St. Thomas athletics have come a long way since the school was granted the chance to become the first program in modern NCAA history to move from Division III to Division I.
Since making the provisional jump in 2021, the Tommies have proved they did not bite off more than they can chew, winning two conference championships — baseball in the Summit League and football in the Pioneer League — finished in the top three several times, and raised more than $140 million to support the program and modernize facilities.
Now, St. Thomas is hoping it can complete its transition to the NCAA’s highest competitive level a year early. School vice president and athletics director Phil Esten will be in Nashville for the NCAA’s 2025 Convention, where the NCAA’s governing body is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a proposal to trim a year off the current probation period for schools jumping up in classification.
If the answer is yes, the Tommies’ programs will be eligible for national tournaments, and all the benefits that come with that, starting next fall. That includes being eligible to play for NCAA championships and the financial disbursements from those tournaments that go to all NCAA programs.
They’d still have to meet other criteria, such as compliance, scholarship and academic support for student-athletes. Full clearance wouldn’t come until June, Esten said.
“When these rules were established, they made sense for that time,” Esten said. “But things have changed quite a bit.”
Those changes include, most drastically, new rules allowing student-athletes to be paid for their work — through direct stipends and/or Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collectives — and to transfer schools at the Division I level without having to sit out a year.
There are nine NCAA schools currently in a provisional Division I period, six of which — St. Thomas, East Texas A&M, Lindenwood, Queens, Southern Indiana and Stonehill — would become eligible for full-time DI membership next season.
If all the pieces fall into place, Johnny Tauer’s men’s basketball team could, with a Summit League championship, punch their ticket to the 68-team NCAA tournament commonly known as March Madness in 2026.
They would have a shot this season — the Tommies (14-5) are tied with Omaha (10-8) atop the Summit League standings with a 4-0 record — if not for the current rules for schools moving up in classification.
“This has been an unprecedented jump, so we knew what we were getting into,” Tauer said Monday. “That said, with all the changes happening, people question the (provisional timeline) and ask why it exists. That’s above my pay grade.
“The fact is we’re immersed in a wonderful season and not thinking about that. We have a great team that’s fun to watch. We’re not going to make the mistake of not enjoying a single day of being part of this.”
Still, it’s a consequential decision. Recruiting for a school eligible for NCAA basketball and ice hockey tournaments will open new doors for the Tommies, and payouts for Division I championships can be lucrative for teams whose conferences share that revenue — as much as $1.67 million for simply making the men’s basketball tournament, according to the Washington Post, and more when teams win games.
As a provisional member, St. Thomas hasn’t received any of those disbursements. The school also can’t be a part of NCAA committees, meaning no voice, or vote, on proposed legislation.
Among those being voted on this week: whether women’s wrestling should be a championship sport, a proposal to disburse women’s basketball tournament funds, and how the NCAA will pay damages and future benefits for Division I student-athletes that are expected to be awarded in a class-action lawsuit.
Esten said he and Summit League commissioner Josh Fenton had input into the NCAA’s decision to consider the provisional rules change, adding, “I imagine other conferences did, too.”
“In the past, you’d ask for a waiver because you believed you met the extraordinary criteria early,” Esten said. “This is not us, St. Thomas University, asking for a waiver. This is not for us only. This is potential legislation for everybody. This is a different approach.”
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