University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wednesday, January 3
Moscow, Idaho / ICCU Arena
8:00 p.m. Central
at
Idaho
Photo by: Abby Bondi
Men’s Basketball to face Idaho, Sac State in Big Sky-Summit Challenge
1/2/2024 1:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Tommies travel to play Vandals Wednesday, before home game Saturday versus Hornets
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Big Sky-Summit League Challenge officially begins Wednesday, Jan. 3 as St. Thomas travels to face Idaho. The Purple return home Saturday, Jan. 6 to close out the interconference series against Sacramento State.
The Tommies (10-5) open the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, in its first year of a three-year series, at 8 p.m. CT in Moscow, Idaho against the Vandals and return home for a 7 p.m. CT start time Saturday, Jan. 6 against the Hornets. Tommie fans can purchase tickets for Saturday's game HERE.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch Wednesday's game on ESPN+ and listen on ESPN 1500 radio, with Corbu Stathes calling the action, or via Live Stats on govandals.com.
Fans can watch Saturday's game on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action, or via Live Stats on tommiesports.com.
THE BEGINNING OF A CHALLENGE
In April 2023, the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge was announced as a three-year challenge series. Each Summit League men's team will play one home and one road game against two opponents from the Big Sky over each of the next three seasons. The matchups are determined annually using data from past seasons NET rankings and regular-season conference finishes, along with consideration for the prior season matchups.
"The Summit League is excited to partner with the Big Sky and its member institutions on this innovative concept," Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton said. "This series will help each conference's member schools with guaranteed non-conference games in a challenging scheduling environment. It also gives us an opportunity to creatively engage with fans, while allowing our basketball programs to enhance their resumes. We are appreciative of the Big Sky and Commissioner Tom Wistrcill for the partnership."
SERIES HISTORY | IDAHO
This is the first meeting between the programs in history. St. Thomas is 2-0 against Big Sky programs this season (54-53 versus Idaho State on Nov. 10, 2023/76-70 versus Portland State on Nov. 19, 2023) and 3-3 overall against the conference during the DI era.
THE OPPOSITION | IDAHO
Idaho begins the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge with a 7-7 record overall after opening its conference schedule 1-1, a 61-58 win over Sacramento State and a 77-72 loss to Portland State in Moscow, Idaho. The Vandals are led by first-year head coach Alex Pribble.
The Vandals are balanced in scoring as junior guard Quinn Denker leads with 12.5 points per game, which ranks 15th in the Big Sky, followed by senior guard D'Angelo Minnis with 10.9 points and junior forward Julius Mims with 10.4 points. Mims leads the Big Sky with 1.7 blocks per game and is fifth with 7.5 rebounds per game while Minnis is third in the conference with 3.9 assists per game.
Idaho ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring defense with 68.1 points allowed and in scoring margin at +4.2, and is seventh in scoring offense with 72.3 points per game. UI attempts 25.2 3-pointers per game to rank 70th nationally and connect on 33.1 percent of 3-point attempts.
SERIES HISTORY | SACRAMENTO STATE
St. Thomas and Sacramento State have never played.
THE OPPOSITION | SACRAMENTO STATE
Sacramento State remains at home to begin the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge Wednesday, Dec. 3 against Kansas City. The Hornets enter the matchup with a 3-10 record overall and 0-2 mark in the Big Sky, falling to Idaho, 61-58, and Eastern Washington, 87-61. SSU is led by David Patrick in his second season with a career record of 17-28.
A trio of Hornets lead the squad in scoring including sophomore forward Duncan Powell with 13.6 points per game, junior guard Zee Hamoda with 13.1 points, and senior guard Brandon Betson with 11.0 points. Powell is third in the Big Sky with 9.1 rebounds per game, which ranks 47th nationally, and Hamoda leads shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range.
The Hornets rank seventh in the Big Sky scoring 72.0 points per game and are eighth with 73.8 points allowed. SSU leads the conference with 9.5 3-point field goals per game but is sixth shooting 32.9 percent from beyond the arc and ninth shooting 42.4 percent overall.
LAST TIME OUT | KANSAS CITY
Another strong defensive performance led St. Thomas men's basketball to a 77-56 win over Kansas City to begin the Summit League schedule 2-0. It was the second straight conference game won by at least 21 points as the Purple were the only league team to go 2-0 during the opening weekend of Summit League games. St. Thomas held UMKC to 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the field and 22.2 percent (6-of-27) from beyond the arc including just 1-of-12 in the second half. The Roos top scorers coming into the game, Jamar Brown and Cameron Faas, who averaged a combined 25 points per game, were held to just five points.
