St. Bonaventure Is About to Fully Enter the Adrian Wojnarowski Era

Heading into his third season as the Bonnies’ general manager, Woj is set for his biggest decision yet.

Adrian Wojnarowski looks on during the 2024 NBA Draft - Round One on June 26, 2024 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. | Photo by Michelle Farsi/NBAE via Getty Images

Adrian Wojnarowski is now two years into his tenure as the general manager of St. Bonaventure basketball, and while his new gig has not produced the “Woj bombs” that he did as the best NBA insider in the game, he seems to be having a good time.

But heading into this offseason, Woj has the chance to rebuild the team at a whole new level, starting with its next coach. Head coach Mark Schmidt will not return next season, as first reported by the Olean Star. The move will be classified as a retirement, though it comes in the midst of a rough 15–15 season for St. Bonaventure, and several former players chimed in on social media frustrated about the decision. 

Schmidt had a highly successful run at SBU, considered one of the most difficult jobs in the Atlantic 10. And while Wojnarowski has had heavy involvement in the program’s operations since taking over as general manager in 2024, it’s safe to say that the post-Schmidt era will be shaped even more heavily by the former NBA scoops master. 

What will the Woj era look like for the Bonnies?

With Schmidt stepping down, Wojnarowski will have his first opportunity to lead a coaching search and ultimately bring in a new leader for the program. And in doing so, he’ll have the opportunity to continue molding the St. Bonaventure program into a more professionalized operation as schools adapt to the changing world of player compensation in college sports.

Among the expected changes: The head coach’s salary. According to most recent 990 form filings, Schmidt made roughly $1.5 million per year leading the Bonnies. The expectation is that Schmidt’s replacement will make half (and maybe even less than that) of that salary, allowing the school to re-route resources towards its roster. Many Atlantic 10 teams plan to spend in the $3–4 million range in revenue sharing for their roster this spring, with a few at the top of the league expecting to blow past that. St. Bonaventure was in the lower half of the conference financially this season in terms of roster spend. 

More money leads to more quality players leads to more wins is some pretty easy math, but that doesn’t make it any less true. In the NIL era, cash is king, and deeper pockets can be leaned on to instantly jump a team into contention. Further, given the insider access Wojnarowski developed in his reporting days, you can imagine that he’s had conversations off the record where he was told in no uncertain terms, “Yeah man, you just don’t have nearly enough money to get that player on the current market.”

Wojnarowski didn’t have final say on the St. Bonaventure roster under Schmidt, but played a very active role in recruiting the team as well as managing the team’s spending and fundraising for more NIL/revenue share dollars. It’s unclear if, in replacing Schmidt, Wojnarowski will take over full roster control. That may depend on who he and the rest of the Bonnies’ administration picks as its next head coach. Two names expected to be involved for the job are Washington Wizards assistant coach David Vanterpool and Division II Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald. Both are St. Bonaventure alums. 

---