Another sellout crowd is expected to greet St. Thomas’ men’s basketball team Saturday night at Schoenecker Arena when the Tommies take the floor against the Omaha Mavericks with a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the Summit League.

It’s a scenario the Tommies (19-7 overall, 9-2 Summit) and head coach Johnny Tauer began to envision three years ago after netting a stellar recruiting class that featured three players: guards Kendall Blue and Andrew Rohde, and big man Ahjany Lee — who immediately took on key roles as freshmen — and 3-point specialist Carter Bjerke.

Although Rohde and Lee have moved on through the transfer portal, the Tommies have pressed on with Blue leading the way. They now find themselves in position to join last year’s Tommies baseball team by becoming the school’s second Summit League champion.

Omaha’s loss at South Dakota State on Thursday dropped the Mavericks to 10-2 in the conference, so a win would give the Tommies the conference lead with four games to play.

“That group — and Kendall and Carter were two of them — we certainly felt that they could help us springboard to a new level,” Tauer said. “We’ve been fortunate in seeing a lot of quantitative outcomes improve, from wins to computer rankings, but a lot of the foundation we had is still here.

“None of us knew exactly how this would work. One of the most gratifying parts is that, in many ways, people watch us play now and say we look just like we did in Division III. It’s just that we’ve got bigger and faster athletes.”

Blue, an East Ridge graduate, became fast friends with Rohde and has kept in touch with him as he continues his career at Virginia. He has assumed Rohde’s position as the Tommies best all-around player and is proud of the way the team has found a way to keep growing.

“It’s a part of life,” Blue said of losing key contributors. “It’s really the next-man-up mentality, whether it’s recruiting someone else through the transfer portal or with freshmen. I feel our team has just done a great overall job of being a team.

“We’re really an unselfish team, and I feel that is one of the strengths of our program.”

Blue is averaging 11.9 points per game as one of four Tommies players who are scoring in double figures. He’s also shooting 43 precent from 3-point range (43 makes) and leads the team with an average of 4.3 rebounds a game.

“He’s such a versatile player,” Tauer said, “but the way he is shooting the ball now makes him better in those other areas because now people are closing out with urgency, and that allows him to get in the lane, where he shoots 65 percent-plus.

“And he’s such an incredible passer; I’ve always said that’s his greatest skill. His greatest attribute is that he’s easy to play with. His understanding of angles and spacing is really impressive.”

While the 6-foot-6 Blue’s rebounding average is relatively modest, the fact that he leads the team underscores his ability to impact the game in a lot of different ways.

“I’m just trying to do whatever we’ve got to do to win every night,” he said, “whether it’s scoring, passing, defense, whatever. Any time we can win a game it takes care of itself, and with each game we win it’s a great feeling.”

Blue’s contributions on the glass are crucial for the Tommies, who don’t have a true post player.

“We don’t have a guys who is going to get 10 rebounds a game,” Tauer said, “but our team has really bought into, the last few weeks, that we need to rebound collectively, and he’s a good example of that.”

Asked if he gets tired of people saying, “If they only had a big man …”, Tauer said, “That sounds like my dad. He’s always like, ‘Don’t you want to get one of those 7-footers?’ If there’s a 7-footer out there who can shoot 3s and is really unselfish, we’d certainly take him.”

The Tommies, who lost to the Mavericks 89-78 in Omaha on January 23, will be facing another decided height disadvantage on Saturday.

“Physically, they look like a high-major team in terms of their size and strength,” Tauer said of the Mavericks. “Last game they beat us up on the boards pretty well. More than anything, we just have to make things hard.

“We have to be a little bit smarter, a little bit tougher.”

To that end, the Tommies’ focus was on defense in practice leading up to the game.

Blue was one of the “believers” who took a chance on the school making the unprecedented jump from Division III to Division I. With a new arena set to open next season, and the program seemingly on a steady rise, he’s loving life as a member of the Tommies.

But one has to wonder if the temptation of the transfer portal and the financial benefits that go with it will have an impact on his senior season. Blue said he hasn’t given any serious thought to entering the portal, but added, “Not yet.”

“Right now I have everything in my hands that I want,” he added. “I’m kind of a marquee player for the team, I’ve been here for three years and I know the program and the school well. I don’t want to say yes or no, but that’s not what I’m focusing on now.”

“Money does talk,” he added, “but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”