University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, January 18
Vermillion, S.D. / Sanford Coyote Sports Center
7:00 p.m. Central
at
South Dakota
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Coyotes host Tommies for lone game of Summit League week
1/16/2024 3:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas, South Dakota tip-off at 7 p.m. Thursday in Vermillion, S.D.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Thomas men's basketball continues Summit League road play Thursday, Jan. 18 with its lone game of the week at South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.
The Tommies (13-6, 3-1 Summit League) and Coyotes (8-10, 1-2 Summit League) tip-off at 7 p.m. from the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, the first meeting of the season series.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch Thursday's game on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action. Live stats are available at goyotes.com.
SERIES HISTORY | SOUTH DAKOTA
St. Thomas and South Dakota have played four times in the series history, led by USD 4-0, dating back to Jan. 22, 2022. The Coyotes have won by an average margin of 13.5 points per game, the closest game coming as an eight-point loss by the Tommies, 92-84, Dec. 29, 2022. USD is the only Summit League program St. Thomas has not beat since joining the conference in 2021.
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund has averaged 14.5 points per game in four games against South Dakota, increasing his point total in each game. His top two scoring performances against USD came last season after scoring 17 points with seven rebounds Dec. 29, 2022 and 26 points with eight rebounds Jan. 28, 2023 in St. Paul. Graduate student Brooks Allen scored 17 points with four rebounds and Blue added 10 points during the 2022-23 season opener in Vermillion.
THE OPPOSITION | SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota comes into the matchup 8-10 overall and 1-2 in the Summit League, falling in three straight after opening the conference schedule with a 75-66 win over North Dakota State. Eric Peterson is in his second season as head coach with a career record of 20-29.
The Coyotes have four student-athletes averaging double digit points led by junior Kaleb Stewart with 14.1 points per game, which is ninth in the Summit League while he also ranks fifth in the conference with 2.3 3-point field goals made per game. Senior Lahat Thioune leads the Summit League with 10.2 rebounds per game and is second shooting 54.9 percent from the field for an average of 13.3 points per game.
USD is seventh in the Summit League with 73.4 points per game and eighth allowing 76.3 points. The Coyotes are 21st in the country and lead the Summit League with 41.1 rebounds per game and pace the conference with a 6.6 rebound margin.
LAST TIME OUT | ORAL ROBERTS
An early first half run set the pace for St. Thomas men's basketball during an 87-76 win at Oral Roberts, the program's first win in the series. St. Thomas continued its 3-point attack, going 11-of-31 from beyond the arc as a team, and shot 52.6 percent from the field to snap ORU's 10-game home winning streak in Summit League play. The Tommies gave away just five turnovers, their third game with five or fewer turnovers this season, while the bench chipped in 31 points. After winning 21 consecutive home games since the start of the 2022-23 season, St. Thomas handed Oral Roberts its second loss at Mabee Center over the last three overall. The Golden Eagles shot 45.9 percent from the floor and totaled just seven assists on 28 field goals.
THE CAST | VS ORAL ROBERTS
Senior Drake Dobbs led all Tommies with 17 points, including 5-of-6 from the free throw line, along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one turnover. Sophomores Kendall Blue and Ahjany Lee each finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one block, respectively. Blue has now scored double digits in six straight games, the longest streak by a Tommie this season. Lee's 16 points set a new career high.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its league opponents to 62.5 points per game, which is 7.0 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +10.9 is the best in the league, 3.7 more than the next highest. Overall, the Toms rank 10th in the nation with 62.5 points allowed per game.
MARGIN FOR SUCCESS
St. Thomas has made a statement with its margin of victories thus far, winning by an average of 18.2 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 11.9 points including an average of 19 points over its three Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 4.8 points per loss with only one double-digit loss.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and this season is no different. The Tommies currently rank tied for 15th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.5) after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) last season and leading the category in 2021-22. Of the 14 teams with as few or fewer turnovers per game last season, only four (Iowa, NC State, Oral Roberts, Toledo) finished with a higher scoring offense than St. Thomas' 74.2 points per game.
