University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, November 22
Milwaukee, Wis. / UWM Panther Arena
4:00 p.m. Central
vs
Wofford
Photo by: Image of Sport
Cream City Challenge on deck for Men’s Basketball in Milwaukee
11/21/2024 9:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas to face Wofford, Portland State and Milwaukee Nov. 22-24
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's Multi-Tournament Event season as St. Thomas men's basketball prepares to face Wofford, Portland State and Milwaukee at the Cream City Challenge Nov. 22-24 in Milwaukee, Wis.
TUNE IN
Watch: Friday vs Wofford / Saturday vs. Portland State / Sunday at Milwaukee
Live Stats: Cream City Challenge Live Stats
Listen: The Varsity Network
SERIES HISTORY | WOFFORD
St. Thomas and Wofford have never played.
SERIES HISTORY | PORTLAND STATE
St. Thomas and Portland State have played once all-time, coming as a Tommie win, 76-70, at The Lancer Joust MTE in Riverside, Calif. The Purple handed the Vikings their first loss of the season as Kendall Blue scored a career high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, making his first six 3-point attempts in the game. Drake Dobbs scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Carter Bjerke scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting.
SERIES HISTORY | MILWAUKEE
St. Thomas leads the series against Milwaukee, 2-0, after playing each of the past two seasons. Last season, Dobbs led all Tommie returners with 10 points while Blue scored 9. Blue is averaging 9.5 points per game against MKE.
MEET UP IN TEMPE
For any St. Thomas alumni or fans in the Tempe area on Sunday, there will be a Tommie Tailgate at the Devil's Advocate starting at 3:30 p.m.
BY THE TIME I GET TO ARIZONA
St. Thomas men's basketball battled Arizona State closely but fell short, 81-66, after a late 11-0 Sun Devil run at Desert Financial Arena. The Tommies trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to three with eight minutes remaining, fueled by improved second-half defense and outscoring ASU 16-5 on second-chance points. Despite leading by as many as six in the first half, St. Thomas struggled with turnovers and offensive rebounds early, while Arizona State capitalized with 18 free throws compared to the Tommies' three. Miles Barnstable led the Purple with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, while Kendall Blue added 11 points and a team-high four assists.
NEW LOOK TOMMIES
The 2024-25 Tommies will feature a majority of new faces on the court after the departure of seven letter winners. St. Thomas returns five letter winners (including two starters) and three redshirt freshmen, and brought in three transfers and five true freshmen.
Kendall Blue and Drake Dobbs each started all 33 games a season ago while seniors Ryan Dufault and Ben Nau, along with redshirt sophomore Carter Bjerke, played in all 33 games. Nau led the bench with 17.8 minutes per game.
HANGING WITH THE BOYS
St. Thomas men's basketball fell to Oklahoma State, 80-71, on Sunday Nov. 10, hindered by 20 turnovers that led to 20 points for the Cowboys in front of 5,447 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Despite shooting just 27.6% in the first half, the Tommies bounced back to finish the game at 40.3%, with Kendall Blue recording a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Three other St. Thomas starters also scored in double figures — Drake Dobbs with 14 points, Nolan Minessale with 13, and Carter Bjerke with 12 — but a strong Oklahoma State run and effective free-throw shooting in the final minutes secured the win for the Cowboys.
A SUCCESSFUL ROAD OPENER
St. Thomas men's basketball defeated Green Bay 90-76 at the Kress Center Friday night during its first road game of the season. The Tommies, now 2-0, were led by junior Miles Barnstable, who scored 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting. St. Thomas showcased impressive efficiency, shooting 60.4% from the field, including 44.4% from three-point range, and dominated the rebounding battle 37-25. The Tommies built a 19-point lead at halftime and extended it to 24 early in the second half, with contributions from Kendall Blue (17 points) and Ryan Dufault (14 points). Despite a late push by Green Bay, St. Thomas held on, sealing the win with a clutch three-pointer from Ben Oosterbaan with four minutes to play to keep the lead in double digits.
DIVISION I FRESHMEN DEBUTS
The freshmen duo of Nolan Minessale and Ben Oosterbaan (a redshirt freshman) each finished with 14 points during the season opener against North Central, marking the second and third Tommie freshmen to score as many points in their debuts. The only other freshman to do so was Andrew Rohde with 15 points at No. 9 Creighton to open the 2022-23 season.
