The St. Thomas men under coach Johnny Tauer continue to impress as they continue to make inroads into NCAA Division 1 play. They struggled in year 1 (2022) at 4-14 in the Summit and 10-20 overall. Bur, they started to turn things around at 9-9 and 19-14 in 2023, then improved to 9-7 and 20-13 last year.
Now they’re off to a 3-2 start and they’ve been at their most impressive in their 2 losses. A Summit League title is not out of the question and another 20+ wins are within reach. The Tommies lost 3 starters from a year ago including top 2 scorers Peter Bjorklund and Raheem Anthony, but they have filled those 3 slots very well.
Still, the team’s heart and soul is supplied by returning guards Kendall Blue (6-6 junior) and Drake Dobbs (6-2 senior) who scored 20 ppg on 48% shooting a year ago. Now they’re averaging 23 ppg on 55% shooting plus 6 assists per game. Carter Bjerke and Ryan Dufault also return from a year ago and are scoring 9 ppg apiece.
But the big news–as in, what’s new–is the trio of Miles Barnstable, Nolan Minnesale and Ben Oosterbaan. Barnstable (6-2 junior) came over from Wisconsin-Whitewater, Minnesale (6-5) is a true freshman, and Oosterbaan (6-6) is a redshirt freshman, The first 2 are starting while Oosterbaan comes off the bench. Barnstable leads the Tommies with 14 ppg, while Minnesale and Oosterbaan each add 8 ppg. The Tommies are a deep team that can go 8, 9 and even 10 deep.
The 2 losses in question are at Oklahoma State 80-71 and at Arizona State 81-66. They trailed Oklahoma State by 11 at the half, got within 7 at 36-29, and lost by 9 as you can see. The Tommies shot a respectable 40 (overall) and 42% (on 3s). Last night at Arizona State, the Tommies kinda got jobbed by the home court advantage, by which I mean 19 fouls called against St. Thomas to just 7 against those devilish Sun Devils, which further translated to 18 of 26 FT versus just 3 of 5 for the Tommies. The Tommies played the Devils even from the field, 63-63. They also had an impressive 16-5 edge in 2nd chance points, but shot just 39 and 30% against an aggressive, handsy defense that wasn’t worried about any fouls being called. The Tommies trailed by 10 at the half, but got within 39-37 and were still within single digits at 63-55.
Summit Conference Preview
1. Kansas City Roos (10-6 last year). The Roos are a slight favorite to win the Summit with 44 ppg returning from a 16-16 team of a year ago. This is not to say that they’re obviously better than the Tommies. They’re 2-2 right now with road losses at Iowa State and Creighton, tougher opponents than Oklahoma State and Arizona State. So far, they’re led by Jamar Brown and Jayson Petty with 30 ppg and 15 boards between them.
2. St. Thomas Tommies (9-7). For the record, the Tommies return 35 ppg from last year vs. 44 for the Roos. It would be nice to finish 1st so that you don’t have to play South Dakota State in the conference semis.
3. South Dakota State Jackrabbits (12-4). The defending champions lost a lot of talent, and so they’re led by newcomers Oscar Cluff, a 6-11 transfer from Washington State, and Joe Sayler, a redshirt freshman guard, with 35 ppg between them so far. They won at Long Beach State and have games against Colorado and Alabama coming up.
4. North Dakota Fighting Hawks (10-6). UND has awesome size with 4 players over 6-7. The Tommies have one. The Hawks are 2-1 right now with a loss at Colorado State and a game at Notre Dame Tuesday night. 6-6 guard Treysen Englestaff (20 ppg-3 asts, 53%) and 6-9 Amar Kuljuhovic (12-6 reb, 53%) lead the way. The Hawks return 38 ppg from last year.
5. North Dakota State Bison (8-8). The Bison return 36 ppg from last year. They’re 2-2 with no power 5 games played yet or scheduled all year long. What’s with that? They’re led by 6-3 senior guard Jacari White with 22 ppg, 6-4 junior guard Tajavis Miller (11 ppg), and 6-10 transfer (from Northern State) Jackson Moni at 13 ppg-5 reb-4 asts.
6. Omaha Mavericks (7-9). These Mavs lost Frankie Fidler to the Michigan State Spartans, and now they’re 2-3 with losses at Minnesota, UNLV and Southern Utah. They pushed the Gophers but that might not be quite the achievement it might ordinarily be.
7. Denver Pioneers (6-10). They’re now 3-2 with losses at Stanford and Colorado State.
8. South Dakota Coyotes (5-11). The Coyotes improbably have the league’s best record right now at 4-1, with a 96-77 loss at Iowa. Their wins are against pretty much nobody, however.
9. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (5-11). They’re 2-2 right now with an 80-57 loss at Minnesota, compared to Omaha at 68-64.
All-Conference
Center– Oscar Cluff, South Dakota State 6-11, sr, transfer from Washington State (20 ppg-13 reb-2 ast)
Power Forward–Jackson Moni, North Dakota State 6-10, sr. transfer from Northern State (13 ppg-5 reb-4 ast)
Wing–Jamar Brown, Kansas City 6-5 sr. (17-10-2 stl)
Point Guard–Treysen Englestaff, North Dakota 6-6, jr (20 ppg-3 ast)
Shooting Guard–Jacari White, North Dakota State 6-3 sr. (22 ppg-4 reb-2 ast)
