On March 7, legendary St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt announced his retirement from the position at the conclusion of the 2025-26 college basketball season. After 19 seasons at the helm of the Bonnies men’s basketball program, Schmidt will lead the team through the Atlantic 10 Tournament this week before his official departure.
“I’m 63 years old and it’s time to move,” Schmidt told reporters in a postgame press conference to close out the regular season on Saturday. “My family has sacrificed for 37 years. It’s time for me to give back a little bit. If I’m just known as coach Schmidt, then I haven’t lived the life I should have lived. The University has been terrific.”
Retiring with the most wins all-time at a historic program like St. Bonaventure is no small feat. A program that routinely finished in the national rankings and managed multiple deep NCAA Tournament runs throughout the 1960’s and 70’s under coaches like Eddie Donovan and Larry Weise.
However, prior to Schmidt’s arrival in 2007, it was a program marred by a recent scandal, in the midst of a postseason ban and subsequently hadn’t managed a record above .500 in over five years.
It was a tough rebuild from the onset in an era prior to NIL and the rise of the transfer portal. But Schmidt, who had just arrived from Robert Morris, wouldn’t shy away from the challenge.
“When I first got the job, I remember somebody telling people that it was a [career-ending] job and I was only going to be here for 3-4 years before selling insurance,” Schmidt said. “That didn’t happen. … I think what we’ve done is pretty good. Restoring this program back to being incredible.”
Schmidt struggled from the onset too. In his first three years as head coach, the Bonnies managed just a 38-53 record, their best finish during that span coming in 2008-09 during a .500 campaign. But the culture at the Reilly Center took time to gel.
“[Early on] it was always difficult to get to St. Bonaventure but the opponent knew once they got there they were going to kick our asses,” Schmidt said. “After a couple years, that stopped.”
In 2010-11, Schmidt got the program above .500 for the first time in 10 seasons. He followed that up in 2011-12 by securing St. Bonaventure’s first NCAA Tournament bid since 2000 with a 20-win season and the Bonnies first-ever A10 Tournament Championship.
After battling No. 3-seeded Florida State until the final seconds in a 66-63 First Round loss at the 2012 NCAA Tournament, and losing A10 Player of the Year Andrew Nicholson to the NBA Draft, Schmidt was quick to rebound.
The Bonnies managed just a 14-15 record the following season, but in the years since, a Schmidt led St. Bonaventure team has only closed out a season below .500 once, 2025-26 withstanding.
Back-to-back 18 win campaigns preceded three straight years of 20+ wins, ultimately culminating in a return to March Madness during the 2017-18 season.
Led by program legends Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure fought to a 26-8 record which is the most wins in program history and its best finish in the modern era of college basketball.
Schmidt and Co. secured a First Four win over UCLA in another historic first for the Bonnies, taking down the Bruins 65-58 for the school’s lone NCAA Tournament win since 1970.
It only took three more years for him to return to the NCAA Tournament as St. Bonaventure won both the A10 regular-season and Tournament titles during the shortened 2020-21 season. It’s here where the legend of Jalen Adaway, Jaren Holmes, Kyle Lofton, Dom Welch and Osun Osunniyi began to grow.
The Bonnies opened the 2020-21 season ranked 23rd in the nation by the AP, climbed as high as 16th and managed to snag 23 wins before ultimately falling short at the conference championship. Still, Schmidt led a postseason run, scrambling all the way to the semifinals of the 2022 NIT by upsetting Colorado, Oklahoma and Virginia along the way.
St. Bonaventure was decimated by the portal heading into the 2022-23 season as all five starters either graduated or transferred out in search of high-major opportunities. But even in his final four seasons with the program, Schmidt still managed to win 20+ games twice.
A stretch headlined by a trip to the semifinals of the 2024 A10 Tournament with an unforgettable double-overtime win against Loyola Chicago and a third NIT appearance to close out 2025.
Even amidst all the accolades, trophies and notoriety he’s brought to this program in his 19 years, a humble Schmidt gives all the credit to his players, the relationships he’s built and the unwavering St. Bonaventure community.
“In my 19 years, people always ask ‘Why do you stay?’” he said. “You can’t put it into words, you’ve gotta see it, and once you see it, you’ll believe it. That’s what Bonaventure is. The basketball program is it here in Olean and Allegany. It’s the heartbeat. I’ve been really lucky to be the head coach for this many years and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. But [more so] proud about how we’ve gone about it.”
As he sets off for retirement after one last ride at the A10 Tournament, returning to Pittsburgh for the conference’s 50th anniversary, Schmidt can already picture it after 37 years on the sidelines.
“In basketball, when you go to sleep, the last thing you think about is the team and when you wake up in the morning it’s the first thing you do,” Schmidt said. “It’s consuming. I’m tired of that. As I told the team, I want to travel, spend time with my family, play golf, and drink beer without any consequences. I couldn’t have asked for a better 19 years.”