Minessale and Oosterbaan are also each one of 10 Tommie freshmen, five within the past three seasons, to score at least 14 points within their first three career games.
RETURN OF THE LONG BALL
St. Thomas returns four of its top five 3-point shooters from last season as the team's top seven scorers all made at least 35 3-pointers on the season. Bjerke led all Tommies with 47 long balls and a .456 3-point percentage, followed by Brooks Allen with 46 3--pointers. Nau came off the bench to drain 45 on a .363 3-point percentage as Blue totaled 40 3-pointers and Dobbs finished with 38.
RUNDLES RAPPORT
Assistant Coach Cam Rundles, a Minneapolis, Minnesota native, will coach against both teams he played for collegiately this season. St. Thomas begins the Cream City Challenge, hosted by Milwaukee, Nov. 22 against Wofford before hosting Montana Dec. 7 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rundles helped Wofford (2009-11) to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010 and followed that with another bid in 2011. After a 10-year professional playing career overseas, Rundles coached one season at Wofford before joining St. Thomas. He began his collegiate playing career at Montana (2006-08) where he was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year before transferring to Wofford.
THE TELEVISED TOMMIES
Fans can watch all home games and Summit League contests on the Summit League Network, while four will be broadcast locally on FOX9+ including Dec. 7 against Montana (part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge), Dec. 13 versus Western Michigan, Jan. 8 against South Dakota State, and Feb. 15 against Omaha. The Feb. 2 home contest against North Dakota State will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network while the majority of the road non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+.
GOODBYE, SCHOENECKER ARENA
Tommie Basketball is preparing its farewell tour at Schoenecker Arena with the anticipation of the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, expected to be completed in late 2025. Schoenecker Arena has featured 181 men's basketball contests, in which the Tommies have gone 151-30 in those games and 26-4 at home over the past three seasons. The Tommies are the only Summit League team with 12-win seasons at home in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Since February 26, 2022, St. Thomas has won its home games by an average margin of 21.9 points, including a margin of 16.2 points against DI opponents. Nine of the program's 20 home wins against DI opponents since that time have been by more than 20 points while just three were decided by fewer than 10 points.
Lee and Penny Anderson gifted $75 million towards the arena and have donated nearly $140 million in total to the mission-driven, Catholic university.
THE DIII PIPELINE
After the departure of three former NCAA Division III athletes (Brooks Allen, Raheem Anthony, Parker Bjorklund), St. Thomas brought in another DIII product in junior Miles Barnstable from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Barnstable played two seasons with the Warhawks (2022-24) where he was a 2023-24 NABC All-District Second Team and two-time WIAC All-Conference First Team selection. He was named the WIAC and WBCA Newcomer of the Year and to the D3hoops.com All-Region Third Team after leading UW-Whitewater to a Final Four run, upsetting five ranked teams along the way, while scoring 22 points per game. During his Tommie debut, Barnstable led St. Thomas with 16 points in 16 minutes. He followed with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the win at Green Bay and leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg). Barnstable scored his 1,000th career collegiate point Nov. 15, 2024 versus St. Norbert.
QUICK AND EASY SIGNING DAY
Tommie Men's Basketball announced the addition of one newcomer during National Signing Day on Nov. 13. Luka Momcilovic is a letter winner and three-year varsity starter in basketball at Pewaukee High School under coaches David Burkemper and Kurt Woelffer. He helped PHS to two Wisconsin state championships and one runner-up finish as a Division 2 Wisconsin All-State Honorable Mention selection. Momcilovic was named to the Division 2 Wisconsin State All-Tournament Team and the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Academic Team.
Momcilovic is the son of Nikola and Zorica Momcilovic and he has two siblings, Milan and Maya. His brother, Milan, is a sophomore on the men's basketball team at Iowa State and his father played volleyball at Milwaukee. Momcilovic is a two-time honor roll member at PHS and plans to major in business at St. Thomas.
"We are thrilled for Luka to join us next season at St. Thomas," Tauer said. "He is an outstanding young man who fits our program and culture exceptionally well.
