St. Bonaventure is expected to lose head coach Mark Schmidt after close to two decades with the program, and a short list of candidates may have already emerged for general manager Adrian Wojnarowski to replace him.
The Bonnies fell to the bottom of the Atlantic 10 this season, heading into this week’s tournament as the No. 13 seed. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Saturday that Schmidt was expected to call it quits.
“Sources: Mark Schmidt is expected to retire as the head coach at St. Bonaventure. This will be his final season,” Thamel reported in a post on X.
Bonnies Expected to Extend Search to College Basketball, NBA Ranks
Though the team had not announced the departure yet, an insider reported a short list of candidates to become the team’s next head coach. College basketball reporter Jeff Goodman reported that St. Bonaventure has a mix of college and NBA coaches in mind to replace Schmidt.
“St. Bonaventure’s list of targets is expected to include Merrimack’s Joe Gallo, ex-Bonnies Mike MacDonald (now at Daemen College) and David Vanterpool (asst with the Wizards), Central Connecticut State’s Pat Sellers and Alabama assistant Brian Adams, source told @TheFieldOf68,” Goodman shared in a post on X.
Reporter Sal Capaccio of WGR 550 also reported that MacDonald was a candidate to replace Schmidt, potentially making the jump from the Buffalo-area college.
Big Decisions Ahead for St. Bonaventure
The coaching search could be one of the first program-shaping tasks for Wojnarowski, a St. Bonaventure alum who left his role at ESPN to become the program’s general manager last year.
“St. Bonaventure hired former ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski as the program’s general manager before last season, and he’s expected to take a significant role in the search for Schmidt’s replacement,” noted ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Reporter Eric Firkel of the Olean Star reported that there was tension within the program ahead of Schmidt’s expected retirement, with disagreements over recruiting and playing time for players.
“Multiple St. Bonaventure sources, on background, reported that the relationship between Schmidt and Wojnarowski deteriorated considerably over the past year,” Firkel reported. “According to sources, Woj did not recruit certain players that Schmidt wanted to target and he brought in players that did not fit Schmidt’s system. Then as the season wore on, Woj took issue with Schmidt not giving players that he had a big hand in recruiting enough minutes.”
But Goodman dispelled any rumors of organizational tension between Schmidt and Wojnarowski, saying Schmidt had control over the team’s roster decisions.
“Here’s the one thing I think people have wrong about Woj and this situation,” Goodman wrote. “And I think most people know my relationship with Woj has never been very good. Mark Schmidt had final say on all roster decisions. Schmidt has told me this multiple times in the past.”
Schmidt has led the program since 2007, taking the Bonnies to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a play-in win over UCLA in 2018. He went 339-254 during his tenure with the team, becoming the winningest coach in program history.
Top Candidates Emerge for St. Bonaventure to Replace Mark Schmidt