On Wednesday, St. Bonaventure will host Alfred University in an exhibition matchup at 7 p.m. ET at the Reilly Center. It has become a yearly tradition for the Bonnies to scrimmage Alfred, a Division III program roughly an hour from St. Bonaventure’s campus, before the season starts. This year’s game has a little more excitement, as the Bonnies have nine new faces.
“My goal is clear: put my head down and bring a blue-collar mentality to a championship team,” said Minnesota transfer Frank Mitchell, who previously played at “Little Three” rival Canisius University.
Mitchell, who is from Toronto, Ontario, averaged 4.6 and 4.7 rebounds for the Golden Gophers last season. In his rookie season with Canisius, he averaged 12.6 points and 11.6 rebounds, leading the NCAA. He shot 56.1% from the field, which was also an NCAA best. Many expect him to lock down the paint and be a difference maker for this team.
Another post player expected to make a big difference is transfer Joe Grahovac. Last year with Fullerton College, a junior college in California, Grahovac averaged 15.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.7 blocks and shot 39% from 3. The 6-foot-10 forward won the SoCal 3C2A California State Player of the Year.
After he announced his commitment in the spring, Grahovac explained that his perimeter play, along with his ability to rebound, defend and score in the paint, will pair very nicely with Mitchell this season.
Something exciting about this year’s team is that, out of the nine new players, six have international backgrounds. After guard Ilia Ermakov committed to play at St. Bonaventure, head coach Mark Schmidt said that playing against tougher, older competition in Russia should make him an elite international player.
This is also the case for Italian guard Achille Lonati, who played in the EuroLeague before committing to play at the Reilly Center. In the 2024 17U FIBA Basketball World Cup, Lonati put his name out there by averaging 12.2 points and shooting 42.1% from 3.
The Bonnies’ main returner, point guard Dasonte Bowen, is looking to bounce back after playing in roughly 30% of the team’s games last season. The newly named captain averaged 11.1 points, 3.8 assists and two steals in 10 games last season before a season-ending lower leg injury. His playmaking, slashing and perimeter defense skills should match up perfectly with the new look the Bonnies have this season.
While there are many unanswered questions going into the season, Wednesday’s exhibition game should give the Bonnies faithful a taste of what they should expect going into the season. Their season will officially kick off against Bradley in the Field of 68 Showcase on Monday.