"He is skilled, smart, and tough, possessing an array of offensive skills that our fans will appreciate. Luka comes from an outstanding family. His interest and understanding of St. Thomas culture will allow him to blend seamlessly with our players."
DOBBS BACK HOME
With St. Thomas serving as the most unique story in college basketball, it's only fitting graduate student Drake Dobbs closed out his unique path as a part of the 2024-25 Tommie squad. The guard from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was a regarded high school recruit as a senior at Eden Prairie High School. During his senior season, Dobbs led EPHS to a perfect 28-0 record and ranked #10 nationally before COVID shortened the season. He led his team to a road win over nationally ranked Minnehaha Academy and future NBA draft picks Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren. Dobbs was a Minnesota Mr. Basketball top five finalist, a McDonald's All-America nominee, an all-metro first team selection (alongside Suggs, Holmgren and Dawson Garcia), and the all-time leading scorer at EPHS with over 2,000 points.
Dobbs committed to Liberty University and played 39 games (including a NCAA Tournament First Round versus Oklahoma State) with two starts before transferring in the middle of the 2021-22 season to St. Thomas. Dobbs played in 11 games in 2022-23 before starting all 33 games as a senior. He set the tone as the Tommies' staple in the backcourt (playing a team-high 30.3 minutes per game), consistently drawing the opponent's top offensive threat while also directing the St. Thomas offense (3.28 assist-to-turnover ratio).
SUMMIT SEMIFINALS
For both of the seasons the Tommies have been eligible for the Summit League Championships, they earned wins to advance to the semifinal round. Last season, St. Thomas took down a North Dakota State team that had advanced to the title game in each of the previous five seasons, earning the Purple their 20th win of the season.
Kendall Blue led St. Thomas in scoring during both games of the 2024 Summit League Championships, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting (including 3-of-3 from 3-point range) against NDSU followed by 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting against eventual champion South Dakota State. It was the second consecutive season St. Thomas had been eliminated by the eventual tournament champion (losing to Oral Roberts in 2023).
BACK-TO-BACK ON ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE TEAMS
For the second consecutive season, St. Thomas placed two student-athletes on All-Summit League teams with a selection to the league's All-Newcomer Team. Raheem Anthony and Parker Bjorklund were both named to the All-Summit League Second Team while Anthony also earned a spot on the Summit League All-Newcomer Team. Bjorklund was named to the league's second team for the second consecutive season while Anthony joins Andrew Rohde (2022-23) as back-to-back selections to the newcomer team for St. Thomas.
Both Anthony and Bjorklund departed at the end of last season, but Kendall Blue's selection to the Preseason Summit All-League First Team marks the second straight year a Tommie has been selected to the list, following in the footsteps of Bjorklund from the 2022-23 preseason all-league team.
SMOOTH TRANSITION
St. Thomas is one of nine teams currently making the transition into NCAA Division I. Of those nine teams, the Tommies are the only one making the jump directly from the Division III ranks (while all 47 teams to transition to Division I since 2001 came from Division II). Among the current transitioning teams, St. Thomas led all last season in wins, Ken Pom, and NET Rankings, and was third in each among 2023-24 transitioning teams.
St. Thomas is one of four teams since 2001 to transition to Division I that improve its win total in each of its first three seasons. The 20-win season was just the third for a transitioning team in its third year during that span.
In addition to its win total, the Tommies saw their Ken Pom and NET Rankings rise in each of the past three seasons. The Toms final 2023-24 rankings in both (one of two Summit League teams to rank among the top 200) stand as the fourth best for a transitioning team in its third year of DI play.
After finishing the first year ranked 305 and the second at 202, the Tommies ended 2023-24 at 148 in the Ken Pom Rankings. The NET Rankings jumped from 314 to 199 between years one and two before ranking 159 to finish the 2023-24 season.
POWER FIVE
St. Thomas has played against two Power Five opponents in each of the past three seasons, this season traveling to face Oklahoma State and Arizona State. The Tommies fell in both games by an average margin of 12 points (-9 at Oklahoma State, -15 at Arizona State).
The Cowboys are led by first-year head coach Steve Lutz, who was an assistant under Creighton's Greg McDermott and Purdue's Matt Painter, before serving as head coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from 2021-23 and at Western Kentucky last season. In the first game of the all-time series, the Tommies nearly overcame 20 turnovers and a poor shooting first half before falling to the Cowboys, 80-71.