HOLDING 'EM BELOW 45
The Purple held a Summit League opponent at 45 points or fewer in a game for the second time over the past two seasons following its 70-45 win at North Dakota. St. Thomas previously defeated Kansas City, 73-43, on Feb. 11, 2023. No other team in the Summit League has held a conference opponent to 45 points or fewer multiple times since 2021-22. Denver, Kansas City, and Oral Roberts have all done it once since then.
HOME COOKING
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 20-3 over its last 23 games at Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas closed out the 2021-22 season with a home win and went 12-2 last season, including a 10-game home winning streak, before opening the 2023-24 season with seven straight home wins.
The only three home losses over that span came Jan. 28, 2023 to South Dakota, Feb. 9, 2023 to Oral Roberts, and Jan. 11, 2024 to South Dakota State. Over the final five home games of the 2022-23 season, St. Thomas averaged an attendance of 1,707 per game, including a record crowd of 2,013 against Oral Roberts, and set the top five attendance marks during the DI era. The Tommies added another top five attendance mark Jan. 11, 2024 against South Dakota State with a crowd of 1,515.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 122, first in the Summit League ahead of Denver (149), South Dakota State (159), and Oral Roberts (215), through games on Jan. 15. The Tommies entered its matchup at No. 7 Marquette ranked 185 and jumped 20 spots to 165 following a five-point loss to the Golden Eagles. South Dakota entered the week ranked 308.
I'M JUST KEN (POM RANKINGS)
The Tommies saw a more impressive ascent in the Ken Pom Rankings following the game at Marquette. The Purple entered Milwaukee, Wis., ranked 218 in the Ken Pom Rankings before moving up to 185 after the loss. St. Thomas, currently ranked 127, is first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (154), Denver (171) and Oral Roberts (203). South Dakota enters ranked 316.
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 353 in adjusted tempo with 63.3 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 124 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 107.9 and 149 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 104.3.
GOING IN FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas has recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in nine games this season, going 9-0 in those games. The largest scoring run of the season came against Sacramento State when it went on a spurt of 21-0.
Opponents have recorded a "Kill Shot" in four games against the Tommies, in which the Purple have gone 3-1. The largest run against St. Thomas was a 12-0 streak during a win at Western Michigan, a game in which the Toms put together two "Kill Shots." The only loss came at No. 7 Marquette where the Golden Eagles put together a run of 10-0.
PICK YOUR LEADER
The Tommies have seen eight different student-athletes lead the way in scoring and six lead in rebounds through their first 17 games. Anthony has led the team in rebounds in seven games, followed by Bjorklund six times, Blue four times, Lee twice, and Nau and Allen twice.
Bjorklund has led in scoring seven times while the next highest is Anthony with four, senior Drake Dobbs with three, graduate student Brooks Allen with two, and Carter Bjerke, Kendall Blue, Ahjany Lee and Ben Nau all with one. The Tommies have at least four athletes averaging double-digit points for the first time this season (Bjorklund, Anthony, Blue, Dobbs).
ALL BUSINESS FOR BJORKLUND
Since joining the Tommies off the intramural courts, it's been all business for Parker Bjorklund as he's averaged double-digit scoring in each of his three seasons and leads the team this season with 13.3 points per game, which ranks 13th in the Summit League. Bjorklund is averaging 13.7 points per game through his career on 52.3 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.4%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).
Bjorklund currently ranks fourth in the Summit League shooting 49.0 percent from the field and finished 13 games last season shooting above 50 percent while taking at least seven shots in all but one game. Bjorklund is currently fourth among active Summit League student-athletes (min. 30 games) in career scoring average (13.7 PPG).
