The University of St. Thomas men’s basketball team received media coverage as it competes in the Summit League tournament with a chance to make program history. The Tommies entered the tournament with a strong regular season record and the opportunity to earn the program’s first NCAA Division I tournament berth. Local outlets previewed the matchup and the team’s pursuit of the conference title in Sioux Falls.
From FOX 9:
Adam Llorens: That’s great to hear that they’re locked in. I asked you earlier if it’s hit you yet. I want to ask about the team. Do you think it’s hit them yet?
Because if you all do win the Summit League tournament on Sunday, you will be one of the biggest stories in all of college sports on Monday morning. People around the country will be talking about St. Thomas. Do you think the players feel that?
Johnny Tauer: I hope they don’t feel it too much. I hope they get to experience that Monday morning.
But you’ve got to focus on the task at hand. Even looking forward 10 minutes can take you away from what you need to do. I think part of what’s gotten us here is taking it possession by possession.
We take really good care of the ball. We’re No. 1 in the country in two-point field goal percentage, which really reflects our discipline and toughness. We’re not the biggest team. We don’t have a seven footer in the middle. But they work tirelessly to help one another, pass the ball, move the ball.
It’s really fun to watch them play because of the unselfish, up-tempo style.
Llorens: Coach, again I know you’re focused on South Dakota State tomorrow night. But there was a big story about the NCAA sending a memo to schools warning about potential travel logjams with upcoming March Madness travel. Did St. Thomas receive that memo?
Tauer: Those things are above my pay grade. I’m sure Dr. Esten and President Vischer are looking into those things.
What you want is for the players to stay focused while the administration handles the logistics. We’re very fortunate to have an administration that works behind the scenes on all the paperwork and planning that the NCAA requires for these events.
I just met with Phil yesterday talking through a bunch of details. The players get a lot of credit and they should, but it’s an entire university working together.
From Axios:
The University of St. Thomas basketball teams are each three wins away from making the NCAA Tournament in their first year of eligibility.
Why it matters: Seeing the Tommies play a Blue Blood school in the opening round of March Madness would be great entertainment in Minnesota, even for non-alumni. A potential upset would be icing on the cake.
From WCCO Radio:
Johnny Tauer: I really believe it’s as nice as anywhere in the country. And I don’t mean as big. It seats 5,300 people. But if you look at the amenities, we have our own practice facility just for men’s basketball. Our women’s basketball team has their own practice facility. Our hockey teams have a practice sheet of ice. All our locker rooms, player lounge, the things that are available, it’s not the reason you should come to St. Thomas, but there’s no question, Henry, when we started this journey, understandably, kids had, I’d say, three objections.
One is, especially kids out of town, were like, hold on, you’re going D-III to D-I. You can’t do that. Nobody’s ever done that, which is true. And so we had to sort of explain to them, here’s how it happened. Here’s why it’s happening.
And then the other two objections were oftentimes about our facilities, which I loved. Our old gym, it was an absolute madhouse in there, but it probably wasn’t big enough to have a long tenure in Division I basketball. And the third was, we weren’t eligible for the NCAA Tournament.
And so here we are four and a half years later. And between the success on the court, the new facility, and being eligible for the tournament, I think recruits, not just the state of Minnesota but around the Midwest and eventually nationally, are going to look at this as a place where you really can have an unbelievable experience. And so I think it’s going to help us a lot.
We couldn’t be more grateful. I mean, what the Andersons have done for our campus, and not just this but our previous gym, our student center, it truly has overhauled this place. When I look at what it looked like in 1995 when I graduated compared to now, we’ll have a perpetual debt of gratitude to the Andersons.
Henry Lake: Well, I say this. I got hooked up. All right, I put my hands up. I got hooked up. I was right there near your bench. I was right on the baseline. And you kind of even looked at me pregame. You’re like, hold on, when you said you were going to be here at the game, I didn’t know you were literally going to be on my bench.
But the place is so special. It is a beautiful arena. And one of the things that people have said to me this year is that it hasn’t been necessarily like super packed or busy. We’ve got to pack the place, man, starting next year. I know that your program speaks for itself. You’ve had great success at St. Thomas. I know it’s going to get bigger and even better, but we got to get more students, we got to get more people here in the community out there. And if we need to do a Lake Show night, man, let’s do it, man, because you got an awesome product.
From Pioneer Press:
The Tommies entered the season with only four players who had played significant minutes at the Division I level. They made it through the regular season without losing two games in a row while enjoying a nine-game winning streak in December and January.
“When you look at where we were seven or eight games into the season, I think they’ve grown leaps and bounds,” Tauer said. “Collectively, the synergy they play with on offense, the trust they have developed in one another on defense has been really impressive.”
Added (Nolan) Minessale: “There’s been an emphasis to defend, defend, defend, and our offense will come, because what makes us special is how unselfish we are. Even when our offense is struggling, it is going to come at times, just because of how we move the ball.”
