St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt is retiring after 19 seasons

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Two-time Atlantic 10 men’s basketball coach of the year Mark Schmidt announced he is retiring after his 19th season at St. Bonaventure, ending one of the most successful tenures in school history.

Schmidt made the announcement on Saturday, following a regular-season ending 68-63 loss to Davidson. The 63-year-old will stay on to coach St. Bonaventure (15-16, 4-14) in the conference tournament that opens on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

At 339-254, he is the winningest coach in Bonnies men’s basketball history. Schmidt took over in 2007-08, and transformed a program still reeling in the wake of a recruiting scandal that led to coach Jan Van Breda Kolff’s dismissal following the 2002-03 season.

“I’m a lucky guy. To be able to be the head coach at St. Bonaventure for 19 years is an honor,” Schmidt said. “When I first got the job, I remember someone telling me I was going to be here for three or four years and then I was going to be selling insurance. And that didn’t happen.”

He then credited former athletic director Steve Watson and school president Margaret Carney for placing their faith in hiring him after an 82-90 record in six seasons at Robert Morris.

“They allowed me to coach, they allowed us to build a program. And I think what we’ve done is pretty good, it’s pretty cool,” Schmidt said. “This program is back to being credible.”

Under Schmidt, St. Bonaventure posted seven 20-win seasons, including a program-best 26-8 finish in 2017-18. He earned conference coach of the year honors in both 2016 and 2021.

The Bonnies qualified for NCAA Tournament berths in 2012, 2018 and 2021, in which they went a combined 1-3. Their 65-58 win over UCLA in a First Four game in 2018 was the Bonnies first tournament victory since the Bob Lanier-led team reached the Final Four in 1970.

His departure comes two years after the program hired former EPSN NBA reporter and St. Bonaventure alum Adrian Wojnarowski to serve as general manager. Wojnarowski is expected to oversee the search for Schmidt’s replacement.

“I’m 63-years-old and it’s time to move. My family has sacrificed for 37 years,” Schmidt said, noting he wants to spend time with his wife traveling the world. “I couldn’t ask for a better 19 years. I’m not leaving because of anything that has happened. It’s just time.”

The Bonnies also earned three NIT berths and in 2020-21 won the A10 regular-season and tournament titles for the first time in the same season.

Before Schmidt, St. Bonaventure went a combined 24-88 in four years under Anthony Solomon. From North Attleboro, Massachusetts, Schmidt has a career coaching record of 421-344.

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