of an in-person interview with Andy Katz, he took questions virtually through the Ring Central application.
The league-wide view of his team, however, remained much the same: The Bonnies continue to have the Atlantic 10’s respect.
Bona was chosen to finish fourth among 14 teams in the 2020-21 Atlantic 10 preseason poll and had two players, juniors Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi, earn preseason all-conference honors, the league revealed Tuesday as part of its COVID-19-prompted three-day virtual Media Day affair.
It’s the fourth time in the last five years that Bona was selected to finish fifth or better in the late-fall poll and the first instance it’s had multiple players named to the preseason all-league teams in back-to-back years since those squads were first formed 20 years ago. Lofton and Osunniyi were preseason second and third team choices, respectively, last year and picked to those same teams again for 2020-21.
THAT NOW-annual acclaim, naturally, is based on merit.
Bona is the only A-10 team to have won at least 10 games in each of the last six seasons and has met or exceeded league expectations every year except one under Schmidt, in 2012-13, when it was pegged for 11th, but finished 13th by virtue of a three-way tie. And while the Bonnies appreciate having their due, they’ve admittedly never cared much for preseason polls and awards.
And their attention lies on a league that figures to be as strong as it’s been in recent memory.
“If I’m not mistaken, I think Dayton was picked third last year and they went undefeated,” Schmidt correctly noted of the Flyers, who received one first-place vote before embarking upon an 18-0 league season and a No. 3 national ranking. “Those polls to me are for the alumni, for publicity for the Atlantic 10; the games are played on the court.
“You look at VCU or Rhode Island, who are perennial powerhouses in this league and they’re not in the top five (picked to finish sixth and ninth, respectively). So it just tells you how strong this league is and the type of players that we have.”
He added: “We have a ton of really good players coming back. So (there’s) not much stock in it, but at the same time, there’s really good teams and really good coaches. And it doesn’t matter where you are on that list … every game is going to be difficult.”
BONA, which has finished (in order since 2016) tied-for-first, fifth, second, fourth and fifth in each of the last five campaigns, was joined in the top four by preseason favorite Richmond, No. 2 Saint Louis and No. 3 Dayton. Richmond edged Saint Louis for the top spot in a poll that was conducted before the Spiders lost starting guard Nick Sherod to a season-ending ACL injury.
For Lofton, his place may actually serve more as a source of motivation than an honor. The junior point guard made the season-ending first team last year, but fell back to the second team this fall, with UMass’ Tre Mitchell and Davidson’s Kellan Grady joining other first-team returnees Fatts Russell (Rhode Island), Jacob Gilyard (Richmond), Jordan Goodwin (Saint Louis) and Jalen Crutcher (Dayton) in those slots.
Osunniyi, coming off an Atlantic 10 Third Team and All-Defensive Team selection last March, was picked for those teams again, joining George Mason’s Javonte Greene and A.J. Wilson, VCU’s Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, Saint Louis’ Javonte Perkins and Duquesne’s Sincere Carry on the third team. The junior center is one of just four Bonnies to be named to the preseason All-Defensive Team on multiple occasions, alongside Andrew Nicholson (2009, ‘10, ‘11), Marques Green (2002, ‘03) and Caswell Cyrus (1998, ‘99).
By being picked fourth, the Bonnies will be expected to once again challenge for a double bye at the Atlantic 10 Tournament and, perhaps, compete for a league title. And though they can appreciate how far they’ve come, they’re more concerned with what promises to be a difficult season ahead.
“When we first started this thing 14 years ago, we were picked 14th,” Schmidt said. “Our guys have had a chip on their shoulder (ever since). I think every team in the league has a chip on their shoulder except Richmond.
“Everybody wants to be picked No. 1, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the year, hopefully we’re No. 1, we have 2-3 guys on these all-conference teams and all-tournament teams. If that’s the case, then we’ve had a good season.”
2020-21 ATLANTIC 10
PRESEASON POLL
(first place votes in parentheses)
1. Richmond (19)
2. Saint Louis (7)
3. Dayton (2)
4. St. Bonaventure
5. Duquesne
6. Rhode Island
7. Davidson
8. Massachusetts
9. VCU
10. George Mason
11. George Washington
12. Saint Joseph’s
13. La Salle
14. Fordham
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
FIRST TEAM
Kellan Grady, Sr., G, Davidson
Jalen Crutcher, Sr., G, Dayton
Fatts Russell, Sr., G, Rhode Island
Jordan Goodwin, Sr., G, Saint Louis
Jacob Gilyard, Sr., G, Richmond
Tre Mitchell, So., C, UMass
SECOND TEAM
Kyle Lofton, Jr., G, St. Bonaventure
Blake Francis, Sr., G, Richmond
Ryan Daly, Sr., G, Saint Joseph’s
Hasahn French, Sr., F, Saint Louis
Marcus Weathers, Sr., F, Duquesne
Grant Golden, Sr., F, Richmond
THIRD TEAM
Sincere Carry, Jr., G, Duquesne
Javon Greene, Sr., G, George Mason
Nah’Shon Hyland, So., G, VCU
Javonte Perkins, Sr., G/F, Saint Louis
Osun Osunniyi, Jr., C, St. Bonaventure
A.J. Wilson, Sr., F, George Mason
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Jacob Gilyard, Sr., G, Richmond
Jordan Goodwin, Sr., G, Saint Louis
A.J. Wilson, Sr., F, George Mason
Hasahn French, Sr., C, Saint Louis
Osun Osunniyi, Jr., C, St. Bonaventure
