Unfurl
About the Series
Set against the backdrop of massive disruption in college athletics today, Brown and White: The Heart of Bona’s Basketball is the timeless story about the smallest NCAA DI college basketball program, St. Bonaventure, ever to go 22-0, reach the Final Four, win the NIT, take Kentucky to double OT in the NCAA tournament, fall into national scandal, and ultimately rebound into national relevance.
THE HEART OF BONAS BASKETBALL is the story of a storied college basketball program told from many perspectives. St. Bonaventure’s basketball team began 100 years ago, advancing to a pinnacle NCAA Final Four appearance in 1970 during a time of national upheaval. Forming an early alliance with fellow Little Three schools Canisius and Niagara, Bona would achieve early recognition as a regular participant in the NIT, winning the tournament in 1977.
THIS is the story of belief in the face of long odds, the importance of institutional Franciscan values, and the basketball program’s journey of redemption to national respectability, national relevance and, once again, national prominence.
/ənˈfərl/
un·furl
v. make or become spread out from a rolled or folded state, especially in order to be open to the wind.
v. an exclamation of enthusiasm, a two hour explosion of emotion, or rallying cry
for the love of Bona’s basketball.
– Bob Lanier
Series Breakdown
Back When We Didn't Know We Couldn't
1950s
Building a Dynasty
Early 1960s
The House That Two Stiths Built
Iron Five and the Final Four
National Champions
1977 NIT Champs
Big Business of
College Athletics
1980s – 2000
The Scandal and Rebuilding Years
Snubbed and Triumphant
2015 – 2018
Returning Home
George Carter and Entering A New Era of Bona’s Basketball
2002 – 2012
