The St. Bonaventure basketball team picked up an intriguing commitment on Thursday as Russian star Ilia Ermakov announced his commitment to the Bonnies. Ermakov is not the first overseas player in the St. Bonaventure recruiting class as Italian star Achille Lonati is also a member of the class and will join Ermakov next season. One of the best parts of this commitment from Ermakov is that it came with a Woj Bomb:
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— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 24, 2025
Adrian Wojnarowski was formerly ESPN's lead NBA insider, but he recently transitioned to a new field of work. Wojnarowski is now the GM for the St. Bonaventure basketball team, and he was excited to see the commitment come in from Ilia Ermakov.
“NEWS: Russian guard Ilia Ermakov has committed to St. Bonaventure, agents Alex Karavanen and Niko Filipovich told ESPN,” Jonathan Givony said in a post. “Ermakov, a 6'5, 17-year old point guard, is considered the top young prospect in Russia, drawing significant interest across the high-major spectrum.”
Article Continues BelowErmakov has a lot of good experience playing high-level basketball over in Russia, and that should help him out once he comes to play for the Bonnies.
“Ermakov plays for CSKA Moscow-2, posting 12.6 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in the Russian Superleague versus men this season,” Givony added. “He'll form a formidable international freshmen backcourt duo with 6'5 Italian guard Achille Lonati in the Atlantic 10 next season.”
St. Bonaventure isn't the only team that has recruited multiple overseas stars this offseason. Illinois has done the same, and it's going to be interesting to see how those players perform at the college level. A lot of them have played professionally overseas, and that is good experience to have before playing college basketball.
Adrian Wojnarowski's job has changed quite a bit now that he is working with the St. Bonaventure basketball team, but it's good to see that the Woj Bomb is still alive and well.