Bjorklund became the 39th member of the 1,000-point club at St. Thomas Saturday, Jan. 6 during the win over Sacramento State. He's the most recent Tommie to cross 1,000 career points since Riley Miller did so in November 2022, excluding current Tommie Raheem Anthony who began his career in the Purple with over 1,000 points. Bjorklund has 410 career rebounds, 35 shy of tying Joe Buri (1996-2000) for 30th all-time at St. Thomas.
THE 1,500 POINT/NEWCOMER CLUB
Newcomer Raheem Anthony, a transfer from NCAA DIII Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn., eclipsed 1,500 career points Dec. 6, 2023 during a 75-71 win over Milwaukee. He was a two-time All-American (NABC, D3hoops.com) in 2022-23 after averaging 24.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Anthony started all 78 games played in at Saint Mary's and averaged 19.3 points in three games against St. Thomas during the 2019-20 season.
St. Thomas has five members of the 1,500-point club, all besides Anthony scored the entirety of their points in the Purple and Gray. Anthony is the first Tommie to reach the 1,500 mark since Karnell James (1993-97) who finished his career with 1,854. Six Tommies have transferred into the program and ended their careers with at least 1,000 points. Anthony's also at 703 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.7 points per game and leads with 2.9 assists per game, with at least three assists in 11 games this season and an eight-assist performance Dec. 10 in a win at Chicago State. He scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting to push him over the 1,500 point mark against Milwaukee and currently has 1,601 points.
350 LEADING THE PURPLE
Johnny Tauer made his 350th appearance as head coach for St. Thomas Jan. 13, 2024 at Oral Roberts, coming away with a win and a career record of 260-90. Tauer, the longest tenured head coach in the Summit League, coached his 350th career game against ORU's Russell Springmann in his first season as a head coach.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer is one of six active head coaches among all of NCAA to reach 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage at one program after the Nov. 19 win over Portland State.
The Tommies (13-6, 3-1 Summit League) and Coyotes (8-10, 1-2 Summit League) tip-off at 7 p.m. from the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, the first meeting of the season series.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch Thursday's game on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action. Live stats are available at goyotes.com.
SERIES HISTORY | SOUTH DAKOTA
St. Thomas and South Dakota have played four times in the series history, led by USD 4-0, dating back to Jan. 22, 2022. The Coyotes have won by an average margin of 13.5 points per game, the closest game coming as an eight-point loss by the Tommies, 92-84, Dec. 29, 2022. USD is the only Summit League program St. Thomas has not beat since joining the conference in 2021.
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund has averaged 14.5 points per game in four games against South Dakota, increasing his point total in each game. His top two scoring performances against USD came last season after scoring 17 points with seven rebounds Dec. 29, 2022 and 26 points with eight rebounds Jan. 28, 2023 in St. Paul. Graduate student Brooks Allen scored 17 points with four rebounds and Blue added 10 points during the 2022-23 season opener in Vermillion.
THE OPPOSITION | SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota comes into the matchup 8-10 overall and 1-2 in the Summit League, falling in three straight after opening the conference schedule with a 75-66 win over North Dakota State. Eric Peterson is in his second season as head coach with a career record of 20-29.
The Coyotes have four student-athletes averaging double digit points led by junior Kaleb Stewart with 14.1 points per game, which is ninth in the Summit League while he also ranks fifth in the conference with 2.3 3-point field goals made per game. Senior Lahat Thioune leads the Summit League with 10.2 rebounds per game and is second shooting 54.9 percent from the field for an average of 13.3 points per game.
USD is seventh in the Summit League with 73.4 points per game and eighth allowing 76.3 points. The Coyotes are 21st in the country and lead the Summit League with 41.1 rebounds per game and pace the conference with a 6.6 rebound margin.
