(The Crest archive photo) 
The oldest recorded score between St. Thomas basketball and St. John’s. The game took place at St. Thomas on February 2, 1907. It was published in the St. Thomas Collegian (St. Thomas archives). 
The oldest St. Thomas yearbook, from 1918, shows St. Thomas defeated St. John’s 22-19. The Tommies finished the 1917-1918 season 13-2 (St. Thomas archives). 
Referee hands out a technical foul to a St. Thomas student at a Tommie-Johnnie game on December 10, 2016 (The Crest archive photo)
St. Thomas basketball hosts St. John’s Thursday night at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, adding another chapter to one of Minnesota’s richest college rivalries.
This marks the first basketball meeting between the Tommies and the Johnnies since March 2021. The Tommies won both matchups against St. John’s that year. St. Thomas leads the all-time basketball series with the Johnnies 111-56. Dating back to 1991, St. Thomas leads St. John’s 48-21.
St. Thomas men’s basketball head coach Johnny Tauer noted his memories of the rivalry. Tauer’s father, John, who graduated from St. Thomas in 1963, used to take him to those games as a kid.
“My earliest memories would have been probably when I was six or seven years old,” Tauer said.
As a St. Thomas athlete, he played in 12 of these heated games, and now he has coached over 40 of them.
“It’s been a magical rivalry. It’s a really special event. Some of the most incredible crowds you’ll ever see,” Tauer said.
Tauer feels as though this game will be fun for everyone involved and will be about more than just the game, but also history, alumni and friends.
“Our coaches and our administration– I think all of us have such respect for one another. We just thought this would be a fun way to sort of get alums together, and get people in the state of Minnesota who love basketball. It’s an intriguing game anytime you get two schools with a lot of commonalities,” Tauer said.
The rivalry was rooted in the story of Ignatius Aloysius O’Shaughnessy, who skipped out on Sunday vespers at St. John’s for a beer keg, was expelled and then enrolled at St. Thomas on his way home.
That manifested in the annual football game that saw record-breaking crowds, national attention, offensive t-shirts aimed at each school and the occasional arrest.
This will be the first game played between the schools since St. Thomas has moved up to Division I. Still, Tauer expects his players to play just as hard as in any past rivalry game.
“It’s a different spot for both schools, where it’s not this heated rivalry. Now, I think it’s really a game that’s born out of mutual respect institutionally as well as athletically,” Tauer said.
On Thursday, St. John’s head coach Pat McKenzie will be commanding the opposite bench. McKenzie and Tauer faced each other as coaches 14 times. The Tommies won eight of those games. McKenzie, as many other alumni, experienced the rivalry firsthand.
He played point guard at St. John’s from 2000 to 2004 and played St. Thomas nine times in that span. McKenzie then took over the head-coaching position in 2015 after legendary coach Jim Smith announced his retirement.
“It’s hard to tell the story of either athletic department without mentioning that rivalry. It was a terrific rivalry for many years,” McKenzie said.
St. John’s enters the Tommie-Johnnie game warmed up after playing Wednesday night. McKenzie said his team is young and focused on the present, and that they haven’t had a chance to reflect on the history of the rivalry.
Tauer has no doubt that the competition will be what it’s always been between the schools.
“The guys love to compete,” Tauer said.
This will be the first time the current players on the teams will be a part of the rivalry. Tauer mentioned his staff has provided historical context and aims to “paint a picture” for their players in order for them to fully understand what the game represents.
“Across so many sports, this is the one that people loved watching,” said Tauer
‘So’s-Your-Mother’ of all Minnesota college rivalries
Gene McGivern covered just about every sport in his 29-year career as the sports information director at St. Thomas. In his last Gene’s Blog in July 2023, McGivern wrote, “If you stay around long enough, you see just about everything.” Before retiring, McGivern witnessed many Tommie-Johnnie games.
“It was always something everybody circled on the calendar. Both universities,” McGivern said on Tuesday.
McGivern said the rivalry was rooted in respect and family. And a lot of Minnesotans. Many fans knew someone from both teams.
Wherever the matchup was: Clemens Stadium, Schoenecker Arena, Target Field – and now the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, which is the Tommies’ fifth basketball home venue – the game is special.
“When the game started, they competed like crazy,” McGivern said.
If either team was having a down season, the Tommie-Johnnie game could be the highlight of their schedule, McGivern said.
McGivern remembered the championships, the close calls and the buzzer beaters that spoke for the rivalry. He said in this 2000 alumni magazine that St. Thomas and St. John’s “have battled for superiority” in every sport.
“But ask those who have played in, coached in or merely witnessed the Tommie-Johnnie competition and they’ll agree it’s on a plane of its own. Call it the ‘So’s-Your-Mother”of all Minnesota college rivalries,’” McGivern wrote in 2000.
Glamour aside, St. Thomas basketball has dominated St. John’s. Since the MIAC adopted a postseason tournament in 1985, the Tommies and the Johnnies faced each other in the final seven times. The Tommies won five titles (1990, 1999, 1994, 1995 and 2007) and the Johnnies won two (2000 and 2020).
Before the MIAC removed St. Thomas in 2019, St. Thomas led the conference with 13 conference championships. Gustavus followed with nine and St. John’s with seven. In the last 50 years at the MIAC, the Tommies won or shared 28 regular-season titles. In that span, St. John’s won eight regular season titles.
“In basketball, there’s something about the crowd … Those gyms fill up. There were many intense games, and a lot of them were down to the wire,” McGivern said.
McGivern acknowledges many rivalries were lost after the MIAC removed St. Thomas from the conference. Many alumni who competed in the Tommie-Johnnie rivalry understand the tradition carried through decades of competition. With St. Thomas moving to Division I, opportunities to face those former foes are unlikely.
“But now is the next chapter. Life moves on. And fortunately St. Thomas is competing well in this era now,” McGivern said.
Avery Mikolai can be reached at miko2197@stthomas.edu.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.
