By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — It’s hard to say no to family.
Especially if that family is a highly-qualified college basketball assistant coach with experience at the academy and NCAA Division I level and you’re looking to fill a vacancy in your coaching staff.
Enter: Nick Schmidt.
The first-born son of St. Bonaventure men’s basketball coach Mark Schmidt, Nick’s appointment to the Bona bench comes after former assistant coach Dana Valentine left the program to take a job with Oklahoma State. But make no mistake about it, this is not some “silver spoon” nepotism-hire, Mark knows that his son has the qualifications necessary to succeed in this position.
“He went about it the right way,” Mark said of Nick. “He wasn’t silver-spooned. … He’s highly qualified, and he’s going to be terrific for us. And, he’s my son. I don’t think there’s many coaches in this country that have had the opportunity to be able to coach with their son. I’m winding down in my career, and it’s special. I’m blessed to be able to do this. But in the end, he’s a good coach and he’s going to really help us be successful.”
Nick got his start in coaching, coincidentally enough, on the same bench as his father as well, working as a graduate assistant to the Bona men’s program after his playing career at Alfred University reached its end.
But as much as the Bonnies and the city of Olean occupied a special place in his heart, Nick noted that he needed to blaze his own path if he was to fulfil his dreams of being a full-time coach himself.
“My process has been (about) trying to find my own path,” Nick said. “And now that I made it back here, I feel like I am a different coach, I’m a different person, I think I’ve grown a lot. So, I’m excited to bring all those different things to the table here to help us win.”
His first stop on that journey took him to Catholic University, where, as his father pointed out, he earned his stripes, doing quite literally whatever they needed him to do, from “washing uniforms to cleaning the floor.”
After a year, he moved into the academy scene, taking on the varsity head coach position at Putnam Science Academy. He also doubled as an assistant with the prep team that won a national championship in 2022.
And it was in his time at PSA that Nick began making strong connections with college coaches that would frequently come to scout. One such coach was former Bryant College head coach Phil Martelli Jr. who eventually hired Nick to join his staff as an assistant coach.
Martelli, Nick and the entire Bulldogs program had an incredibly successful previous campaign, in which they scored 23 wins, won the America East regular season and championship titles, earned an NCAA tournament bid and built an offense that ranked 21st in the nation in scoring.
And while the names of the places he has been since his days as a graduate assistant is enough to give him a solid resumé, what bolsters it even more is that, as Mark put it, “he wins wherever he goes.”
“I’m not hiring someone that’s unqualified, I don’t care if it’s my wife,” Mark said. “I want to win. I’m only as good as my assistant coaches. So, Nick, he’s overly qualified, maybe more qualified than people that I’ve hired in the past. He’s cut his teeth in Division III, at Putnam, and they’ve won wherever he’s been, and that’s a big part of this. … You don’t want to hire guys that every time they’re on a staff, that staff gets fired. You want to be with winners, guys that you know can win, can coach. Guys that you enjoy being around, because a lot of times, in the staff, chemistry is so, so important. So, he’s everything that I look for in a coach.”
After the successful year Bryant had, Martelli wound up taking the head coach position at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). A move that came as a surprise, even to Nick, who said he learned about the move via a notification on his phone. And so, as Bryant’s now-former HC and players inevitably made the move from Smithfield, Rhode Island to Richmond, Virginia, the coaching staff followed suit, Nick along with them.
The move was a no-brainer to him at first. He already had connections with a number of the players and enjoyed coaching under Martelli’s tutelage. He said even had an apartment already sorted out in Richmond.
However, in the process of his move down there, his official title of assistant coach wound up being taken from him.
“When I went down to VCU, I wasn’t going to be an assistant coach, I was going to be the director of scouting and video,” Nick said. “And I know how the business works, you take a high-level job like that, you got to hire somebody as an assistant that has a little bit more experience than I had. Not to say that I don’t think I would do a good job. But, it’s a high-major job at the end of the day. … (Phil Martelli) thought that I would be best as the video coordinator for now with an opportunity to move up. But, I felt like I would be a good assistant coach, and I have shown that I can be.”
Flash back to June 3.
Jeff Goodman, Co-founder of Field of 68, breaks the news that St. Bonaventure assistant coach Dana Valentine was set to take an assistant coaching position with Oklahoma State in the Big XII.
And as Mark sifted through the list of possible replacements on his shortlist, he found that he kept coming back to one in particular: his son.
Like Valentine, Nick had experience and connections with Putnam Science, a place that has produced many Bona talents such as Osun Osunniyi, Kyle Lofton and Charles Pride as well as current roster-occupier Darryl “Buddy” Simmons II. Nick also has a select type of knowledge that very few, if any, prospective coaches have: an understanding of what it takes to succeed at a place like St. Bonaventure.
“You’re only as good as your assistant coaches,” Mark said. “So, when Dana left, my job was to hire the best guy available. … Some people may say I hired him because he was my son. I hired him because I thought he was the best guy for the job.”
“St. Bonaventure is unique. It’s different than VCU. … You got to want to be here. It’s not for everybody. If you’re looking for a big city with skyscrapers and 25 different nightclubs, this isn’t it. But Nick has grown up here since he was in sixth grade. He knows it, and he wants to be here. Those are the type of guys you want.”
According to Nick, a couple calls transpired, and in some time he traded the black and gold of VCU and the chance to coach against his father in the Atlantic 10 for the chance to coach alongside him, this time a bit further up the bench. A prospect he is thrilled about.
“It means a lot, obviously, growing up in Olean and being around the team, it means a lot to me and my family,” Nick said. “I have a lot of love for St. Bonaventure basketball, obviously, and just to be a part of it, in this capacity, is something special. And to do it with my father is something that we’re going to remember for a long time. Hopefully we can get some wins and we have some success here. … I am very excited to be part of it.”
Mark shares in the sentiment.
“I’m really looking forward to having Nick on the staff and working with him,” Mark said. “I’ve never had a son as a GA before until Nick came and, you know, it puts things in perspective. The game’s going a zillion miles an hour, there’s pressure in every game. But I think sometimes while the game’s going on, you look down the bench and you see your son, and it puts things in perspective. It’s not all about winning and losing. It’s about family when it’s all said and done.”
