By Paul Gotham
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Sometimes a curse can become a blessing. Just ask St. Bonaventure head men’s basketball coach Mark Schmidt who found it necessary to use a pair of freshmen sooner than he planned. Not that Jordan Gathers and Youssou Ndoye are a curse. But the circumstances surrounding the rookies’ opportunities was something of a burden.
No sooner had his Bonnies started the 2011-12 season, and Schmidt found himself having to react to forces out of his control. Marquise Simmons came off the bench in the season opener against Cornell and barely broke a sweat before his season ended. Simmons went down in a heap under the basket. His stat line for the season read two minutes played, two free throws made and one achilles tendon ruptured. The next time he was seen, the 6-8, 230 lbs. forward was wearing a walking boot.
Seven games after that Michael Davenport separated his shoulder, and the starting guard was also relegated to the sidelines for the remainder of the season. A sling became his closest companion.
Davenport and Simmons combined for 15 points and nine rebounds per game the previous season. It was reasonable to expect the pair to contribute at least that much in ’11-’12.
“We just lost two of our top seven players,” Schmidt recalled recently during the Atlantic 10 media at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York . “There were expectations for a good year. You’re sitting there going oh shoot; what are we going to do now?”
Oh shoot?
Score one for Schmidt in the category of restraint. 2011-12 was to be a turnaround for a Bona program which had survived a moribund-like turmoil less than a decade earlier. It was the senior year for pre-season co-conference player-of-the-year, Andrew Nicholson. There were no second chances. Davenport and Simmons were just two of the players expected to provide outlets when opposing defenses double and triple teamed Nicholson. Davenport was sure to find open spaces on the perimeter as opponents doubled down in the post. Simmons would benefit from playing opposite Nicholson in the paint.
Instead the duo encouraged teammates from the bench. They only saw court time came during pre-game warm-ups.
The Bonnies were 5-4. Schmidt had no other choice. He turned to the true freshmen.
Ndoye started slowly. There was the Siena game where the seven-foot center went 1-2 from the field with two rebounds and three fouls in 11 minutes of playing time. The native of Senegal grabbed four boards in 11 minutes against Illinois. Again, his night was limited by three fouls. Against North Carolina State Ndoye was whistled for four infractions in nine minutes. His three rebounds and three points seemed like little consolation.
“If Marquise didn’t get hurt, he wouldn’t have played the 10-12 minutes a game he played last year. That will do him wonders for his development this year,” Schmidt said of Ndoye. “He has really made strides.”
Gathers experienced his own learning curve.
Other than double-digit minutes in a blowout win over St. Francis, Pa., he played scrap time for much of the first half of the season: a minute versus Virginia Tech, four each against N.C. State, Loyola and Illinois.
“Initially, Jordan and Youssou were overwhelmed. They should have been,” Schmidt explained. “As it went on, we got two guys who are going to be decent players for us. You have confidence in guys, but you never know how they’re going to react when they get in.”
Gathers earned 12 minutes of playing time on January 14th at Xavier and responded with three assists. He followed with a career-high 12 points against Fordham.
One week into February, and the Bona’s record showed few shows of improvement. SBU’s A-10 mark stood at 5-4. Earning a first-round home game in the conference tournament seemed a more realistic goal than reaching pre-season top four prediction.
Gathers earned a spot in the starting lineup for the Rhode Island game on February 18th. It was the first of four straight wins including an overtime defeat of St. Joseph’s to clinch fourth place and a first-round bye in the A-10 tournament.
“You never know how they are going to react until they are in that situation. Looking back it’s a blessing. We were putting two guys in who we felt were not ready to play in the Atlantic 10. Now I look back, and I’m glad it happened. I’m not glad that those two guys got hurt, but I’m glad that Youssou and Jordan were able to play and get their feet wet.”
Gathers scored 11 points and dished out eight assists as the Bonnies won three straight in Atlantic City to take the school’s first conference championship.
Ndoye corraled 13 rebounds including nine in the opening round win over St. Joseph’s. He added eight points for the weekend and one monster dunk as Bona defeated Xavier in the championship. He will be called upon to help fill the void left behind by Nicholson, the first-round draft pick of the Orlando Magic.
“He’s not going to replace Andrew,” Schmidt said. “But he’s going to be the guy inside that needs to do some stuff. For him to get his feet wet last year will help him this year. People will be surprised how good he is.”
Schmidt won’t have Nicholson this year, but the Bonnies return nine players with significant experience. Davenport received a medical redshirt as did Simmons. Those two along with Gathers and Ndoye join Demitrius Conger, Chris Johnson, Charlon Kloof, Eric Mosley and Matthew Wright to give the Bonnies their deepest lineup in recent memory.
That’s not to suggest a season of smooth travels for the Bonnies. Nevertheless, no one can find a blessing out of curse better than Schmidt.
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