THE CAST | VS KANSAS CITY
Graduate student Raheem Anthony led the way for the Tommies scoring 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting including 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also recorded four rebounds, four assists, and one steal in an all-around performance. Three other Toms scored in double figures as sophomore Kendall Blue, senior Drake Dobbs, and graduate student Brooks Allen all eclipsed the 10-point mark. Allen also led the Toms in rebounds, grabbing eight boards to go along with four assists.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its opponents to 50.5 points per game, which is 11 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' scoring margin of +23.0 is the best in the league, 17 more than the next highest with at least two conference games played. The Toms rank 10th in the nation with 60.9 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 20.5 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 12.4 points including an average of 23 points over its two Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 5.6 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 22nd nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.8) 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.
SUCCESS ON BOTH SIDES
The Purple were the only Summit League team to rank among the top three in both scoring offense (74.2) and scoring defense (70.2) last season. St. Thomas joined South Dakota State as the only two teams in the league to rank among the top four in both 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense. This season, St. Thomas ranks tied for 10th nationally with 60.9 points allowed per game.
HOME COOKING
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 19-2 over its last 21 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 six straight home wins.
The only two home losses last season came Jan. 28 to South Dakota and Feb. 9 to Oral Roberts. Over the final five home games, 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.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 131, first in the Summit League ahead of Denver (148), South Dakota State (193) and Oral Roberts (195), through games on Jan. 1. 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. Idaho ranks 281 in the NET Rankings, eighth among Big Sky programs.
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 140, leads all Summit League programs in the Ken Pom Rankings, slotting in ahead of South Dakota State (153), Denver (202) and Oral Roberts (203). Idaho is 10th in the rankings among Big Sky teams at 307.
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 357 in adjusted tempo with 63.8 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 152 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 105.3 and 154 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 103.5.
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 14.7 points per game, which ranks eighth in the Summit League. Bjorklund is averaging 14.0 points per game through his career on 52.9 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.7%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).
He currently ranks second in the Summit League shooting 50.9 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 (14.1 PPG).
Bjorklund currently sits at 985 career points in 71 career games and has 398 career rebounds, five shy of Jack Tamble 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 687 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.3 points per game and leads with 3.1 assists per game, with at least three assists in 10 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 1,552 points.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer became one of five active head coaches among all of NCAA to reach 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage, all with one program, after the Nov. 19 win over Portland State.
The Tommies (10-5) open the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, in its first year of a three-year series, at 8 p.m. CT in Moscow, Idaho against the Vandals and return home for a 7 p.m. CT start time Saturday, Jan. 6 against the Hornets. Tommie fans can purchase tickets for Saturday's game HERE.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch Wednesday's game on ESPN+ and listen on ESPN 1500 radio, with Corbu Stathes calling the action, or via Live Stats on govandals.com.
Fans can watch Saturday's game on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action, or via Live Stats on tommiesports.com.
THE BEGINNING OF A CHALLENGE
In April 2023, the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge was announced as a three-year challenge series. Each Summit League men's team will play one home and one road game against two opponents from the Big Sky over each of the next three seasons. The matchups are determined annually using data from past seasons NET rankings and regular-season conference finishes, along with consideration for the prior season matchups.
"The Summit League is excited to partner with the Big Sky and its member institutions on this innovative concept," Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton said. "This series will help each conference's member schools with guaranteed non-conference games in a challenging scheduling environment. It also gives us an opportunity to creatively engage with fans, while allowing our basketball programs to enhance their resumes. We are appreciative of the Big Sky and Commissioner Tom Wistrcill for the partnership."
SERIES HISTORY | IDAHO
This is the first meeting between the programs in history. St. Thomas is 2-0 against Big Sky programs this season (54-53 versus Idaho State on Nov. 10, 2023/76-70 versus Portland State on Nov. 19, 2023) and 3-3 overall against the conference during the DI era.
THE OPPOSITION | IDAHO
Idaho begins the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge with a 7-7 record overall after opening its conference schedule 1-1, a 61-58 win over Sacramento State and a 77-72 loss to Portland State in Moscow, Idaho. The Vandals are led by first-year head coach Alex Pribble.
The Vandals are balanced in scoring as junior guard Quinn Denker leads with 12.5 points per game, which ranks 15th in the Big Sky, followed by senior guard D'Angelo Minnis with 10.9 points and junior forward Julius Mims with 10.4 points. Mims leads the Big Sky with 1.7 blocks per game and is fifth with 7.5 rebounds per game while Minnis is third in the conference with 3.9 assists per game.
Idaho ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring defense with 68.1 points allowed and in scoring margin at +4.2, and is seventh in scoring offense with 72.3 points per game. UI attempts 25.2 3-pointers per game to rank 70th nationally and connect on 33.1 percent of 3-point attempts.
SERIES HISTORY | SACRAMENTO STATE
St. Thomas and Sacramento State have never played.
