By SPENCER BATES
ROCK HILL, SC — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team looked untouchable in its final exhibition game against Alfred University.
The Bonnies won by a 61-point margin, Div. II North Georgia transfer Cayden Charles lit up the box score, Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II led a masterclass in 3-point efficiency, drawing six of the team’s 13 made shots from beyond the arc and Joe Grahovac made the roof pop off the Reilly Center with his first official buckets in the Brown and White.
But toss that all out the window. All those highlights and baskets are nothing more than a distant memory according to head coach Mark Schmidt.
“Throw Alfred out, that’s a Division Three team,” Schmidt said. “That game is just a fun game to give the guys confidence, and to play everybody.”
The time for fun and games is over. The 2025-26 season is officially here and Bona is not starting off the campaign by dipping its toes in the water. Instead, it is jumping head-first into one of the marquee matchups of its non-conference season, a neutral site affair against Bradley University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
As a part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, the Bonnies will take on the Braves, picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in its preseason poll and is currently ranked 106 to Bona’s 122 in KenPom.
The biggest aspect of this Bradley team that Schmidt has keyed in on is the number of players that are returning to its roster. The Braves ran deep in 2024-25, with 10 players having averaged over 10 minutes per game, such as starting guard Jaquan Johnson, who averaged 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals last year.
“They got a number of guys back that were good role players last year,” Schmidt said. “They had a great culture, and I think in this whole world that we’re in now, being able to retain guys and bringing them back is such a huge advantage. Coach (Wardle) does a really good job, they’re a really good defensive team, very physical and really shoot the ball. That’s one of the reasons why they won 28, 29 games last year and beat George Mason … in the NIT. They’re physical, they’re big, they run good stuff, and they’re well-coached. So it should be a tough game.”
But not to be glanced over are the pieces that Bradley brought into their team over the offseason. Alex Huibregtse is entering his sixth year of college basketball, having spent each of the last five at Wright State. He will provide a big scoring punch for the Braves, having averaged 13.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists last season. Also having joined the Bradley ranks is Swiss Army knife AJ Smith who averaged 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds for James Madison over the course of the last campaign.
“(Huibregtse) is a six-year guy, he’s a man,” Schmidt said. “He can really shoot, he’s got good size and Smith is really athletic. They’re just good players. They have good players that are coming back, that were part of a winning team last year, and they brought in some new guys that are talented, that fit into their system.”
While the Bona faithful got a good glimpse of what its team’s offense is capable of in a perfect storm situation against Alfred, its defense was not tested all that much. This is an area that Schmidt admitted will be key if they are to take down the Braves. It won’t be perfect to start, and there are some questions they don’t have answers to, but he hopes to see a strong effort on Monday, nonetheless.
“Defense wins games, forget about offense and shooting the ball, we’re not going to make 13 3s every game,” Schmidt said. “And that’s the question, can we keep the ball in front of us? Can we contest 3s? Can we rebound the basketball? Those are questions that are unanswered. We’ve worked on all those things, and I think we’re a team that’s going to hopefully get better and better. … But that’s a big key. That’s got to be the constant. That’s the staple of any good team. We’re going to rebound and defend, and hopefully we can do a decent job tomorrow against a really good team.”
Doing all the little things correctly at game pace against a quality opponent is no simple task. That is why Schmidt is relying on his players to carry a sense of confidence with them into battle — the type of raw energy and poise that Simmons and Mitchell bring to the team.
“I don’t care if you’re in journalism, or if you’re coaching, if you don’t have confidence in what you’re doing, you better find a new way of life,” Schmidt said. “Confidence comes with learning the system, being comfortable in what you’re trying to do, understanding what you’re trying to do. The more comfortable you are and the more you understand, the better you’re going to play, the more confident you are going to be in making those decisions. When you’re playing on eggshells, unsure of what you’re doing, it makes it more difficult to be successful. … That’s why a team that can retain their guys and bring them back for a second or third year is going to be a better team, because you know the system and they’re more confident in their ability to play within that system.”
Schmidt is hoping to get a good start from his all-but brand new team against the tried and true Braves. He knows there will be holes. He knows perfection is a tough ask right out of the gates. But none of that is lowering the goals and expectations this team has for the season.
“Our goal every year, like every team in the country, is to win the conference and go to the NCAA tournament, so that’s what we’re trying to accomplish,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to get better every day and we’re going to try to play as well as we can tomorrow with 11 new guys against a really good team. We’re trying to be 1-0 at one o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”
St. Bonaventure will tip-off against Bradley at 11 a.m. in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Nov. 3, the second official game of the entire men’s college basketball season.
