Extra Points ran a feature on how St. Thomas has grown from a D-III program to recently being on the doorstep of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in the first year of being able to participate.
From the article:
The program had an excellent regular season. they finished second in the Summit League standings (just two games behind North Dakota State), and with favorable computer metrics and a 24 total wins, they will certainly have postseason opportunities somewhere, be that in the NIT or another tournament, should they fail to win the Summit League.
That’s a big deal for St. Thomas, as this is the first year they’re actually eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament, or any official NCAA postseason championship, as their reclassification period to D-I officially ended. But unlike almost every other team that recently joined D-I, the Tommies joined directly from Division III. ...
“We’re in a great professional sports market in the Twin Cities,” (Vice President and Director of Athletics) Phil Esten said, “but it’s a competitive one. That means that fans have a certain level of expectations about the experience of attending a live event.” The athletic department hired Levy Food Services to handle concessions at the stadium, and Esten noted that St. Thomas being in a big city means that many of their stadium workers “will have also had experience working in professional sporting events.” The building’s management team came from professional sports as well. ...
“We’ve done a great job, as a school, at maintaining a culture of humility and gratitude. And we’ve very, very honest with not just each other, but ourselves. We know who we are at St. Thomas, and we aren’t going to try and be anybody else.”
