BY: AVERY BRASWELL, STAFF WRITER
For alumni who remember packed student sections, the 2025–26 season would look unfamiliar. There’s not much to do during the winter months in the Enchanted Mountains besides coming to a St. Bonaventure basketball game. Seats were once filled before tipoff, but now students can barely make it through a whole game. The shift asks a simple question: what changed?
There’s no question that some of the best memories here on campus are made in the incredible atmosphere the Reilly Center prides itself on, yet this season was nothing short of a letdown when it came to the turnout of the student section.
The last three home games of the season had some of the most pitiful turnouts this school has ever seen with little to no school spirit from the Bonnies student section. Between the cheerleaders, that one guy who hands out crazy hats to the student section before every game, the commercial break t-shirt tosses, the lucky few who win a whole pizza, or the actual game itself, nothing motivated the student body to attend the basketball games.
Granted, the men’s basketball performance from this season was not the best, but it’s still embarrassing that the A-10’s once highly sought-after student section had one of the hardest times showing out for home games. It’s not like the tickets were expensive; they are free for all SBU students.
Nick Argenio, a sophomore, didn’t miss a single home game last year; however, this 2025-2026 season, it was hard for him to even turn the game on from his dorm. “[Last season], I made the effort to get to as many home games as possible.”
When reflecting on this season, Argenio said it was hard to keep watching when, by the second half of the games, the team was sometimes down by 32 or more.
On the other hand, Callan Reddington, a senior strategic communication major, could barely contain his frustration.
“We’re supposed to be a basketball school,” said Reddington. “It’s tough going to the Reilly Center [for a game] knowing it used to be all about its student section and its unmatched atmosphere.”
The basketball team’s performance this season is thought to be one of the reasons why students failed to show up to home games.
“With the team struggling, the energy in the stands has dropped,” said Reddington. It doesn’t feel the same.”
One of the biggest contributors to getting prospective students to come to St. Bonaventure has always been the men’s basketball program, and more importantly, the historic student section.
“A packed RC on my tour was one of the reasons I chose St. Bonaventure,” said Reddington. “That Bona Pride is what makes this place feel special. I’ve seen the RC come alive in a way that gives you chills. Now it feels like we’re watching that identity fade.”
Identity fading or not, students have a duty to keep Bona Pride and its traditions alive, starting with something like showing up for the men’s basketball games. This is bigger than just showing up to support our school. Everyone feels the atmosphere change drastically when hundreds of students come to show what being a Bonnie is all about.
“I think when there is a good, packed student section, it gives [us] an impactful type of energy,” said Jack DeRose, a junior men’s basketball player. “This energy creates an atmosphere that helps the guys play really hard.”
DeRose said that trying to develop their own type of energy as a team was difficult.
After a season of questionable attendance records, students will have another opportunity to shape the energy inside the Reilly Center next season.