Oklahoma State Head Coach Steve Lutz on St. Thomas: "They're well coached. They're disciplined. They really shoot the basketball well."
The Sun Devils feature one of the top 10 incoming freshman classes of 2024-25 including two five-star and one four-star recruit. Joining ASU are five-star freshmen Jayden Quaintance (C, 6-9), who flipped his commitment from Kentucky, and Joson Sanon (G, 6-5), who previously committed to Arizona. Also joining Arizona State is four-star freshman Amier Ali (G/F, 6-8). ASU is led by Head Coach Bobby Hurley in his 10th season as the program transitions into the Big 12.
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley on St. Thomas: "I knew it was going to be a tough game. Their style is different. They're a very unique team. They move very fast, they back cut, shoot a lot of threes, a lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense... There are easier teams that you most likely could find to play than this one."
A WINNING TRADITION
Winning has been the tradition at St. Thomas with the trend continuing under Head Coach Johnny Tauer. Since 2011, the Tommies have finished with eight 20-win seasons, 10 19-win seasons and 11 nine-win conference seasons. The only seasons to not win 19 games or nine conference games included the COVID season and the 2021-22 inaugural DI season.
Tauer has averaged 20.5 wins per season at St. Thomas and became the fastest coach in program history to reach 250 career wins, doing so in 337 career games. He is one of 15 active head coaches among all of NCAA with at least 250 wins and a .732 winning percentage at any program, and one of six active among all of NCAA with both at one program.
MARGIN FOR SUCCESS
St. Thomas made a statement with its margin of victories last season, beating its DI opponents by an average of 13.8 points per win, including an average of 18.0 points in Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 6.9 points per loss, including eight of 13 losses by two or fewer possessions.
AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
The Tommies ranked among the top 35 in the nation in several categories last season:
TUNE IN
Watch: Friday vs Wofford / Saturday vs. Portland State / Sunday at Milwaukee
Live Stats: Cream City Challenge Live Stats
Listen: The Varsity Network
SERIES HISTORY | WOFFORD
St. Thomas and Wofford have never played.
SERIES HISTORY | PORTLAND STATE
St. Thomas and Portland State have played once all-time, coming as a Tommie win, 76-70, at The Lancer Joust MTE in Riverside, Calif. The Purple handed the Vikings their first loss of the season as Kendall Blue scored a career high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, making his first six 3-point attempts in the game. Drake Dobbs scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Carter Bjerke scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting.
SERIES HISTORY | MILWAUKEE
St. Thomas leads the series against Milwaukee, 2-0, after playing each of the past two seasons. Last season, Dobbs led all Tommie returners with 10 points while Blue scored 9. Blue is averaging 9.5 points per game against MKE.
MEET UP IN TEMPE
For any St. Thomas alumni or fans in the Tempe area on Sunday, there will be a Tommie Tailgate at the Devil's Advocate starting at 3:30 p.m.
BY THE TIME I GET TO ARIZONA
St. Thomas men's basketball battled Arizona State closely but fell short, 81-66, after a late 11-0 Sun Devil run at Desert Financial Arena. The Tommies trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to three with eight minutes remaining, fueled by improved second-half defense and outscoring ASU 16-5 on second-chance points. Despite leading by as many as six in the first half, St. Thomas struggled with turnovers and offensive rebounds early, while Arizona State capitalized with 18 free throws compared to the Tommies' three. Miles Barnstable led the Purple with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, while Kendall Blue added 11 points and a team-high four assists.
NEW LOOK TOMMIES
The 2024-25 Tommies will feature a majority of new faces on the court after the departure of seven letter winners. St. Thomas returns five letter winners (including two starters) and three redshirt freshmen, and brought in three transfers and five true freshmen.
Kendall Blue and Drake Dobbs each started all 33 games a season ago while seniors Ryan Dufault and Ben Nau, along with redshirt sophomore Carter Bjerke, played in all 33 games. Nau led the bench with 17.8 minutes per game.
