While students across Minnesota stayed glued to their televisions for snow day cancellations Sunday night, the St. Thomas men’s basketball team was on standby for a different kind of announcement.
St. Thomas men’s basketball will play at Seattle U Tuesday at 9 p.m., in the school’s first ever National Invitation Tournament appearance, extending its season at least one more game.
“It’s kind of like kids on their birthday or on Christmas where they’re like, ‘We get to play,’ and as their coach that just makes me feel very, very happy for them,” coach Johnny Tauer said before the team boarded the bus Monday morning.
The game will be televised on ESPN+.
The Tommies earned a 23-8 regular season record before it ended in a semifinal loss to North Dakota in the Summit League Championships on March 7.
“I think the essence of team is just understanding, through the wins and losses, they stick together. This is one of those opportunities that it was out of our control. We didn’t control what we could have,” Tauer said.
Sophomore guard Nolan Minessale averaged 20 points per game and led UST to its third straight 20-win season. He set the D-I single-season program record in points, assists, steals and free throws.
Redshirt first-year guard Nick Janowski started all 33 games and averaged 16.3 points per game.
“Just to have another chance to play with these guys, they’ve been such a joy to coach all year. So I feel very grateful, appreciate the NIT offering this invitation. Just thrilled about what it represents,” Tauer said.
Seattle U finished its regular season with a 19-12 record. The Redhawks finished seventh in the West Coast Conference and were knocked out by Pacific in the league tournament’s third round.
Sophomore forward Will Heimbrodt won WCC Defensive Player of the Year by tallying 83 blocks and 42 steals.
Senior guard Brayden Maldonado led Seattle U with 14.4 points per game on his way to a Second Team All-WCC spot.
“They’re in this tournament for a reason. You look at everybody in this tournament: really, really good seasons,” Tauer said. “And so, it’ll be fun to play a team we haven’t seen.”
The Tommies’ only ever matchup with the Redhawks was in 2021 for St. Thomas’ seventh game in D-I in November of 2021. UST lost 81–64.
UST has a 1-2 record against WCC opponents this year. The team beat Portland and lost to both Washington State and Saint Mary’s. SMU went on to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s going to be more size than we’re accustomed to,” Tauer said. “So we’ll certainly have our work cut out for us, you know, I think handling their pressure defensively and then certainly on the glass.”
Tauer said the team practiced Wednesday and Friday, and had to cancel a Sunday night practice because of the snow storm.
Tuesday night’s game will be the program’s first time appearing in an NCAA Division I postseason tournament, and the fourth time for any athletic program at St. Thomas.
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams ran in the NCAA Midwest Regional, and the volleyball team played in the first round of the 2025 national tournament.
“I’m sure there are a lot of people around the country saying, ‘Who’s this St. Thomas?’ And if they, you know, peel back the layers of the onion, I think they’ll be pretty intrigued by our story,” Tauer said.
Tauer said that he used Sunday to rest and spend time with his family, but after the bracket was announced, “there wasn’t much sleep” for the coaching staff.
“It’s not how much we know, it’s how much the players know. And so, figuring out how do we collect the information, put it in a digestible fashion, where they can then (say) ‘OK let’s be ready to play,’” Tauer said.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
