By HUNTER O. LYLE
ST. BONAVENTURE – When Mike MacDonald stepped into the Reilly Center for the first time, he did so with the winds of change at his back. Mindful or not, he was now the face of a new era of St. Bonaventure men’s basketball.
A new coach with a new team in a new landscape.
MacDonald is no stranger to college basketball. Completing his third decade on the hardwood sidelines, he has made strides towards success at every stop, becoming the only coach in college basketball history to reach the triple-digit win mark in all three divisions. However, stepping back up to the Div. I level, an arena now filled with chaotic whirlwinds of money, agents and volatile rosters, the chessboard for roster creation is far from the one he knew during his time in Canisius.
“It’s wild. It’s definitely different. Just dealing with agents and the way recruiting is by Zoom and having to do a lot of investigative background work. Now you’re trying to go back and you have guys that have played at a certain college and somebody might know an assistant there, might know someone that played against them and now you have to figure out who was their AAU coach, who was their prep school coach,” said MacDonald after last Thursday’s practice. “There’s a lot to work in and our staff did a really good job at trying to pinpoint who could be successful here and who will want to be here and who loves basketball.”
What ultimately materialized into a Brown and White roster was a wide spectrum of various experiences.
Packing up some familiar faces in his Daemen To-Go box, MacDonald retained three of his veteran Wildcats in Benjamin Bill, Zach Philipkoski and Ryan Heath. With the Bonnies losing 85 percent of their points and 70 percent of their rebounds per game from last year, the combination of Philipkoski’s high octane scoring outside and Bill’s 6’10, 240-pound presence down low will help mend some of the gaps left behind. During last year’s 33-2 campaign in the Div. II East Coast Conference, the pair both averaged 17 points and seven rebounds a night, with Philipkoski shooting 41.9 percent from long range and Bill defending the rim for 1.75 blocks per contest.
“I think the three guys coming with us have been great because they’ve helped teach the other guys. They’ve allowed me not to be the sole teaching voice. Anybody with experience helps,” said MacDonald. “There’s going to be an adjustment for (the Daemen transfers) learning to play in the Atlantic 10 just like there’s going to be an adjustment for me coming here after being at Daemen for 12 years. So we’ll all have an adjustment but if you’re willing to learn and if you’re willing to pay attention, if you do that it’ll hopefully speed up the process.”
Also shaking out of the transfer portal was Mason Blackwood, who averaged over 12 minutes per game during his lone season at Penn State, and Akbar Waheed III, who saw the ACC firsthand through his redshirt freshman year at Boston College. Standing at 6’7 and 6’6, respectively, the duo’s size, background and eagerness to hit the hardwood could be key to a Bonnies squad lacking in game-tested experience.
“I think they know that this is an opportunity for them to play at a very high level,” said MacDonald. “They’ve seen the Big 10 and the ACC, but the Atlantic 10 is not that far away. I think they’re relishing the chance to play.”
Three men who do know the A10 intimately are St. Bonaventure’s key returners. Joe Grahovac, Ilia Ermakov and Achille Lonati. Though all utilized in shifting roles throughout the 2025-2026 season, the young trio made strides in finding their footing at the Div. I level.
Technically returning as the most tenured Bonnie on the roster, Grahovac had high expectations set upon his shoulders during his first season at the Reilly Center, and while the scoring never fully materialized, his defensive impact was unmistakable, finishing fifth in the A10 in blocks per game (1.6) alongside his 4.5 points and three rebounds.
“I think it was a tough year for Joe and I think there was too much build up or too much hype and I don’t think Joe could have ever lived up to everything. What I want Joe to do this year is to play free, have some fun, learn and play like he’s capable of playing,” said MacDonald. “Let him learn and I think you’re going to see a better version of Joe just from a comfort level.”
Alongside the 6’10 Grahovac, Ermakov, a playmaking guard who came to St. Bonaventure by way of Russia, had glimpses of a budding scoring ability before suffering a season-ending injury after just nine games, shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from long range, while Italian-born Lonati saw some impact moments down the stretch of the season, coming off the bench for eight minutes in all but four of the Bonnies’ 34 games.
With ‘new’ being the key word ahead of the season, MacDonald refuses to let the pressure of putting out a polished team immediately get to him, joking that the first item of business is “to know everyone’s name.” Still having a wide open window before the first tip off, the road ahead will be a series of patient adjustments and learning opportunities.
“Is everybody a finished product and perfect? No, but I think they all have that love of basketball and the willingness to work, and if you have that, I think it’s a really good start to where we want to go,” said MacDonald. “With the young guys learning, we’re going to keep our energy up, keep the excitement up, by the end of the year we’re going to be playing our best basketball.”
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