HANGING WITH THE BOYS
St. Thomas men's basketball fell to Oklahoma State, 80-71, on Sunday Nov. 10, hindered by 20 turnovers that led to 20 points for the Cowboys in front of 5,447 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Despite shooting just 27.6% in the first half, the Tommies bounced back to finish the game at 40.3%, with Kendall Blue recording a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Three other St. Thomas starters also scored in double figures — Drake Dobbs with 14 points, Nolan Minessale with 13, and Carter Bjerke with 12 — but a strong Oklahoma State run and effective free-throw shooting in the final minutes secured the win for the Cowboys.
A SUCCESSFUL ROAD OPENER
St. Thomas men's basketball defeated Green Bay 90-76 at the Kress Center Friday night during its first road game of the season. The Tommies, now 2-0, were led by junior Miles Barnstable, who scored 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting. St. Thomas showcased impressive efficiency, shooting 60.4% from the field, including 44.4% from three-point range, and dominated the rebounding battle 37-25. The Tommies built a 19-point lead at halftime and extended it to 24 early in the second half, with contributions from Kendall Blue (17 points) and Ryan Dufault (14 points). Despite a late push by Green Bay, St. Thomas held on, sealing the win with a clutch three-pointer from Ben Oosterbaan with four minutes to play to keep the lead in double digits.
DIVISION I FRESHMEN DEBUTS
The freshmen duo of Nolan Minessale and Ben Oosterbaan (a redshirt freshman) each finished with 14 points during the season opener against North Central, marking the second and third Tommie freshmen to score as many points in their debuts. The only other freshman to do so was Andrew Rohde with 15 points at No. 9 Creighton to open the 2022-23 season.
Minessale and Oosterbaan are also each one of 10 Tommie freshmen, five within the past three seasons, to score at least 14 points within their first three career games.
RETURN OF THE LONG BALL
St. Thomas returns four of its top five 3-point shooters from last season as the team's top seven scorers all made at least 35 3-pointers on the season. Bjerke led all Tommies with 47 long balls and a .456 3-point percentage, followed by Brooks Allen with 46 3--pointers. Nau came off the bench to drain 45 on a .363 3-point percentage as Blue totaled 40 3-pointers and Dobbs finished with 38.
RUNDLES RAPPORT
Assistant Coach Cam Rundles, a Minneapolis, Minnesota native, will coach against both teams he played for collegiately this season. St. Thomas begins the Cream City Challenge, hosted by Milwaukee, Nov. 22 against Wofford before hosting Montana Dec. 7 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rundles helped Wofford (2009-11) to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010 and followed that with another bid in 2011. After a 10-year professional playing career overseas, Rundles coached one season at Wofford before joining St. Thomas. He began his collegiate playing career at Montana (2006-08) where he was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year before transferring to Wofford.
THE TELEVISED TOMMIES
Fans can watch all home games and Summit League contests on the Summit League Network, while four will be broadcast locally on FOX9+ including Dec. 7 against Montana (part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge), Dec. 13 versus Western Michigan, Jan. 8 against South Dakota State, and Feb. 15 against Omaha. The Feb. 2 home contest against North Dakota State will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network while the majority of the road non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+.
GOODBYE, SCHOENECKER ARENA
Tommie Basketball is preparing its farewell tour at Schoenecker Arena with the anticipation of the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, expected to be completed in late 2025. Schoenecker Arena has featured 181 men's basketball contests, in which the Tommies have gone 151-30 in those games and 26-4 at home over the past three seasons. The Tommies are the only Summit League team with 12-win seasons at home in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Since February 26, 2022, St. Thomas has won its home games by an average margin of 21.9 points, including a margin of 16.2 points against DI opponents. Nine of the program's 20 home wins against DI opponents since that time have been by more than 20 points while just three were decided by fewer than 10 points.
Lee and Penny Anderson gifted $75 million towards the arena and have donated nearly $140 million in total to the mission-driven, Catholic university.
THE DIII PIPELINE
After the departure of three former NCAA Division III athletes (Brooks Allen, Raheem Anthony, Parker Bjorklund), St. Thomas brought in another DIII product in junior Miles Barnstable from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Barnstable played two seasons with the Warhawks (2022-24) where he was a 2023-24 NABC All-District Second Team and two-time WIAC All-Conference First Team selection. He was named the WIAC and WBCA Newcomer of the Year and to the D3hoops.com All-Region Third Team after leading UW-Whitewater to a Final Four run, upsetting five ranked teams along the way, while scoring 22 points per game. During his Tommie debut, Barnstable led St. Thomas with 16 points in 16 minutes. He followed with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the win at Green Bay and leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg). Barnstable scored his 1,000th career collegiate point Nov. 15, 2024 versus St. Norbert.