THE OPPOSITION | SACRAMENTO STATE
Sacramento State remains at home to begin the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge Wednesday, Dec. 3 against Kansas City. The Hornets enter the matchup with a 3-10 record overall and 0-2 mark in the Big Sky, falling to Idaho, 61-58, and Eastern Washington, 87-61. SSU is led by David Patrick in his second season with a career record of 17-28.
A trio of Hornets lead the squad in scoring including sophomore forward Duncan Powell with 13.6 points per game, junior guard Zee Hamoda with 13.1 points, and senior guard Brandon Betson with 11.0 points. Powell is third in the Big Sky with 9.1 rebounds per game, which ranks 47th nationally, and Hamoda leads shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range.
The Hornets rank seventh in the Big Sky scoring 72.0 points per game and are eighth with 73.8 points allowed. SSU leads the conference with 9.5 3-point field goals per game but is sixth shooting 32.9 percent from beyond the arc and ninth shooting 42.4 percent overall.
LAST TIME OUT | KANSAS CITY
Another strong defensive performance led St. Thomas men's basketball to a 77-56 win over Kansas City to begin the Summit League schedule 2-0. It was the second straight conference game won by at least 21 points as the Purple were the only league team to go 2-0 during the opening weekend of Summit League games. St. Thomas held UMKC to 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the field and 22.2 percent (6-of-27) from beyond the arc including just 1-of-12 in the second half. The Roos top scorers coming into the game, Jamar Brown and Cameron Faas, who averaged a combined 25 points per game, were held to just five points.
THE CAST | VS KANSAS CITY
Graduate student Raheem Anthony led the way for the Tommies scoring 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting including 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also recorded four rebounds, four assists, and one steal in an all-around performance. Three other Toms scored in double figures as sophomore Kendall Blue, senior Drake Dobbs, and graduate student Brooks Allen all eclipsed the 10-point mark. Allen also led the Toms in rebounds, grabbing eight boards to go along with four assists.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its opponents to 50.5 points per game, which is 11 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' scoring margin of +23.0 is the best in the league, 17 more than the next highest with at least two conference games played. The Toms rank 10th in the nation with 60.9 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 20.5 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 12.4 points including an average of 23 points over its two Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 5.6 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 22nd nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.8) 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.
SUCCESS ON BOTH SIDES
The Purple were the only Summit League team to rank among the top three in both scoring offense (74.2) and scoring defense (70.2) last season. St. Thomas joined South Dakota State as the only two teams in the league to rank among the top four in both 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense. This season, St. Thomas ranks tied for 10th nationally with 60.9 points allowed per game.
HOME COOKING
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 19-2 over its last 21 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 six straight home wins.
The only two home losses last season came Jan. 28 to South Dakota and Feb. 9 to Oral Roberts. Over the final five home games, 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.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 131, first in the Summit League ahead of Denver (148), South Dakota State (193) and Oral Roberts (195), through games on Jan. 1. 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. Idaho ranks 281 in the NET Rankings, eighth among Big Sky programs.
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 140, leads all Summit League programs in the Ken Pom Rankings, slotting in ahead of South Dakota State (153), Denver (202) and Oral Roberts (203). Idaho is 10th in the rankings among Big Sky teams at 307.
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 357 in adjusted tempo with 63.8 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 152 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 105.3 and 154 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 103.5.
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 14.7 points per game, which ranks eighth in the Summit League. Bjorklund is averaging 14.0 points per game through his career on 52.9 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.7%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).
He currently ranks second in the Summit League shooting 50.9 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 (14.1 PPG).
Bjorklund currently sits at 985 career points in 71 career games and has 398 career rebounds, five shy of Jack Tamble 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 687 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.3 points per game and leads with 3.1 assists per game, with at least three assists in 10 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 1,552 points.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer became one of five active head coaches among all of NCAA to reach 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage, all with one program, after the Nov. 19 win over Portland State.
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Mark Few | Gonzaga | 697 | .834 |
| Jeff Young | Walsh | 443 | .756 |
| Joe Lombardi | Indiana (PA) | 407 | .784 |
| Ben McCollum | Northwest Mo. State | 374 | .808 |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 257 | .743 |
Tauer is also one of 11 active head coaches to reach 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 (257).
| 2023-24 Summit League Head Coaches | |||
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 257 | .743 |
| Eric Henderson | South Dakota State | 94 | .691 |
| David Richman | North Dakota State | 182 | .601 |
| Paul Sather | North Dakota | 333 | .583 |
| Marvin Menzies | Kansas City | 263 | .582 |
| Russell Springmann | Oral Roberts | 6 | .462 |
| Jeff Wulbrun | Denver | 35 | .443 |
| Eric Peterson | South Dakota | 20 | .435 |
| Chris Crutchfield | Omaha | 26 | .394 |
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 588 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.
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.
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
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 --
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/ 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
