“Excellence is not an act, but a habit.”

This St. Thomas men’s basketball program mantra, established by head coach John Tauer, will hold significant weight as the team reloads for the upcoming season following a highly successful 2015-16 campaign.

The Tommies return to the court this fall as the defending Division III national champions. The team posted a 30-3 record last season and claimed the national title with an 82-76 victory over previously unbeaten Benedictine University.

Now that the celebrations have subsided and attention has turned toward the upcoming season, the Tommies are hoping to contend for another championship.

“We have a luxury here at St. Thomas where that’s our goal every year. Not many programs can say that,” said senior guard Grant Shaeffer. “Getting a little taste (last year) for the guys, the younger guys especially, to see what it takes and what we need to do to get there will have a huge effect on us going forward.”

Success is a tradition for the program. The Tommies have won 11 consecutive MIAC regular season titles, and they have won two national championships in the last six years.

Fresh faces will need to step up to continue that success. St. Thomas will have just two returning starters this year. Shaeffer and junior forward Ryan Boll will take the reins from a productive class of 2016 as the Tommies look to defend their title.

“We’re losing a lot of minutes and a lot of points, but there’s a lot of opportunities for other guys,” Shaeffer said. “The biggest challenge will be gelling everyone together and getting the chemistry.”

Tauer believes finding that chemistry will take time.

“There will be some growing pains, there’s no doubt,” he said. “I think this is a team that’s going to take probably a couple of months to really get its identity and get people acclimated to their roles.”

Aside from the two returning starters, no other returning players averaged above nine minutes played per game.

What the team lacks in returning experience, it makes up for in competitive drive.

“I think that any time you have new faces, you certainly would expect that they’re going to be very eager and excited to have these opportunities in front of them,” Tauer said.

Both Shaeffer and Boll played key roles last year. Boll scored 4.7 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest, and started every game for the Tommies.

Shaeffer led the team in both scoring and assists last season. He averaged 14.6 points and 3.4 assists per game. His efforts helped earn him the title of Preseason All-American this season. “DIII News” named him to their team of Preseason All-Americans in their 2016-17 season preview issue.

He said the honor was a nice recognition, but he won’t read into it too much.

“It’s a result of my hard work and stuff like that, but it’s also a result of the guys who came before me and the success we had last year,” he said. “It’s an honor, but I take it with a grain of salt and stay motivated and keep working hard.”

Tauer said Shaeffer is a standout player that is distinguished by his driven mindset.

“Grant’s incredible, he’s one of the better guards to have played at St. Thomas,” Tauer said, regarding what makes Shaeffer special. “I think Grant’s competitiveness, his unique attention to detail. He loves challenges, he embraces challenges.”

As one of the few returning players with significant experience, Shaeffer will look to help the team in an enhanced role this winter.

“I think I’ll have more of a leadership role, more direct, almost as another coach out there helping out young, less experienced guys know where to be, what to do and know what to expect,” he said.

When it comes time for the opening tip-off of the season, Tauer hopes the team will make the community proud.

“We hope that people come out and support this team. Recognize that it’s a new group of people who are going to give everything they can to represent the university and basketball program well,” he said.

The Tommies open the season at home on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. against UW-River Falls.

Spencer Flaten can be reached at flat6148@stthomas.edu.