St. Thomas already making its case as Minnesota's best Division I men's basketball team

Thank you for checking out Basketball Across Minnesota, my weekly look at some of the state's top hoops stories, from preps to pros. — Marcus Fuller

Coach Johnny Tauer is witnessing something this season that he knows will never happen again in St. Thomas men's basketball history.

His Tommies, who are in only their second year competing at the Division I level, are a winning D-I team so far (11-5 after a 92-84 loss against South Dakota at Vermillion on Thursday night) with four starters who are holdovers from their last Division III team.

Riley Miller, Parker Bjorklund, Will Engels and Brooks Allen helped St. Thomas start 2-0 in Summit League play after notching just four conference victories all last season. They have more wins this season than any other new Division I member who joined since 2019-20.

"To have those four Division III guys still playing a prominent role and helping our young guys is pretty special," Tauer said. "However good we become. Let's hope we become really good. We're never going to start four D-III guys again, ever."

Surpassing last season's 10-win total before January shows how far St. Thomas has come in Year 2 of the transition. Tauer credits the improvement to added size and athleticism of his newcomers and senior leadership, already on display when they led Creighton in the second half of the season opener.

Just how good are the Tommies? That'll be decided once they face the Summit League's top programs, but a debate has already started on whether they could beat the Gophers, who are 6-6.

Minnesota basketball fans now have two D-I teams in the state to follow. Both programs are rebuilding, including the Gophers in Ben Johnson's second year. Both brought in talented recruits from Minnesota. Both have played Chicago State and St. Francis Brooklyn this year.

The latter made for interesting banter on social media recently since there was a big difference between how the Tommies (167-109 combined score) and the Gophers (130-109) beat those opponents.

Arguably the most impressive aspect of St. Thomas's turnaround from a year ago goes back to veterans who stuck around to help Tauer establish his culture in Division I.

Miller, an Eden Prairie native, is again one of the top shooters in the nation and the team's leading scorer for the second straight year. Bjorklund, a Chaska native who didn't play basketball his first two years in college, has taken his game to another level. Both decided to use an extra COVID year to return.

The two players combined for 53 points last week vs. North Dakota. Bjorklund, who was averaging 18 points during a five-game stretch, was named Summit League player of the week Monday after scoring 29 and 19 points in his first two conference games.

The impact of the Summit League's No. 1-ranked freshman class (Andrew Rohde and Minnesotans Kendall Blue and Ahjany Lee especially) and key transfer Courtney Brown Jr. also have contributed to making the Tommies deeper and better.

Rohde, a 6-6 guard from Wisconsin, has turned out to be a major recruiting steal while averaging 14.3 points and leading the team in assists (3.5) and steals (1.5). One of St. Thomas' top highlights this season was his buzzer-beater in a win over then-undefeated Troy on Nov. 18.

Blue, a former East Ridge standout, started in place of an injured Rohde in the first two league games, which included his season-high 15 points vs. North Dakota State.

"One of the really impressive things about this team is how guys have continuously stepped up when needed," Tauer said. "Andrew has been phenomenal as a freshman. But I think it was also great to see our other guys in his absence find ways to win."

While Tauer would love for his Tommies to play the Gophers, he hopes fans can just root for the progression of both Minnesota programs until that happens.

"We don't ever get into comparisons with other schools," Tauer said. "If anything, what's exciting for the state is that they have two Division I teams. Frankly, I think they can cheer for both teams."

Fuller's Five ballers

Heaven Hamling, North Dakota State

The senior from Grand Rapids led the Bison with 17 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals in a win vs. home-state St. Thomas on Dec. 21.

Tameron Ferguson, St. Cloud Tech

In a Dec. 20 win vs. St. Cloud Apollo, the 6-2 junior erupted for a season-high 40 points. Ranked top five in the state in scoring as of Wednesday with 30.2 points per game.

Addi Mack, Minnehaha Academy

Sophomore guard had 33 points and 10 rebounds in a 66-61 win Dec. 20 vs. St. Louis Park. Her last four games were 33, 33, 29 and 33 before Christmas.

Ray Mitchell, Missouri Kansas City

Former Blaine standout scored 28 points in a win vs. South Dakota on Dec. 19. He's leading the Roos with 17.5 points per game, including highs of 35, 29 and 27 points this year.

Asher Zubich, Mountain Iron-Buhl

Senior guard became the 14th player in Minnesota boys basketball history to reach 3,000 career points after he scored 21 last week vs. Northland.

Statistically speaking

234: Combined points when Cambridge-Isanti defeated Blaine 120-114 in double overtime Dec. 19, one of the highest-scoring games in state boys history.

34: Times the Rotary Holiday boys and girls Classic has been held since it started in 1988. This will be the 34th and final year.

12-0: Record through Thursday's games for the No. 11 Utah Utes women, who have Duluth's Gianna Kneepkens (14.4) and Medina's Jenna Johnson (12.1) among their top three scorers.

Basketball Across Minnesota will be published weekly on startribune.com. Don't be a stranger on Twitter after reading, as chatting about these stories makes them even more fun to share. Thanks, Marcus (@Marcus_R_Fuller on Twitter)