John Tauer, head coach of the University of St. Thomas men’s basketball team, recently spoke with the Star Tribune about former Tommie basketball player, Sean Sweeney, as he returns to the Twin Cities to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks.

John Tauer, now the head coach at St. Thomas, was a volunteer assistant for Steve Fritz there, and Sweeney became his first recruit in 2000.

“I went to a Cretin-St. Thomas game to look at three Academy players, and came back and said, ‘The kid we should be recruiting is the junior guard, Sweeney,’” Tauer said.

Which the Tommies did. He started there, transferred to UW-Green Bay for a sit-out year, came back and was the point guard for two MIAC champions.

“He’s an in-demand defensive guru,” Tauer said. “You see him at a coaching clinic, what he shows is so clear, so precise.

“During the pandemic, Sean set up Friday conference calls with seven or eight coaches from around the country – Tim Grgurich out in Vegas was the godfather – and we’d break down specific situations for an hour.”

Point guard Jason Kidd helped the Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA championship in 2011, alongside pals Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry.

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