By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
This was a newsworthy week for St. Bonaventure basketball, one of the busiest times of the young offseason. The Bonnies welcomed an intriguing newcomer who carried a Pac-12 offer, bid adieu to a departing forward, reportedly added a notable non-conference home game and saw a change to their Thanksgiving tournament field.
A “Week in Review” notebook with all the details:
Monday: Anthony Roberts committed to St. Bonaventure over offers from Arizona State and Detroit Mercy, among others. Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley and his staff were “pushing hard to get him,” according to Detroit Spartans AAU club director DeShawn Bean, while Detroit and “every mid-major in the state (of Michigan)” pitched Roberts on staying home.
“(St. Bonaventure) got a steal,” Bean remarked. “Great kid, very undervalued coming out of high school. He has the ability to score from all three levels and guard multiple positions, great athleticism and plays under control. He is focused to contribute right away.”
Roberts was one of four Kent State players to average double figures this past season, contributing 12.7 points per game on 44 percent shooting, including a 36 percent clip from 3-point range (49 makes in 135 attempts). He also averaged 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists, tallying 29 minutes a game. After coming off the bench for all but three non-conference games, he started 18 of the last 19.
Roberts averaged 22 points, six rebounds and five assists a game for district championship finalist Henry Ford High, switching schools after a state championship appearance and district championship at Detroit Western International. The Detroit Free Press named him to its All-Detroit First Team, while he landed on the Bank Hoops Class B All-State Second Team.
While prospective recruits were not able to visit campuses this spring, Roberts already traveled to Bonaventure and played in front of Mark Schmidt with Kent State for a closed-door scrimmage last October, his second consecutive year playing a “secret scrimmage” against the Bonnies.
Per NCAA transfer rules, Roberts will sit the 2020-21 season and have two remaining years of eligibility.
Tuesday: Rising sophomore Robert Carpenter announced his decision to transfer from St. Bonaventure. Carpenter, a 6-foot-8 forward from Detroit, played 77 minutes in 15 appearances for the Bonnies as a freshman, scoring 15 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.
“This past year has been a great learning experience for me,” Carpenter wrote in a note on Twitter. “After thoroughly thinking things through and talking with my family, I’ve decided that it is best for me to enter my name in the transfer portal. I feel this is best for me moving forward.”
Carpenter’s decision opens up a scholarship for the previously full Bonaventure program, which has filled 12 of 13 for the 2020-21 season.
Friday: CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein reported that St. Bonaventure will host Yale as part of its non-conference schedule. The Bonnies and Bulldogs first played in December 2017, a 75-67 Bona victory at the Reilly Center.
The Bulldogs won the Ivy League regular season championship this past season, compiling an 11-3 conference record and finishing 23-7 overall. They are slated to return three of their five leading scorers next season unless top point-getter Paul Atkinson unexpectedly stays in the NBA Draft.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi projected Yale to repeat as Ivy League champions in his latest 2021 mock NCAA Tournament bracket.
Friday: Rothstein also reported a change in the Paradise Jam field. Little Rock will replace Colorado State in the tournament, currently scheduled for November. St. Bonaventure, Bradley, Buffalo, Cleveland State, Florida International, Long Beach State and Weber State are already committed.
Bona’s last Paradise Jam appearance was 2002, when it lost to BYU in the title game.
Little Rock finished 21-10 last season and returns its top seven scorers, including 17 point-per-game producer Markquis Nowell and Lefty Driesell Defensive All-American Ruot Monyyong.
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