photo courtesy of gobonnies.sbu.edu
By Jeff Uveino
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY — Get used to these names. You’re going to be seeing them for awhile.
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team enters the 2020-21 season with seven new players to go with seven returners. The thing that stands out the most about this year’s Bona roster?
Zero seniors.
SBU only lost one player to graduation last year (Amadi Ikpeze), while three players transferred out of the program (Robert Carpenter, Matt Johnson and Bobby Planutis). And, except for potential transfers, they won’t lose any pieces of this team in the spring.
The Bonnies, like every other NCAA program, were allowed to begin practicing on Wednesday, with the possibility of games beginning no earlier than Nov. 25. As the Bonnies take the court for the first time together this season, here’s a brief overview of what their roster will look like.
RETURNING PLAYERS
Kyle Lofton | G | Junior | Hillside, NJ
Perhaps the most familiar face on the roster, Lofton will find himself in a familiar position to begin his junior season: The catalyst of Bona’s offense. A two-year starter at point guard, Lofton virtually never left the floor last year for head coach Mark Schmidt. He averaged 14.1 points per game and 6.0 assists per game last year, after averaging 14.4 and 3.7 per game his freshman year.
Jaren Holmes | G | Junior | Romulus, MI
Holmes became a regular presence in SBU’s starting lineup a year ago after transferring in from junior college. He averaged 11.9 points per game a season ago, and is an underrated part of Bona’s core of juniors, alongside Lofton and forward Osun Osunniyi.
Dominick Welch | G | Junior | Buffalo, NY
Alpha Okoli | G | Junior | Los Angeles, CA
Alejandro Vasquez | G | Sophomore | Queens, NY
Osun Osunniyi | F/C | Junior | Pleasantville, NJ
Justin Winston | F | Sophomore | West Orange, NJ
NEW PLAYERS
Anthony Roberts | G | Junior | Detroit, MI
Roberts joins the Bonnies after two years at Kent State, where he averaged 12.7 points per game last season. Roberts will be available to play immediately after being granted a transfer waiver by the NCAA. He provides more depth to an already deep group of Bona guards.
Quintin Metcalf | F | Freshman | Seoul, South Korea
Metcalf was raised on a United States military base in Seoul, where he played high school basketball. He spent a post-grad year at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, where he averaged 12.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. The 6’8, 200-pound newcomer is one of the highlights of a new group of Bona forwards behind Osunniyi.
Jalen Adaway | G | R-Junior | Logansport, IN
Adaway, a big guard at 6’5, sat out last season after transferring from Miami (Ohio). He averaged 7.5 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game with the RedHawks during his sophomore season.
Eddie Creal | G | Junior | Joliet, IL
Josh Bell | G | Freshman | Frederick, MD
Jermaine Taggart | G | Freshman | Rochester, NY
Jalen Shaw | F/C | Junior | Elgin, IL
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Check back on The Intrepid in the coming weeks for player features, preseason stories and more.
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