ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — For a split second, Marcus Posley was in February of 2016 again.
The former St. Bonaventure basketball star got by his defender, drove baseline and finished the layup that gave his Brown Team the “Elam Ending” target score in a 63-55 victory over the White Team.
Posley driving full speed ahead for the game-winner in front of the home crowd? It was all too familiar. He, of course, had done the same in the Bonnies’ memorable triumph over nationally ranked VCU six years earlier.
But the fan favorite guard wasn’t the only former Bonnie conjuring flashbacks from his playing days.
Michael Davenport drilled a familiar left-handed 3-pointer from the top of the key, a callback to his buzzer-beater against Duquesne in 2011. Dion Wright slithered down the lane and finished one of his patented half-hook runners, responsible for many of his 1,263 career points. And Courtney Stockard demonstrated that even after a pair of season-ending foot injuries and needing open-heart surgery last fall, he still possesses much of the same magic he had against UCLA in 2018.
Such was the scene inside the Reilly Center on Wednesday night.
Those and other former Bonnies, plus a couple of equally capable companions, came together for Brown & White Night, a kind of sendoff celebration ahead of the Bona alumni team’s first-round game against The Nerd Team in The Basketball Tournament on Friday night in Syracuse.
It was a night of reminiscing and regaling, of preparation for the $1 million winner-take-all event, of giving fans the opportunity to see some of their favorite players back in the RC. It was also a night of surprises — all-time guard Jaylen Adams was in attendance, having dropped in to join the afternoon workout, but was unable to commit to this summer’s TBT due to his pro prospects.
More than anything, it was a chance to come home.
“It was special for me because it’s been six years, playing pro and just being away from Olean,” Posley said. “It’s a surreal feeling being here. We kind of reunited last summer (with the first iteration of the Brown & White) …
“But coming back and seeing Courtney, seeing him healthy now and being able to play, I think is special because sometimes you take the game for granted. So for him to be in this position to play again is a special feeling and we’re happy to be part of that with him.”
As part of the festivities, Garrett Nevels (Hawaii) topped Corey Sanders (Rutgers) in the 33-point contest and will represent the Brown & White in the same TBT-wide event. The Brown Team, featuring Posley, Wright, Stockard, Sanders and Da’Quan Cook, got the best of their counterparts in the intrasquad scrimmage. And all 10 players stuck around afterward to sign autographs for a crowd of about 400.
Bigger than even the TBT tuneup, though, was the bridging of different eras of Bonnies.
Under one roof, together were: two players from one of coach Mark Schmidt’s earliest tone-setting teams (Davenport and Cook), four from the 2015-16 team that won a share of the A-10 regular season crown (Posley, Wright, Denzel Gregg and Idris Taqqee, the latter two of whom will serve as assistants for the tournament) and one from the 26-win NCAA Tournament team in 2018 (Stockard).
And for the first time, we had an answer to the age-old question: What would it have been like if Stockard hadn’t gotten hurt his first year and been able to play with Posley, Wright and Adams on that 2016 squad?
“We talked about that last night,” Posley said. “If Courtney plays on that senior year team, it’s crazy. Obviously, I got to practice with him for a while before he got hurt. But it’s a better feeling now, 1. Because he’s a pro now, but he’s a great teammate to have, especially being on the floor.
“To be a part of that on top of him getting over his surgery and being able to play again, all that in one, just makes it a special feeling for us. Being able to be a part of Courtney and Dion, having those guys a part of the team this year just made me want to be here, even more, this year.”
