How’s it Going: The Only D3 to D1 Jump Ever

St. Thomas stands out as the sole program in the history of Division 1 to transition directly from Division 3, rendering it an intriguing case study on navigating such a significant leap. While the Tommies boasted a well-established presence among Division 3 teams, they find themselves merely 4 years removed from competing in the same 1800-seat arena, under the tutelage of a coach who has held the reins for 14 years, alongside a contingent of familiar players that helped them move up. Now after exceeding expectations last year they are currently 113th in the NET rankings and in first place in the Summit League. Unfortunately this will not get them into the post seasons although the NCAA Division I Council vote today should pave the way for eligibility next year.

History of St. Thomas

Dr. John Tauer is now in his 14th season. He’s a graduate of St. Thomas who played there, and started his coaching career there as well.

Before Tauer’s tenure, the program had reached the D3 Final Four twice (in 1994 and 2011) and made 12 tournament appearances. Tauer had been involved in nearly all of them, whether as a player, assistant coach, or head coach. It’s evident that this was one of the premier D3 programs.

Performance

You have to appreciate the trend of improvement evident in this program, particularly in its ability to outperform expectations over the past two years. Their closest near miss occurred against #8 Marquette, where they narrowly lost 84-79 on the road this year. While their best win, against #128 Troy on a neutral court, may not appear overly impressive at first glance, their resilience shines through in their consistent performance against D1 teams ranked 200 and above. This season they defeated #105 ND State on the road. Since making the transition, their record stands at 53-29, with a remarkable 16-6 tally for this season alone. For a program relatively new to the D1 scene, this achievement is commendable and underscores the establishment of a stable foundation upon which future success can be built.

Players

Anders Nelson is one of their best players and interestingly was a player that started in D3 and played 4 seasons at St. Thomas. He elected to use his 5 season to transfer to William & Mary where he was the leading scorer and assister on a 13-20 CAA team.

Riley Miller and Parker Bjorklund also came from D3 as well and have been the mainstays and core player Miller for 2 years, Bjorklund for 3.

Andrew Rohde

Andrew Rohde is a high school player St. Thomas found in their 2nd year. He led them in scoring and was their best player 17.1 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 3.6 Ast. He would his the portal last off season going to Virginia where it hasn’t worked out well.

The Team

Interestingly as well as he played for St. Thomas they haven’t really missed a beat showing great improvement despite the loss even with most of the same core left and a former D3 player in Parker Bjorklund leading them. Last season they did take Raheem Anthony (12.4 Pts, 4.6 Reb, 3.3 Ast, 20.7 PER) as a 5th year senior from D3 Saint Mary’s (MN) to supplement some of the loss. He’s shooting 48% from three point land. Basically these are still D3 players for the most part leading that team. There only other real addition that wasn’t a high schooler or carry over from D3 is transfer Drake Dobbs who played 2 seasons at Liberty averaging 3.9ppg in his best season and he only played sparingly his first year at St. Thomas. Basically these are still D3 player for the most part leading the team. This season both of those are back and they back filled with Mile Barnstable from D2 who is their leading scorer.

Conclusion

Despite facing significant challenges, the progress made by St. Thomas is commendable, particularly considering their transition from Division III. The departure of Andrew Rohde after just one year could have posed a setback, yet the program has overcome that with D2 additions twice. It appears that they have developed a system conducive to player success and consistent victories against lower-tier Division I opponents. In our opinion this is a sigh of good coaching doing what it’s supposed to and maxing the talent. They beat the bad teams consistently but maybe don’t have the fluke unexplainable wins you might see from talented underachieving teams but with many bad losses.

While their rankings may seem modest, such as being placed 20th and 144th in Kenpom or 113th and 154th in NET in 2024, it’s worth noting that several well-established programs have fared worse over the past two seasons than St. Thomas. This season, there are a few lower-ranked teams that notably stand out in comparison.

While it may be surprising to see teams underperforming, it underscores the remarkable achievements of a program predominantly composed of Division III players is on this upward trajectory. This stark comparison highlights both the capabilities of teams with primarily Division III talent and the potential shortcomings of certain coaching staff in maximizing their team’s performance.