University of St. Thomas psychology professor and head coach of the men’s basketball team, Johnny Tauer, recently spoke with the Minnesota Star Tribune following a key victory over Omaha to take the first place spot in the Summit League.
From the story:
A funny thing happened to the St. Thomas men’s basketball team on the way to not making the NCAA Tournament this season.
The Tommies won their 20th game with four regular-season games left and moved into sole possession of first place in the Summit League with Saturday night’s 95-84 home victory over Omaha.
The two teams arrived at Schoenecker Arena competing for first place as well as conference tournament seeding at regular season’s end.
The Tommies are ineligible to play in the NCAA Tournament until 2026 because of a probationary period that is part of the process of moving from Division III to Division I, which they did in 2021.
“Honestly, we don’t look at the standings very much,” Tommies coach Johnny Tauer said. “It’s nice we’re in first place. But we look at this as an unbelievable opportunity. We have really good veterans who understand the things we can control. You get 31 games a year.”