LAST TIME OUT | ORAL ROBERTS
An early first half run set the pace for St. Thomas men's basketball during an 87-76 win at Oral Roberts, the program's first win in the series. St. Thomas continued its 3-point attack, going 11-of-31 from beyond the arc as a team, and shot 52.6 percent from the field to snap ORU's 10-game home winning streak in Summit League play. The Tommies gave away just five turnovers, their third game with five or fewer turnovers this season, while the bench chipped in 31 points. After winning 21 consecutive home games since the start of the 2022-23 season, St. Thomas handed Oral Roberts its second loss at Mabee Center over the last three overall. The Golden Eagles shot 45.9 percent from the floor and totaled just seven assists on 28 field goals.
THE CAST | VS ORAL ROBERTS
Senior Drake Dobbs led all Tommies with 17 points, including 5-of-6 from the free throw line, along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one turnover. Sophomores Kendall Blue and Ahjany Lee each finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one block, respectively. Blue has now scored double digits in six straight games, the longest streak by a Tommie this season. Lee's 16 points set a new career high.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its league opponents to 62.5 points per game, which is 7.0 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +10.9 is the best in the league, 3.7 more than the next highest. Overall, the Toms rank 10th in the nation with 62.5 points allowed per game.
MARGIN FOR SUCCESS
St. Thomas has made a statement with its margin of victories thus far, winning by an average of 18.2 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 11.9 points including an average of 19 points over its three Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 4.8 points per loss with only one double-digit loss.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and this season is no different. The Tommies currently rank tied for 15th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.5) after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) last season and leading the category in 2021-22. Of the 14 teams with as few or fewer turnovers per game last season, only four (Iowa, NC State, Oral Roberts, Toledo) finished with a higher scoring offense than St. Thomas' 74.2 points per game.
HOLDING 'EM BELOW 45
The Purple held a Summit League opponent at 45 points or fewer in a game for the second time over the past two seasons following its 70-45 win at North Dakota. St. Thomas previously defeated Kansas City, 73-43, on Feb. 11, 2023. No other team in the Summit League has held a conference opponent to 45 points or fewer multiple times since 2021-22. Denver, Kansas City, and Oral Roberts have all done it once since then.
HOME COOKING
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 20-3 over its last 23 games at Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas closed out the 2021-22 season with a home win and went 12-2 last season, including a 10-game home winning streak, before opening the 2023-24 season with seven straight home wins.
The only three home losses over that span came Jan. 28, 2023 to South Dakota, Feb. 9, 2023 to Oral Roberts, and Jan. 11, 2024 to South Dakota State. Over the final five home games of the 2022-23 season, St. Thomas averaged an attendance of 1,707 per game, including a record crowd of 2,013 against Oral Roberts, and set the top five attendance marks during the DI era. The Tommies added another top five attendance mark Jan. 11, 2024 against South Dakota State with a crowd of 1,515.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 122, first in the Summit League ahead of Denver (149), South Dakota State (159), and Oral Roberts (215), through games on Jan. 15. The Tommies entered its matchup at No. 7 Marquette ranked 185 and jumped 20 spots to 165 following a five-point loss to the Golden Eagles. South Dakota entered the week ranked 308.
I'M JUST KEN (POM RANKINGS)
The Tommies saw a more impressive ascent in the Ken Pom Rankings following the game at Marquette. The Purple entered Milwaukee, Wis., ranked 218 in the Ken Pom Rankings before moving up to 185 after the loss. St. Thomas, currently ranked 127, is first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (154), Denver (171) and Oral Roberts (203). South Dakota enters ranked 316.
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 353 in adjusted tempo with 63.3 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 124 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 107.9 and 149 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 104.3.
GOING IN FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas has recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in nine games this season, going 9-0 in those games. The largest scoring run of the season came against Sacramento State when it went on a spurt of 21-0.
Opponents have recorded a "Kill Shot" in four games against the Tommies, in which the Purple have gone 3-1. The largest run against St. Thomas was a 12-0 streak during a win at Western Michigan, a game in which the Toms put together two "Kill Shots." The only loss came at No. 7 Marquette where the Golden Eagles put together a run of 10-0.
