By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
What do you get the team that has everything?
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has two available scholarships with over two months until the 2021 fall semester begins, and the coaching staff has no obvious needs to meet. The Bonnies intend to fill at least one of those vacancies, a source says, and can realistically welcome the best uncommitted player or best fit they discover. All five of their starting spots are spoken for, while Bona quelled any concern over its ability to recoup its bench by quickly filling six spots.
It’s an enviable position for a defending champion to be in. Bona needed to replace multiple starters on its 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament championship team and its 2016 co-regular season title squad. Mark Schmidt and his coaching staff now reap the rewards of being a year ahead of schedule, perhaps planning as much for the future as their prosperous present.
Which avenues could Bonaventure take in finalizing the 2021-22 roster?
Point guard: SBU’s staggering success rate at recruiting its most demanding position will be tested again after Kyle Lofton graduates in May (assuming, of course, Lofton chooses to sign a professional contract rather than utilize his fifth year of eligibility). The Bonnies believe their future floor leader could already be on campus, as the staff pitched Joryam Saizonou on backing up Lofton this year. Wake Forest transfer Quadry Adams is also a candidate.
Adding another point prospect, however, could lend itself to beneficial competition in practice. Not only would the staff have more opportunity to evaluate and choose the next in a line of elite guards, competing against each other each day has the potential to accelerate each player’s development.
Shooting: The Bonnies don’t lack for perimeter shooting, as Linton Brown is expected to join Jaren Holmes, Kyle Lofton (in late-season form) and Dominick Welch as formidable 3-point threats. Adding another player capable of shooting 35 percent or greater from deep, however, would offer the Bonnies another option when their starters face slumps from deep range.
Welch is the first to admit he starts the season out of rhythm, while Lofton’s 3-for-34 start from behind the arc was a prevalent topic until he busted out of his slump by making all three of his 3-point attempts against La Salle. And can you ever have too much shooting, anyhow?
Post depth: In the same vein, it’s difficult to argue with a team bulking up and adding more size. Karim Coulibaly and Oluwasegun Durosinmi are likely to back up Jalen Adaway and Osun Osunniyi, but the conference that counted three of the 20 most whistled teams in the country last season as members (Davidson, Bona and Duquesne) practically demands foul trouble insurance.
There are many benefits to depth at the power forward and center positions, but this season, with the best center in the league, the simple luxury of having another available may outweigh all others.
Anouar Mellouk: Mellouk’s recruitment has quieted over the last month, as his last offer came from Maine on May 12. Saizonou’s friend and fellow countryman, Mellouk is a superb athlete with a 41-inch vertical, 7-foot-1 wingspan and a 53 percent effective field goal percentage in his senior year at Fork Union Academy.
Saizonou acknowledged last month that he and Mellouk have discussed the possibility of teaming up at SBU. Mellouk was receptive, he noted, but holds six other offers according to Verbal Commits.
The Bonnies can afford to wait patiently as Mellouk and other prospects mull their decisions, as the transfer portal continues to gain entrants even in the middle of June. Anything this summer, for this team, is an added bonus as it seeks a deep NCAA Tournament run for the first time in over 50 years.
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