University of Richmond Athletics
AlOng Came the Spiders
07/31/2001 | General
July 31, 2001
Location: St. Bonaventure, N.Y. 14778
Founded: 1858
Enrollment: 2,200 (private)
Nickname: Bonnies
School Colors: Brown and White
President: Robert J. Wickenheiser
Director of Athletics: Gothard Lane
Dept. of Athletics Address:
Saint Bonaventure University
Department of Athletics
Reilly Center
Saint Bonaventure, NY 14778
Most Recent A10 Championships: 2001 Men's Tennis
Year joined the A10: 1980
Driving Distance from Richmond: 422.8 miles
Official Athletics Website: www.gobonnies.com
Sports:
Men's: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Swimming, Tennis
Women's: Basketball, Cross Country, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming, Softball, Tennis
A 10 ITEM LIST ABOUT ST. BONAVENTURE
1) Where's Olean, New York? This is the first of two popular questions about St. Bonaventure. The school is located in the southwest corner of New York State between the city of Olean and the village of Allegany nestled in the Enchanted Mountains. It is a little less than two hours from Buffalo. The good news is that's south of Buffalo. The bad news is it's 
still very much in the cold and snowbelt. Olean is four hours west of Syracuse, and even though it's in the same state, it's a surprising seven hour drive from New York City. From Richmond, it's about a nine hour drive.
2) How cold is Olean, NY? The Spiders women's soccer team will be the first to find out, visiting St. Bonaventure November 2nd. A year ago on that date Olean recorded an uncharacteristically balmy high of 64 degrees. The normal temperature for that date is 51 degrees. If history repeats itself, Coach John Beilein's men's and Bob Foley's women's basketball teams will likely feel the cold but may not encounter as much snow as they may have thought. Last January and February's average temperature in Olean was 25 degrees. The snowfall total for the two months combined was just 14 inches. However, back in Buffalo, 30 inches of snow fell in those two months. Bring the parkas..and the boots, just in case.
3) Quality over Quantity... A similarity between St. Bonaventure and Richmond is its size, or lack thereof. There are few Division One schools with smaller enrollments than Richmond, but St. Bonaventure is one of them. The Bonnies post an enrollment of just 2200, making the school the smallest in the Atlantic 10. St. Bonaventure and Richmond are two of seven Atlantic 10 schools with enrollments of 6,500 or less.
4) Centers of Renovation... Another similarity is that both the Spiders' Robins Center and the Bonnies' Reilly Center are in the process of major renovations. St. Bonaventure's facelift is highlighted by a new men's basketball locker room and new sports medicine facilities. St. Bonaventure's 
soccer, baseball and softball teams are also receiving new locker rooms. The Spiders new football locker room will be completed by the first weekend in August and construction is ongoing for the new men's and women's basketball suite and Robins Center ticket office.
5) Hostile Home... The 6,000 seat Reilly Center, home of the Bonnies men's and women's basketball teams, has received national recognition for its boisterous crowds. In January 2001, ESPN's Jay Bilas tabbed the Reilly Center one of the nation's top five most "Hostile Homes." The others are Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse, Arizona's McHale Center and Michigan State's Breslin Center. The numbers back Bilas's claim. The Bonnies men's team is 333-120 (.735) in its building since it opened in 1966, including 11-2 in each of the past two seasons.
6) Bonjour Bonnies... Like Richmond's men's and women's teams a year ago, St. Bonaventure's men's basketball squad will embark on a European tour this summer. The Bonnies will spend twelve days in England, Belgium and France this August. As it did for the Spiders, the sojurn will end in Paris. UR's men's team went undefeated in five games during its time in France.
7) PostSeason Success... St. Bonaventure's men's basketball team has both a proud distant past and recent history in making the NIT and NCAA Tournament. The Bonnies have appeared in five NCAA's, most recently in 2000. They have made 14 NIT appearances, including this past season when they were 18-12. St. Bonaventure won the NIT in 1977.
8) Basketball Hall of Famer... Arguably the Bonnies most famous athlete is basketball Hall of Famer Bob Lanier (1966-70). He led the Bonnies to the NCAA Final Four in 1970 and was a three-time All-America. He holds the school's records for rebounds in a game, season and 
career and is third on the all-time scoring list. The 6-11, 265 pound Buffalo native was the first overall pick in the 1970 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons(1970-79) and also played for the Milwaukee Bucks (1980-84). He was an eight-time all-star who scored 19,248 points (20.1ppg) and grabbed 9,698 rebounds(10.1 rpg) in his career. He was inducted into the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame in 1975, the Michigan Hall of Fame in 1990 and the NBA Hall of Fame in 1992. He had a brief acting career, appearing in the movie The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.
9) New Bonnies Basketball Boss... St. Bonaventure introduced 49-year-old Jan van Breda Kolff as its 17th men's basketball coach on April 9th. Van Breda Kolff succeeds Jim Baron, who jumped within the Atlantic 10, taking the head coaching position at Rhode Island. Van Breda Kolff spent the past two seasons at Pepperdine (47-18, NCAA, NIT). He's also coached six years at his alma mater, Vanderbilt (104-81 .562) and two years at Cornell (23-29). His all time record is 174-128 (.576) in ten seasons, with 2 NCAA and four NIT appearances. Basketball is in van Breda Kolff's bloodlines. His father, Butch, coached five NBA teams, including the Lakers, and was a college coach at four schools, including Princeton and Hofstra.
10) Strangers on the Court... The Spiders have never played St. Bonaventure in men's basketball. Although the women's teams have met once, it was at a neutral site. The Bonnies won, 89-84 at the Princeton Invitational in 1995.
11) "Little Napolean"... You have to go back, back, back - but included in St. Bonaventure's Hall of Fame is the legendary John McGraw, Class of 1895. McGraw, from Truxton, New York, was a hard-hitting third baseman with the Baltimore Orioles in the 1890's, but is best known for his 30 years as manager of the New York Giants, where he earned the nickname "Little Napolean." McGraw's teams won 10 pennants. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937 and the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame in
1969.
12) Beilein's Battles with the Bonnies... Spiders' head coach John Beilein does have a history against St. Bonaventure. His Canisius teams met the Bonnies nine times during his five years with the Golden Griffins. Beilein is 4-5 against St. Bonaventure, but is 2-2 at the Reilly Center, where the Bonnies rarely lose.
Next Week: A10ng Came the Spiders...to St. Joseph's.
Pictures:
Snow... merlin-net.com
Arena... Gobonnies.com
Bob Lanier... Hoophall.com
John McGraw... Baseballhalloffame.org
