Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The lead-up to the basketball season continued to build excitement around the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball program as the Bonnies were picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 at the conference’s annual Media Day. Along with being picked second as a team, senior guards Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley were both named to the Atlantic 10’s Preseason All-Conference first team.
Rhode Island was chosen to win the A-10 with 27 first place votes and 390 points. The Bonnies received one first place vote and earned 345 points. Saint Joseph’s was picked third, VCU fourth and Dayton fifth. Both the order of finish and preseason all-conference teams were chosen by vote of the conference’s head coaches and a panel of media members.
The preseason No. 2 rank is the highest for St. Bonaventure in any season when the A-10 was not split into two divisions.
Last year, the Bonnies finished 20-12 overall and were fifth in the Atlantic 10 with an 11-7 mark.
Also on the preseason All-Conference first team with Adams and Mobley are Davidson forward Peyton Aldridge, Rhode Island guard E.C. Matthews and VCU forward Justin Tillman. All five players are seniors.
Adams, a 6-2 point guard from Baltimore, Md., was a first team All-Conference selection both his sophomore and junior seasons. Last season, he also was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 4 First Team and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District II team. Adams was the only NCAA Division I player to rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring (24th) and the top 10 in assists (seventh). He finished second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 20.6 points per game.
Over his three seasons, Adams has scored 1,377 points, which ranks 21st in program history. He has led the Bonnies to back-to-back 20-win seasons the past two years.
Last season, which was his first at St. Bonaventure, Mobley finished fourth in A-10 in scoring at 18.5 points per game. The 6-3 guard led all Division I players in minutes per game at 38.3. Mobley finished 13th in the A-10 in rebounding at 5.8 per game and also ranked second in the A-10 in three-pointers (2.7 per game), second in free throw percentage (.861) and 11th in steals (1.6).
In addition to Adams and Mobley, Coach Mark Schmidt‘s team also returns two more starters, senior guard Idris Taqqee and sophomore forward Josh Ayeni. Juniors Nelson Kaputo and LaDarien Griffin and sophomore Amadi Ikpeze also return. The Bonnies welcome four new players: junior forward Courtney Stockard, junior center Ndene Gueye, freshman forward Tshiefu Ngalakulondi and freshman guard Izaiah Brockington.
St. Bonaventure hosts the University of Vermont and former Greece Athena Trojan Anthony Lamb at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday, December 16th. Lamb led the Catamounts to an NCAA Tournament bid as a freshman averaging 12.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg. The 6-foot-6 forward earned America East Rookie of the Year honors.
The season opener is Nov. 10 against Niagara at the Reilly Center. Bonnies season tickets are now on sale. For information on purchasing season tickets, contact the SBU Ticket Office at (716) 375-2500 or visit GoBonnies.com/tickets. Single game tickets go on sale October 20.
2017-18 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish:
| TEAM (1st place votes) | Total Voter Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Rhode Island (27) | 390 |
| 2. St. Bonaventure (1) | 345 |
| 3. Saint Joseph’s | 300 |
| 4. VCU | 299 |
| 5. Dayton | 266 |
| 6. Davidson | 245 |
| 7. Saint Louis | 225 |
| 8. Richmond | 198 |
| 9. La Salle | 194 |
| 10. George Mason | 140 |
| 11. George Washington | 132 |
| 12. Massachusetts | 79 |
| 13. Fordham | 66 |
| 14. Duquesne | 61 |
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