Going into its first season eligible for the Division I postseason, the St. Thomas men’s basketball team was predicted to finish first in a poll released Tuesday.
The Tommies received 17 first-place votes and 501 points in the Summit League preseason poll of coaches. Omaha (13 first-place votes and 495 points) was second and South Dakota State (five first-place votes and 450 points) third.
Tommies sophomore guard Nolan Minessale was voted as the preseason player of the year, and Tommies junior Carter Bjerke was named to the All-Summit League preseason first team.
Last season, the Tommies went 24-10 and reached the Summit League championship game, where they lost to Omaha, 87-75. Omaha (13-3 in league games) and the Tommies (12-4) finished 1-2 in the league’s regular-season standings.
The Tommies went 14-0 at home to extend their winning streak in Schoenecker Arena to 18 games, tied with St. John’s (N.Y.) for the longest active streak in Division I.
In addition to Bjerke, Minessale and six other returning players, the Tommies have six newcomers. Two of them, guard Tommy Humphries and forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu, played for Totino-Grace and are returning to the Twin Cities as transfers. Humphries played last season for Furman, and Johnson-Arigu began last season at Miami and transferred to Iowa in January.
St. Thomas coach John Tauer will begin his 15th season nine victories shy of 300 in his career.
The Tommies will open the season at St. Mary’s (Calif.) on Nov. 3 in Moraga, Calif. On Nov. 8, the Tommies men’s and women’s teams will play host to Army in the first basketball games in the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
