Everything you need to know about St. Bonaventure basketball as Woj takes GM role
Yesterday at 05:40 PM
The basketball world was shocked when Adrian Wojnarowski announced on Wednesday that he was leaving the reporting game to take the GM role with St. Bonaventure basketball. Woj has a history at St. Bonaventure, but no one expected him to leave ESPN to take the GM role for the basketball program. Everyone will miss the “Woj Bombs,” but his story is inspiring. He was one of the most accomplished insiders in all sports, but he left to pursue a dream of being a basketball GM.
With Woj on the move, we will take a look at the St. Bonaventure basketball program for which he will be the GM.
St. Bonaventure basketball history
Basketball was the last sport adopted by St. Bonaventure, with the school creating the team in 1902 with football team members. St. Bonaventure has now become primarily a basketball school. The program advanced past the NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen once in their history, making it to the Final Four in 1970. They have two other Sweet Sixteen performances, both coming in the ten years in the 1960s.
St. Bonaventure joined the Eastern Athletic Association in 1979. The conference was eventually renamed the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1982. The team won the regular season championship in 2016 and 2021, and the conference tournament in 2012 and 2021. They also won the WNY3 regular season championship in 1950, 1951, 1957, and 1958.
St. Bonaventure scarred its cherished history with a scandal during the early 2000s. New head coach Jan van Breda Kolff allowed junior college transfer Jamil Terrell to play in 20023 despite a required one-year ineligibility. It was the darkest years of St. Bonaventure basketball, as they fired their entire staff, lost scholarships, and were banned from the postseason. The Bonnies didn’t have a winning season again until 2010-11.
St. Bonaventure basketball 2024-25
St. Bonaventure is led by head coach Mark Schmidt, who is in his 12th season with the team. They finished 14-18 last season, with an 8-10 record in conference play. They finished in a three-way tie for eighth place and lost to Davidson in the second round of the conference tournament.
Graduate student Noel Brown is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season. He finished the year averaging 6.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He was the seventh-leading scorer, with the six others departing in the offseason for various reasons.
Woj at St. Bonaventure
Wojnarowski was born in Bristol, Connecticut, on March 4, 1969. He grew up in ESPN’s backyard and graduated from Bristol Central High School in 1987. He went to St. Bonaventure, just east of Jamestown, New York. Woj graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1991. In May 2022, Woj received an honorary doctorate from the school.
“I’m thrilled and humbled to return to St. Bonaventure with an opportunity to serve the university, coach Mark Schmidt, and our elite Atlantic 10 men’s basketball program,” Wojnarowski said in a release from St. Bonaventure.
“In these changing times of college sports, I’m eager to join a championship program that combines high-level basketball, national television exposure, pro preparation, and NIL [name, image, and likeness] opportunities with an intimate, supportive educational environment.”
Woj will assist the coaching staff in managing NIL opportunities for the players, and be a liaison with collectives, transfer portal management, recruiting, and more. Woj has always supported the basketball program and the Jandoli School of Communication. His wife Amy is also an alumnus of the school.
“This move is critical to navigating the new landscape of college basketball in NIL, recruiting and retention,” said Schmidt, the winningest men’s basketball coach in school history. “Woj is as connected as anyone in the basketball world and his decades-long network of relationships can only help our program remain among the top teams in the Atlantic 10 going forward.”
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