Anderson Arena
The University of St. Thomas this week unveiled the plans for a nearly 150 million dollar facility on south campus to be the new home of their Men’s and Women’s Hockey and Basketball Teams. The new venue, the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena is expected to hold about 5,000 people for basketball games.
The new arena will also house state of the art practice facilities for UST student athletes, and will include a basketball practice facility, that will no doubt be the best in the Summit League AND the best place to watch quality Division 1 Basketball in Minnesota. It is so impressive that before a single shovel was in the ground folks were already speculating whether UST would depart the Summit League for greener pastures in the Big East. Initial thoughts on that are that UST is going to be in the Summit League for a long time. UST, ideally, becomes the Gonzaga of the Summit League: an elite nationally known Catholic school in a Mid-Major conference, but that is a long way off and requires very wishful thinking.
Anderson Arena’s Immediate Impact
Recruiting: UST has already impressed in year 2 with the caliber of players that have been brought into the program. UST Basketball already has what most recruits are looking for, great coaching, and a prime location. This arena+facility will be the cherry on top for those recruits. The size of the arena also means that other larger profile college basketball teams will not mind making a stop in St. Paul in non-conference play, increasing UST’s national profile.
This arena announcement is going to result in new faces in the crowd. UST is making this commitment expecting that this arena is going to draw in new casual local twin cities sports fans, students, and alumni to the games. In the near term, the announcement is surely going to draw new fans in, and ideally the product on the court is what is going to bring them back, creating lifelong Tommie Hoops fans. Schoenecker is already loud with 1800, it will be deafening home court advantage with 5,000.
Ten Games to Sioux Falls-WIU Preview
St. Thomas @ Western Illinois -1 Saturday Jan. 21, 2023
UST will play their only game of the week against their travel partner Western Illinois. Last season the game at Western was the largest conference loss of the years, losing 81-52. That game was less than a month after UST beat the brakes off them on New Year’s day 89-66. The only familiar returning Leatherneck is 6-2 2-way guard Trenton Massner who is elite again this season with 16.2 pts/game. Massner last season was named All-Summit and All-Defense. Their best newcomer is D-2 Winona State transfer Sr. Alec Rosner with 14.8 pts/game.
WIU was able to beat UMKC in a low scoring 60-52 matchup last Saturday. UMKC had an off night shooting, only going 3-25 from beyond the arc, which if UST wants to beat them they have to avoid. What should also concern UST is that Western is fantastic on the offensive glass, against UMKC they had an O-Reb% of 39.4. UST’s loss to UMKC, the Roos had a rate of 40%.
It is going to be incumbent on UST in order to win to find a way to win in the paint. WIU allows 2 pointers at 54.5%, the highest rate in the conference. Andrew Rohde+ Parker Bjorklund, if given that percentage, are going to feast. Further, they are also lowest in the conference in 3 point percentage. Great ball security for both teams, so expect quality chances. I think this game is going to see a lot of scoring, and I hope that UST is able to take care of business on the road to get their first conference road win. I am inclined to pick against them on the road only based on their road performance, however in Schoecker or Sioux Falls this is a UST Win.
Final Thought
3 years ago today St. Thomas played Bethel, beating them 69-60. In that game, Riley Miller had 8 points, Brooks Allen had 0 minutes, and Parker Bjorklund was watching from the student section. It is almost unfathomable that flashing forward, the same guys are only one point underdogs on the road against a division 1 conference opponent, with plans in the works for a 5,000 seat arena. It is almost hard to overstate the impressive job John Tauer+UST’s admin has done in this unprecedented transition. #COY
#RollToms