Men's Basketball

University of St. Thomas

2115 Summit Avenue - St. Paul, MN - 55105
Team Office: Tel: (651) 962-5901 Fax: (651) 962-5910
Team website: www.tommiesports.com

Founded in 1885 as a Catholic seminary and still serving as such, St. Thomas in now Minnesota's largest independent university with several campuses. St. Thomas offers over 60 Bachelor degree programs, 40 Masters, and five doctoral programs. Its graduate program in Business is the fourth largest in the U.S. Other majors offered include Russian Studies, Real Estate, Journalism, Divinity/Ministry, Human Resources Management, and Criminology. US News 2008 report on America's Best Colleges ranked St. Thomas in the third tier among national universities.

The campus is located in the twin cities in St. Paul (pop. 287k).

School website
www.stthomas.edu

College Profile

Type:

Private, Co-educational

Religious Affiliation:

Yes, Catholic

Enrollment:

11,000

Getting In:

Moderately difficult. ACT 25/75: 22-27

Tuition + Room & Board:

In-state: ~$33,000
Out-of-State: Same

Most Popular Majors

Business (39%) - Social Sciences- Communications

Misc. Information

Head coach Steve Fritz completed his 28th season at St. Thomas in 2007-08. Fritz has had only one losing season (2003-04) while averaging nearly 18 wins over his long tenure. The Tommies have won 24 MIAC conference titles, including 13 since 1981, when Fritz began his head coaching tenure. (St. Thomas is significantly larger than the other schools in the conference.) Fritz's emphasis on defense typically places St. Thomas among the best defensive teams in the nation. As a three-time all-MIAC college performer, he helped guide the Tommies to conference titles between 1967-71. He finished his playing career with 1,944 points. After graduation, he served as an assistant coach until 1980 when he was appointed head coach. The Tommies went 23-5 in 2008 and made a first round NCAA appearance, losing to Buena Vista.

Team Name	Tommies
Colors	Purple and Grey
Division	NCAA Division III
All-Time Record	1056-569 (.649)

Recent Record (Last 8 Years)

	Last Yr	Last Yr - 1	Last Yr - 2	Previous 5 Years
Overall	23-5	24-4	23-6	92-40 (.696)
Conference	17-3	18-2	17-3	74-26 (.743)
Conf. Finish	1	1	1	2, 6, 1, 1, 3
Post Appear.	1st Rnd	2nd Rnd	2nd Rnd	NCAA 1x
Final 25 Rank	NR	#5	NR	0x

Coaches

Head Coach	Steve Fritz
	Birthday: 0000-00-00
Started at St. Thomas (MN)	1979-80
Contract Expires	?
Record as Head Coach	512-237 (.6830
Record at St. Thomas (MN)	512-237 (.683)
Coaching Awards	MIAC COTY 11x, West Regional COTY 2x

Asst. Coaches	Jon Hughes, Johnny Tauer, Don Johnson, Tommy Fritz

Recruiting Coordinator

Steve Fritz, (651) 962-5901, sjfritz@stthomas.edu

Conference and Schedule

St. Thomas plays in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (www.miac-online.org). The MIAC is considered one of the toughest D3 conferences and is comprised of 13 private schools, all from Minnesota. St. Thomas can start league play in late November or early December though a 2-3 week break at Xmas is customary before resuming conference play in January. St. Thomas will play each team twice, home and away. Games are often played on Monday and/or Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. The season concluded with the MIAC tourney which takes the top six teams in a single elimination format. Higher seeds host. The two best teams receive first round byes. Winner receives an automatic NCAA berth.

Conference Opponents

Augsburg, Bethel, Carleton, Concordia-Moorhead, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline, Macalester, St. Catherine's, St. Mary's , St. Olaf, Saint John's, and St. Benedict.

Facilities

Schoenecker Arena
Capacity 2,250, Average attendance: 800

Style/Stats

In 2005-06, St. Thomas was ranked #11 in defense, limiting opponents to 60.6 ppg.