PICK YOUR LEADER
The Tommies have seen eight different student-athletes lead the way in scoring and six lead in rebounds through their first 17 games. Anthony has led the team in rebounds in seven games, followed by Bjorklund six times, Blue four times, Lee twice, and Nau and Allen twice.
Bjorklund has led in scoring seven times while the next highest is Anthony with four, senior Drake Dobbs with three, graduate student Brooks Allen with two, and Carter Bjerke, Kendall Blue, Ahjany Lee and Ben Nau all with one. The Tommies have at least four athletes averaging double-digit points for the first time this season (Bjorklund, Anthony, Blue, Dobbs).
ALL BUSINESS FOR BJORKLUND
Since joining the Tommies off the intramural courts, it's been all business for Parker Bjorklund as he's averaged double-digit scoring in each of his three seasons and leads the team this season with 13.3 points per game, which ranks 13th in the Summit League. Bjorklund is averaging 13.7 points per game through his career on 52.3 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.4%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).
Bjorklund currently ranks fourth in the Summit League shooting 49.0 percent from the field and finished 13 games last season shooting above 50 percent while taking at least seven shots in all but one game. Bjorklund is currently fourth among active Summit League student-athletes (min. 30 games) in career scoring average (13.7 PPG).
Bjorklund became the 39th member of the 1,000-point club at St. Thomas Saturday, Jan. 6 during the win over Sacramento State. He's the most recent Tommie to cross 1,000 career points since Riley Miller did so in November 2022, excluding current Tommie Raheem Anthony who began his career in the Purple with over 1,000 points. Bjorklund has 410 career rebounds, 35 shy of tying Joe Buri (1996-2000) for 30th all-time at St. Thomas.
THE 1,500 POINT/NEWCOMER CLUB
Newcomer Raheem Anthony, a transfer from NCAA DIII Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn., eclipsed 1,500 career points Dec. 6, 2023 during a 75-71 win over Milwaukee. He was a two-time All-American (NABC, D3hoops.com) in 2022-23 after averaging 24.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Anthony started all 78 games played in at Saint Mary's and averaged 19.3 points in three games against St. Thomas during the 2019-20 season.
St. Thomas has five members of the 1,500-point club, all besides Anthony scored the entirety of their points in the Purple and Gray. Anthony is the first Tommie to reach the 1,500 mark since Karnell James (1993-97) who finished his career with 1,854. Six Tommies have transferred into the program and ended their careers with at least 1,000 points. Anthony's also at 703 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.7 points per game and leads with 2.9 assists per game, with at least three assists in 11 games this season and an eight-assist performance Dec. 10 in a win at Chicago State. He scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting to push him over the 1,500 point mark against Milwaukee and currently has 1,601 points.
350 LEADING THE PURPLE
Johnny Tauer made his 350th appearance as head coach for St. Thomas Jan. 13, 2024 at Oral Roberts, coming away with a win and a career record of 260-90. Tauer, the longest tenured head coach in the Summit League, coached his 350th career game against ORU's Russell Springmann in his first season as a head coach.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer is one of six active head coaches among all of NCAA to reach 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage at one program after the Nov. 19 win over Portland State.
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Mark Few | Gonzaga | 699 | .833 |
| Jeff Young | Walsh | 447 | .758 |
| Joe Lombardi | Indiana (PA) | 409 | .784 |
| Ben McCollum | Northwest Mo. State | 376 | .807 |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 260 | .743 |
| Tom Brown | West Texas A&M | 250 | .812 |
Tauer is also one of 13 active head coaches with 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage at any program.
Since taking over as head coach in 2011, Tauer has averaged 20.5 wins per season heading into 2023-24. He is the fastest to reach 250 career wins in program history, joining Steve Fritz (594-246) and Tom Feely (417-269). Tauer was a senior with Tommie Basketball when Fritz reached the 250-milestone in 1995 and Fritz was a senior for the program when Feely reached the milestone in 1970-71.