QUICK AND EASY SIGNING DAY
Tommie Men's Basketball announced the addition of one newcomer during National Signing Day on Nov. 13. Luka Momcilovic is a letter winner and three-year varsity starter in basketball at Pewaukee High School under coaches David Burkemper and Kurt Woelffer. He helped PHS to two Wisconsin state championships and one runner-up finish as a Division 2 Wisconsin All-State Honorable Mention selection. Momcilovic was named to the Division 2 Wisconsin State All-Tournament Team and the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Academic Team.
Momcilovic is the son of Nikola and Zorica Momcilovic and he has two siblings, Milan and Maya. His brother, Milan, is a sophomore on the men's basketball team at Iowa State and his father played volleyball at Milwaukee. Momcilovic is a two-time honor roll member at PHS and plans to major in business at St. Thomas.
"We are thrilled for Luka to join us next season at St. Thomas," Tauer said. "He is an outstanding young man who fits our program and culture exceptionally well.
"He is skilled, smart, and tough, possessing an array of offensive skills that our fans will appreciate. Luka comes from an outstanding family. His interest and understanding of St. Thomas culture will allow him to blend seamlessly with our players."
DOBBS BACK HOME
With St. Thomas serving as the most unique story in college basketball, it's only fitting graduate student Drake Dobbs closed out his unique path as a part of the 2024-25 Tommie squad. The guard from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was a regarded high school recruit as a senior at Eden Prairie High School. During his senior season, Dobbs led EPHS to a perfect 28-0 record and ranked #10 nationally before COVID shortened the season. He led his team to a road win over nationally ranked Minnehaha Academy and future NBA draft picks Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren. Dobbs was a Minnesota Mr. Basketball top five finalist, a McDonald's All-America nominee, an all-metro first team selection (alongside Suggs, Holmgren and Dawson Garcia), and the all-time leading scorer at EPHS with over 2,000 points.
Dobbs committed to Liberty University and played 39 games (including a NCAA Tournament First Round versus Oklahoma State) with two starts before transferring in the middle of the 2021-22 season to St. Thomas. Dobbs played in 11 games in 2022-23 before starting all 33 games as a senior. He set the tone as the Tommies' staple in the backcourt (playing a team-high 30.3 minutes per game), consistently drawing the opponent's top offensive threat while also directing the St. Thomas offense (3.28 assist-to-turnover ratio).
SUMMIT SEMIFINALS
For both of the seasons the Tommies have been eligible for the Summit League Championships, they earned wins to advance to the semifinal round. Last season, St. Thomas took down a North Dakota State team that had advanced to the title game in each of the previous five seasons, earning the Purple their 20th win of the season.
Kendall Blue led St. Thomas in scoring during both games of the 2024 Summit League Championships, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting (including 3-of-3 from 3-point range) against NDSU followed by 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting against eventual champion South Dakota State. It was the second consecutive season St. Thomas had been eliminated by the eventual tournament champion (losing to Oral Roberts in 2023).
BACK-TO-BACK ON ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE TEAMS
For the second consecutive season, St. Thomas placed two student-athletes on All-Summit League teams with a selection to the league's All-Newcomer Team. Raheem Anthony and Parker Bjorklund were both named to the All-Summit League Second Team while Anthony also earned a spot on the Summit League All-Newcomer Team. Bjorklund was named to the league's second team for the second consecutive season while Anthony joins Andrew Rohde (2022-23) as back-to-back selections to the newcomer team for St. Thomas.
Both Anthony and Bjorklund departed at the end of last season, but Kendall Blue's selection to the Preseason Summit All-League First Team marks the second straight year a Tommie has been selected to the list, following in the footsteps of Bjorklund from the 2022-23 preseason all-league team.
