The University of St. Thomas men’s hoops team opens the 2023-2024 season Monday night at California of the Pac-12. The Tommies finished in 4th place last year in the Summit League and made it to the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Gone from that team: Star guard Andrew Rohde transferred to Virginia and guard Riley Miller graduated.

The good news is that St. Thomas returns players and one redshirt freshman (Carter Bjerke, F), and adds four newcomers.

Among the newcomers is one transfer (Raheem Anthony, G from D-III St. Mary’s) and three freshmen.

Leading the way is graduate student forward Parker Bjorklund who was named Preseason All-Summit League First Team. Fellow graduate student forward Brooks Allen also returns after starting all 33 games last season and playing in all 63 games for St. Thomas since joining NCAA Division I. Guard Kendall Blue and center Ahjany Lee come back for their sophomore seasons after Blue played in all 33 games, with 22 starts, and Lee played in 32 with four starts.

KSTP Sports attended a recent Tommies practice and spoke with coach Johnny Tauer and Blue.

***Click the video box above to watch our conversations with Tauer and Blue***

Monday is the third game for St. Thomas against a big school opponent as the previous two came last season. The Tommies lost to both Creighton and Utah on the road. In addition to Monday’s game at Cal, the Tommies have a non-conference game on Dec. 14 at Marquette.