LUCKY 13
Head Coach Johnny Tauer is in his 13th season at St. Thomas as the longest tenured head coach among all Summit League programs and among the top 50 in their current role among all DI men's basketball coaches. He leads league head coaches with a .743 winning percentage and is third in career wins (259).
| 2023-24 Summit League Head Coaches | |||
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 260 | .743 |
| Eric Henderson | South Dakota State | 96 | .686 |
| David Richman | North Dakota State | 183 | .596 |
| Paul Sather | North Dakota | 334 | .581 |
| Marvin Menzies | Kansas City | 264 | .579 |
| Russell Springmann | Oral Roberts | 8 | .471 |
| Jeff Wulbrun | Denver | 37 | .451 |
| Chris Crutchfield | Omaha | 29 | .414 |
| Eric Peterson | South Dakota | 20 | .408 |
Tauer's winning percentage of .743 ranks 13th among active head coaches across all of NCAA with at least 10 years of experience. The only head coaches at their current NCAA DI programs for at least 10 seasons with a higher winning percentage than Tauer are John Calipari (Kentucky), Mark Few (Gonzaga), and Bill Self (Kansas).
DOCTOR, DOCTOR
An NCAA Postgraduate Scholar and Academic All-America honoree, Head Coach Johnny Tauer earned master's and PhD degrees in social psychology at UW-Madison. He returned to St. Thomas as a member of the faculty in 2000 before being promoted to full professor in 2011. Tauer taught for 21 years at St. Thomas and is one of the only head college basketball coaches in the nation to be a tenured faculty member and to hold a doctorate in sport-related psychology. He has published academic work on motivation, goal setting and competition in top academic journals, in addition to a book on youth sports, parents and motivation titled "Why Less is More for WOSPs (Well-Intentioned, Overinvolved Sports Parents); How to Be the Best Sport Parent You Can Be."
SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
Head Coach Johnny Tauer's excellence within the Tommie Men's Basketball program dates back to his days as an Academic All-American that led to his induction to the St. Thomas Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. As a student-athlete from 1991-95, Tauer was an All-MIAC player, first team All-West Region, and as a senior led the 1994-95 Toms to a school-record 27-0 start, including an MIAC Championship with an unprecedented 20-0 record. He helped the Toms to NCAA DIII Tournament berths in 1992-93, 1993-94, and 1994-95, including a run to the Final Four in 1993-94. Tauer ranks 24th in career scoring (1,219 points) and 22nd in career rebounding (482) at St. Thomas and was the school 3-point leader until 1999-2000.
After earning master's and PhD degrees at Wisconsin, Tauer joined the Tommie Men's Basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach and ran the St. Thomas defense for two seasons (2001-03) and also directed the Tommies' offensive sets that had consistently ranked among the best in NCAA basketball in overall offensive efficiency, field-goal percentage, 3-point proficiency, fewest turnovers, and assist-to-turnover ratio. With Tauer serving as an assistant, the Toms won the 2010-11 DIII National Championship title, made a run to the 2008-09 Final Four, and totaled seven DIII National Tournament runs.
With the retirement of longtime head coach Steve Fritz in 2011, Tauer took over the program and continued its storied tradition with another national title in 2015-16, a Final Four run in 2012-13, and five DIII National Tournament appearances.
As a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach at St. Thomas, Tauer has helped the Tommies to 592 wins in 28 seasons, averaging out to over 20 wins per season. He's been part of 19 conference titles, 15 national tournament appearances, three Final Fours, and two national championships.
POWER SIX
St. Thomas played two games against Power Six opponents this season, a 71-66 season-opening loss Nov. 6 at Cal and an 84-79 loss Dec. 14 at No. 7 Marquette. The 71 points scored against the Tommies is the Golden Bears' third lowest offensive output of their season. Marquette allowed its most points (79) to St. Thomas while the margin of victory (5) was the second smallest for MU this season.
