September 27, 2024

Pollock: St. Bonaventure hoops has a new rallying cry: ‘We got Woj’

By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun and Olean Star Senior Sports Columnist

(Photo: Adrian Wojnarowski, center, talks alongside head coach Mark Schmidt and Director of Athletics Bob Beretta Wednesday. Photo by Danny Bush for St. Bonaventure)

Just as we were getting used to the Bills’ new catch-phrase, “Everybody eats,” St. Bonaventure introduced one of its own and the author was none other than men’s basketball coach Mark Schmidt: “We got Woj.”

His reference was to Bona alum Adrian Wojnarowski who last week left a multi-million dollar job at ESPN to take over as general manager of the Bonnies hoops program. His career change was stunning, given that “Woj” was the country’s unquestioned top NBA Insider with an enormous mental Rolodex of players, coaches, agents and administrators.

That he would take a gigantic pay cut was a surprise to most everybody except those who knew how much the 24/7 aspect of being a nationally-renowned and respected basketball guru wore him down and how much he longed to work at his beloved alma mater.

For Schmidt, though, adding Woj to his staff seemed a bridge too far.

“IT’S JUST A home run,” Schmidt said at Wednesday’s introductory press conference. “I couldn’t imagine Woj (filling the job), I didn’t even think about him. Why would Woj want to be general manager of Bonaventure basketball?

“But when Bob (Beretta, Director of Athletics) called and told me what Woj was thinking, I did flips … Woj is going to be part of our program, our University and he’s going to help immensely. I can’t put into words what he’s going to do for us … what he can bring to the program is things we didn’t have in the past. NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) is why this position has been created.”

He added, “If you look at a number schools that position has been created and it’s for the NIL … or trying to raise money to recruit players. Most of the general managers have relationships, but with Woj, that international stuff that he has …

“Because of Woj’s relationships we’re going to be able to get involved with guys that we couldn’t in the past … but we’re still going to evaluate them. With Woj’s relationships with these guys overseas we’ll be able to get involved with these kids … then we have to decide if they fit our program, if they’re good enough at a position we’re looking for.”

Schmidt pointed out, “Those relationships that Woj has, we couldn’t develop. In this business it’s all about relationships. If there’s a guy overseas and he’s got four or five (players) and he has a good relationship with you, then you’ve got a better chance of being involved and that’s going to open a lot of doors for us.

SO WHAT is Wojnarowski’s plan?

“Having been around the program and following it as closely as I do, you know the values that Mark has in players, You kind of know what a Bonaventure player looks like, acts like. But a big part (of my job) is bringing him options and we’ve been doing it since I got on campus.

“we were watching film on players from all over the world. Then it’s coach Schmidt and Coach (Sean) Neal and Coach (Dana) Valentine and Coach (Chris Lowe digging into film and looking at players and saying, “Is this somebody we want to look at further, do we want to see this player in person?”

But that’s only part of his task, there’s also the chaos created by the NCAA’s transfer portal that lets players change schools willy-nilly.

“(The transfer portal) is going to be a big part of it and it moves quick,” Woj said. “Once the portal opens, decisions are made very quickly. A big part of what I will try to do for coach is be really organized and prepared for who might be in the portal … have done background on them.

“There’s nothing you can do until players make themselves available in the portal, but you can be prepared for their arrival. That takes a lot of legwork and that’s a lot of time talking to coaches and agents … players have representation and that’s part of it.”

But a major part of Woj’s approach is his respect for St. Bonaventure’s hoops history when, as a high school senior in Bristol, Conn., ironically ESPN’s home base, former Bonnie Dale Tepas pushed him toward SBU.

“It might not look like when Dale Tepas played with Bob Lanier and Billy Kalbaugh and groups stayed together for four years,” Woj said. “But one of the things I hope we can incorporate, I’ve talked to a lot of our alumni players about being further involved in our program from all eras. Marques Green and Tim Winn were with us at an NIL event in Charlotte last week and to have those players around our players and back around the program … Charles Pride was around the last couple of days talking to our team.”

He continued, “For our players to see our great players come back, and to see our great teams come back and the relationships that they have with each other … how they’ve endured and withstood the test of time. (Hopefully) they’ll want to aspire to that, look at their own futures and imagine themselves coming back together 10, 20, 50 years later. The more we can make our alumni players feel a part of it, it’s a great benefit, not just for our fanbase who love to see these players, and maybe see an alumni game, but also our current players to know, that’s the Bonaventure way.”

SCHMIDT concluded, “When Woj made his announcement, it was on ESPN for 24 hours. Our school couldn’t get that publicity in the next 15 … 20 years. It was all Bonaventure for 24 hours. When you have Stephen A. (Smith, ESPN’S high-profile commentator) talking about Bonaventure it says something.

I can’t be happier, he’s going to do a phenomenal job for us.”

(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)

Read more from Chuck on the Bills and Bonnies:

• The Bills are buying into McDermott’s mantra ‘everyone eats’

• Suddenly, the Bills turn everything around

• Josh Allen on the electricity of Monday Night Football

• Why Bona was worth more than EPSN’s millions for Woj

• Win by the Buffalo Bills may be been McDermott’s finest job as head coach

• Chuck Pollock with a historical look at Bills training camp for fans and the media

• Tony Hunter’s passing evokes memories of Jim Kelly in the draft

• Mark Schmidt on the NIL deals and the Bona NIT mess

• Pollock on the passing of St. Bonaventure legend Paul Hoffman