Thomas More University men’s basketball coach Justin Ray and two of his players, Reid Jolly and Wyatt Vieth, are gathered together in a room near the home gym at Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills.
They are laughing.
Jolly, a first-team NAIA all-American last season, admitted he was constantly schooled by his sister in pick-up basketball games until he hit a growth spurt. That seems unfathomable to Vieth, who found an old Thomas More picture showing his St. Henry High School coach Dave Faust with long hair piled hilariously on top of his head. Vieth and Ray chuckled at Jolly’s blunt assessment of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll, which has the Saints picked to finish ninth in the 13-team conference.
Let’s just say Jolly doesn’t care much for the preseason poll. The reason is simple, he says. He’s beyond happy about how things are looking ahead of his final season at Thomas More. Vieth, a junior, is on board with that.
“We’re excited to compete,” Vieth said. “We know what we can do.”
The Saints’ spirits are high as they ascend to NCAA Division II after a four-year stay in the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference. Thomas More opens the 2023-24 schedule Nov. 10 in its first-ever Division II contest against Drury University. It’s the first of two games at the Southwest Baptist Classic in Bolivar, Missouri. The Saints’ home opener is Nov. 17 against University of Cincinnati-Clermont in the first of two games at the annual Connor Classic. They make their G-MAC debut at Northwood on November 29th in Midland, Michigan.
A giant cause for joyfulness is Jolly’s return for a fifth season in a Thomas More uniform. The former Campbell County great opted for an extra season under COVID-19 eligibility extensions put in place during the pandemic. He’s playing a final season while studying for a master’s degree at the school. His return will have historical implications.
Jolly, a 6-foot-5 swingman, ranks third on the Saints’ all-time scoring list with 1,865 points. He’s 213 points behind second-place Brian O’Conner (2,078) and 740 behind all-time leader Rick Hughes (2,605), who played one season in the NBA and several professional seasons abroad. Jolly scored 553 points last season while averaging a team-best 17.3 per game.
“It was Reid’s decision. You’d be a fool not to want him back,” coach Ray said. “We had another good player who had the same situation and he decided to move on.”
Jolly also is in range of all-time Saints marks for field goals attempted and field goals made. He has a chance to crack the top five in rebounds and blocked shots.
But no, Jolly wants to talk about the preseason poll. In a word, it’s absurd, he says. In four words: He doesn’t get it. Vieth agrees with Jolly. Coach Ray understands. His Saints are new kids on the block. But Jolly’s not a new kid. He’s the man at Thomas More.
“We want to show people what we can do at this level,” Jolly said. “It’s an awesome opportunity for Thomas More and our team.”
Not to mention, for Jolly.
The Saints could play about 30 games their first season in Division II. Coach Ray says Jolly is capable of averaging as many as 20 points per game in his hybrid-Princeton offense which features lots of spacing and cutting with backdoor cuts, pick-and-rolls, handoffs and screens. Adding around 600 points to his current total would put Jolly on pace for nearly 2,500 in his illustrious career. Jolly would need to average almost 25 points per game to threaten Hughes’ career mark. He should catch O’Conner sometime in December.
But, about that preseason poll.
The Saints’ No. 9 ranking seems a little low to the head Saint. Far too low for a team coming off a 23-9 finish with a bid to the NAIA national tournament and reaching the second round.
“Really, I don’t care at all. It doesn’t matter,” said Jolly last season’s Mid-South Conference player of the year. “Let the results do the talking.”
Defending conference tournament champion Ashland is the coaches’ pick to win the G-MAC. Ashland finished second in the regular season standings. Walsh, winner of the regular season conference title, is picked to finish second, followed by Cedarville and Findlay. None of them won more than the 23 games the Saints nailed down last season. Thomas More was ranked in the NAIA top 25 the entire season and made school history with a first-ever No. 1 ranking in December following a 9-0 start.
This is year two of Thomas More’s provisional membership to Division II. The move transitions the Saints from the Mid-South Conference to the G-MAC, which approved provisional membership for Thomas More in 2021. The Saints are eligible for G-MAC championships and tournaments this season, but they don’t become eligible for NCAA championships until 2025-26, following the mandatory transition period.
“The message doesn’t change. We’re trying to get better every game,” coach Ray said. “We’ll treat the conference tournament like the national tournament, and that’s the way it should be every year.”
With the move, the arrow is definitely pointing up for the Saints, who return their top four scorers. Vieth, a 6-3 guard and the lone Saint starting every game last season, averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and shot 37.7% from 3-point range.
Thomas More also welcomes back 5-9 Jacob Jones (12.9 ppg) and 6-foot Casey George (11.6 ppg), a pair of junior guards who earned all-Mid-South second-team honors last season. Jones led the team in assists, steals and free throw shooting percentage. Also returning is 6-7 forward and leading returning rebounder Kyle Ross (9.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg). Jones and Ross are former NCAA Division I players from Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, respectively.
Coach Ray says strengths include experience in the system among his top returnees, team defense and offensive efficiency. The Saints shot 48.1% from the field last season, a figure that would have ranked fourth in the G-MAC. Opponents shot 44.1 percent, which would have ranked sixth in the G-MAC. The Saints gave up an average of 64.8 points per game, which would have ranked third.
“We’ve always been a team that hangs its hat on smart defense,” Ray said. “Offensively, we’re going to be a team that doesn’t beat itself. We match up well size-wise with most teams in the conference.”
Interesting Saints newcomers include two Division I transfers, 6-8 sophomore forward Mitchell Rylee from Miami of Ohio and 6-11 junior center Abba Lawal from Alabama A&M. Rylee starred at Covington Catholic where he was first-team all-state and 9th Region player of the year. Lawal, originally from Nigeria, played high school ball in Cincinnati at Withrow and Walnut Hils, where he made shots, blocked shots and altered shots.
“Our last two bigs have been all-conference,” Ray said. “Mitchell fits our offense. Aba’s back from a 15-month ACL surgery recovery. He hasn’t played in a year and a half.”
There’s also 6-9 freshman forward Carson Browne, last season’s Greater Catholic League player of the year at Cincinnati Elder, sturdy 6-2 freshman guard Cameron McClain, the all-time 3-point leader and third all-time leading scorer at Louisville Trinity, and 6-3 freshman guard Nathan Dudukovich, a two-time Greater Miami Conference scoring champ from Lakota West, where his is the all-time leading scorer.
If everybody gets healthy and stays healthy and fulfills their individual potential, Ray could have something special on his hands at Thomas More. Something certainly better than a ninth-place team. Just ask Wyatt Vieth. Ask Reid Jolly, who wants to be as happy as his last name when it’s all said and done.
“It’s always good to have Reid on your team,” Vieth said. “He’s a guy you want on your side.”