SMOOTH TRANSITION
St. Thomas is one of nine teams currently making the transition into NCAA Division I. Of those nine teams, the Tommies are the only one making the jump directly from the Division III ranks (while all 47 teams to transition to Division I since 2001 came from Division II). Among the current transitioning teams, St. Thomas led all last season in wins, Ken Pom, and NET Rankings, and was third in each among 2023-24 transitioning teams.
St. Thomas is one of four teams since 2001 to transition to Division I that improve its win total in each of its first three seasons. The 20-win season was just the third for a transitioning team in its third year during that span.
In addition to its win total, the Tommies saw their Ken Pom and NET Rankings rise in each of the past three seasons. The Toms final 2023-24 rankings in both (one of two Summit League teams to rank among the top 200) stand as the fourth best for a transitioning team in its third year of DI play.
After finishing the first year ranked 305 and the second at 202, the Tommies ended 2023-24 at 148 in the Ken Pom Rankings. The NET Rankings jumped from 314 to 199 between years one and two before ranking 159 to finish the 2023-24 season.
POWER FIVE
St. Thomas has played against two Power Five opponents in each of the past three seasons, this season traveling to face Oklahoma State and Arizona State. The Tommies fell in both games by an average margin of 12 points (-9 at Oklahoma State, -15 at Arizona State).
The Cowboys are led by first-year head coach Steve Lutz, who was an assistant under Creighton's Greg McDermott and Purdue's Matt Painter, before serving as head coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from 2021-23 and at Western Kentucky last season. In the first game of the all-time series, the Tommies nearly overcame 20 turnovers and a poor shooting first half before falling to the Cowboys, 80-71.
Oklahoma State Head Coach Steve Lutz on St. Thomas: "They're well coached. They're disciplined. They really shoot the basketball well."
The Sun Devils feature one of the top 10 incoming freshman classes of 2024-25 including two five-star and one four-star recruit. Joining ASU are five-star freshmen Jayden Quaintance (C, 6-9), who flipped his commitment from Kentucky, and Joson Sanon (G, 6-5), who previously committed to Arizona. Also joining Arizona State is four-star freshman Amier Ali (G/F, 6-8). ASU is led by Head Coach Bobby Hurley in his 10th season as the program transitions into the Big 12.
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley on St. Thomas: "I knew it was going to be a tough game. Their style is different. They're a very unique team. They move very fast, they back cut, shoot a lot of threes, a lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense... There are easier teams that you most likely could find to play than this one."
A WINNING TRADITION
Winning has been the tradition at St. Thomas with the trend continuing under Head Coach Johnny Tauer. Since 2011, the Tommies have finished with eight 20-win seasons, 10 19-win seasons and 11 nine-win conference seasons. The only seasons to not win 19 games or nine conference games included the COVID season and the 2021-22 inaugural DI season.
Tauer has averaged 20.5 wins per season at St. Thomas and became the fastest coach in program history to reach 250 career wins, doing so in 337 career games. He is one of 15 active head coaches among all of NCAA with at least 250 wins and a .732 winning percentage at any program, and one of six active among all of NCAA with both at one program.
MARGIN FOR SUCCESS
St. Thomas made a statement with its margin of victories last season, beating its DI opponents by an average of 13.8 points per win, including an average of 18.0 points in Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 6.9 points per loss, including eight of 13 losses by two or fewer possessions.
AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
The Tommies ranked among the top 35 in the nation in several categories last season:
| Category | Rank | Value |
| Turnovers/Game | t-9th | 9.2 |
| Scoring Defense | 17th | 64.8 |
| Effective Field Goal Percentage | t-21st | .553 |
| Assist-to-Turnover Ratio | t-32nd | 1.49 |
| Turnover Margin | t-33rd | 2.8 |
| 3FGs/Game | t-35th | 9.1 |
THE BEST IN THE SUMMIT
In addition to its national stat rankings, St. Thomas led the Summit League and ranked second in several categories last season:
| Category | Rank | Value |
| Scoring Defense | 1st | 64.8 |
| Scoring Margin | 1st | 7.9 |
| Rebounds Allowed | 1st | 31.1 |
| Turnover Margin | 1st | 2.79 |
| Assist-to-Turnover Ratio | 1st | 1.49 |
| Assists per Game | 1st | 13.7 |
| Opp. 3FG Pct | 2nd | .330 |
| 3FGs per Game | 2nd | 9.1 |
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense was the best in the Summit League during conference play last season, holding its league opponents to 68.4 points per game. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +6.9 was also the best in the league. Overall, the Toms ranked 17th in the nation with 64.8 points allowed per game.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and last season was no different. The Tommies finished tied for ninth nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.2) after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) in 2022-23 and leading the category in 2021-22. St. Thomas is one of seven teams nationally to record fewer than 10.0 turnovers per game in each of the past three seasons. Only Houston, Vermont and Virginia had a better scoring defense and fewer turnovers per game than St. Thomas nationally.
