History of the Bonnies
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies (formerly the St. Bonaventure Brown Indians from 1927 to 1992) are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of St. Bonaventure University, based in St. Bonaventure, New York, between the two towns of Allegany and Olean. The Bonnies compete in the National Collegiate Athletics Association's Division I Atlantic 10 Conference, of which it has been a member since 1979. The program's mascot is the Bona Wolf, and the colors are brown and white.
They have collectively won 13 team conference championships and numerous individual conference titles and accolades.
College Sports Established
1858
Location
St. Bonaventure, New York
College Name
St. Bonaventure University
Collegiate History
1979 - Present / NCAA Division I
Conference History
1979 - Present / Atlantic 10 Conference
Nickname
Bonnies - Bonnies, in essence, is shorthand for Bonaventure, much as Orangemen was once shortened to Orange at Syracuse University. But, like any team name, this is a longer story.
St. Bonaventure's first athletic teams were referred to as the Alleganies and Brownies, the former for the river on which the college is built and the latter for the primary color of the robes worn by friars of the Franciscan order. In the early 1900s, colleges began adopting nicknames for their sports teams. St. Bonaventure chose Brown Indians, a nod to the school's color and the neighboring Seneca Nation in Salamanca.
The first student to dress as the mascot, wearing a headdress and attire provided by the Seneca Nation, appeared in 1961. A female companion, the Brown Squaw, was introduced in 1967. Together, they would appear on the sidelines until 1992, when school administrators joined the wave of high schools and colleges to cease using Native American imagery.
Bonnies was adopted as the official team name, but it was not until 1999 that a new mascot, a wolf, was introduced as part of a rebranding of the athletic department. The wolf was chosen to reflect an event in the life of St. Francis of Assisi --- the taming of the wolf at Gubbio.
The story holds that a fierce wolf was attacking livestock on the Italian countryside where Francis lived, and all who tried to defeat the wolf were killed. According to the legend, the wolf, jaws open, rushed at Francis. He made the sign of the cross at the wolf and implored it to stop. This slowed the wolf, which lowered its head and laid at Francis' feet. Francis made a truce with the wolf, pledging that if it stopped terrorizing the town, the town would no longer attack it.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.