The meeting against Marquette was the second game against a Top 10 Big East opponent in as many years for St. Thomas after opening the 2022-23 campaign at No. 9 Creighton. The Tommies overcame a double-digit deficit to lead in the second half against the Bluejays and nearly overcame a double-digit deficit to the Golden Eagles, pulling within one point multiple times against MU.
The Tommies have now played four Power Six opponents over the past two seasons, adding a loss Nov. 26, 2022 at Utah for its first ever game against a Pac-12 opponent.
A FRESHMAN FEAT
Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke scored 14 points Nov. 12 against North Central, setting a career high. In doing so, he became the eighth freshman under Head Coach Johnny Tauer with a 14+ point performance within his first three career games.
2022-23
Kendall Blue: 15 pts vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (3rd career game)
Ahjany Lee: 14 pts vs. Chicago State (2nd career game)
Andrew Rohde: 15 pts vs. Creighton (1st career game)
2020-21
Parker Bjorklund: 15 pts vs. Concordia College (Minn.) (2nd career game)
2019-20
Will Engels: 15 pts vs. Whitman (1st career game)
2018-19
Anders Nelson: 24 pts vs. Emerson (2nd career game)
2017-18
Burt Hedstrom: 15 pts vs. St. Scholastica (3rd career game)
PREP CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
Five of the Tommies' 15 student-athletes have reached the ultimate pinnacle of their high school prep careers, winning state titles, while COVID brought another imminent title run to a halt. Three others also led their programs to Minnesota State Tournament appearances in Kendall Blue (2018-22) and Courtney Brown, Jr., (2015-19) at East Ridge High School and Adam Tauer (2019-23) at Cretin-Derham Hall.
Carter Bjerke - Wayzata HS
- 2020-21 Class AAAA MSHSL State Championship - 2021-22 Runner-Ups
Drake Dobbs - Eden Prairie HS
- 2019-20 28-0 and #10 in the nation (COVID shortened season)
Ryan Dufault - Waseca HS
- 2020-21 Class AA MSHSL State Championship - Game-winner with 3 seconds left
Ben Nau - Brookfield Central HS
- 2018-19 WIAA Division I State Championship
Hayden Tibbits - Wayzata HS
- 2020-21/2022-23 Class AAAA MSHSL State Championship - 2021-22 Runner-Ups
Ahjany Lee - Totino-Grace HS
- 2021-22 Class AAA MSHSL State Championship
THE MAKEUP OF THE TOMMIE ROSTER
The heart of the St. Thomas men's basketball program is comprised from Minnesota natives, including 10 of 15 student-athletes, Head Coach Johnny Tauer and Assistant Coach Cameron Rundles. Four of the remaining five student-athletes hail from Illinois while one is from Wisconsin.
The squad has nine guards and six forwards with an average height of 6-foot-4-inches, which ranks tied for 223rd in the nation among tallest teams. The Purple have three graduate students, four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, one redshirt freshman, and three true freshmen.
BACK FROM 2022-23
St. Thomas returns 10 letter winners and one redshirt freshman (Carter Bjerke, F), along with four newcomers. Among the newcomers is one transfer (Raheem Anthony, G) and three freshmen. Leading the pack is graduate student forward Parker Bjorklund who was named Preseason All-Summit League First Team. Fellow graduate student forward Brooks Allen also returns after starting all 33 games last season and playing in all 69 games for St. Thomas since joining NCAA Division I. Kendall Blue and Ahjany Lee come back for their sophomore seasons after Blue played in all 33 games, with 22 starts, and Lee played in 32 with four starts.
FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops
JOIN US
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2023-24 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballTommie Men's Basketball: Summit League Tournament Cinematic Recap 2025
Thursday, March 20
Press Conference: Tommie Men's Basketball Postgame vs Kansas City 03-01-25
Sunday, March 02
Press Conference: Tommie Men's Basketball Postgame vs Omaha 02/15/25
Sunday, February 16
Tommie Men's Basketball vs NDSU: Cinematic Recap
Wednesday, February 05