TENURED IN THE SUMMIT
Head Coach Johnny Tauer is in his 14th 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 .732 winning percentage and is third in career wins (270).
| 2024-25 Summit League Head Coaches | |||
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Paul Sather | North Dakota | 345 | .583 |
| Marvin Menzies | Kansas City | 276 | .582 |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 269 | .732 |
| David Richman | North Dakota State | 192 | .589 |
| Eric Henderson | South Dakota State | 113 | .698 |
| Jeff Wulbrun | Denver | 46 | .447 |
| Chris Crutchfield | Omaha | 36 | .404 |
| Eric Peterson | South Dakota | 29 | .420 |
| Russell Springmann | Oral Roberts | 14 | .389 |
Tauer's winning percentage of .732 ranks 15th among active head coaches across all of NCAA (Division I, II, and III) 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 Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Bill Self (Kansas).
ALUMNI OVERSEAS
A group of former Tommies committed to continuing their basketball careers overseas, including two All-Summit League members from a season ago. Raheem Anthony, an all-conference second team and all-newcomer team selection, joined OKK Novi Pazar in Serbia and begins his season Oct. 5. Parker Bjorklund, a back-to-back all-conference second team selection, is a member of the Svendborg Rabbits in Denmark. His season began Sept. 21 as he's averaging 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game through three games. Riley Miller (2019-23) played this past season with the Southern Tigers in Australia where he totaled 16.3 points per game with a team best 54 3-pointers. Anders Nelson (2018-22) played with Starwings Basket Basel in Switzerland last season, leading the team with 5.0 assists per game to go along with 15.0 points per game.
GOING FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in 18 games last season, going 14-4 in those games. The Tommies completed "Kill Shots" in all four games to open this season, going on runs of 12-0 against North Central to start the second half, 10-0 at Green Bay early in the first half, a 10-0 run at Oklahoma State late in the first half, and a 20-0 run towards the end of the first half versus St. Norbert.
Opponents recorded a "Kill Shot" in nine games against the Tommies last season, in which the Purple went 4-5. The first "Kill Shot" against St. Thomas came at Oklahoma State as the Cowboys went on a 10-0 run to overtake a Tommie lead for good, while Arizona State went on two runs of 10-0 or better, each coming within the final 10 minutes of each half.
TIES TO THE NBA (CHAMPIONSHIP)
St. Thomas held ties to both participating coaching staffs in the NBA Finals in Head Coach Joe Mazzulla with the Boston Celtics and Assistant Coach Sean Sweeney with the Dallas Mavericks.
Mazzulla played collegiately at West Virginia University where he was recruited by St. Thomas Associate Head Coach Mike Maker. Like Sweeney for Tauer, Mazzulla was the first recruit for Maker at West Virginia in the Big East.
Sweeney, a St. Paul, Minnesota native, played one season at Green Bay before transferring to St. Thomas (2003-06) where he was a three-year starter and all-conference member as a senior. "I've known Sean since he was probably 15 or 16 years old. He was actually one of the first two guys that I recruited," said St. Thomas Head Coach Johnny Tauer, who was in his early volunteer assistant coaching days when Sweeney was on the team.
Another former Tommie in the NBA coaching ranks is Houston Rockets Assistant Coach Will Dunn. He played with St. Thomas from 2014-17 and was part of the program's NCAA Division III National Championship team in 2016.
Maker also coached Utah Jazz Head Coach Will Hardy and Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson while at Willams College. Hardy was the youngest head coach at the time of his hiring in 2022 (currently the second) while Robinson is the fastest player to reach 1,000 made 3-pointers in NBA history.
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 25th in career scoring (1,219 points) and 23rd 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 603 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.
FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops
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-- St. Thomas Athletics --
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