In October, the St. Thomas basketball and hockey teams will move into the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
On Wednesday, St. Thomas announced the first basketball and hockey games in the new on-campus facility.
St. Thomas, which was officially confirmed Monday as a full member of NCAA Division I in a vote by the NCAA Board of Directors, will host men’s and women’s hockey against Providence on Oct. 24 and again the next day.
The first basketball games for the Tommies in Lee & Penny Anderson Arena will be a men’s and women’s doubleheader against Army West Point on Nov. 8. Army is the alma mater of Lee Anderson, whose family made a $75 million donation in January 2023 toward the new arena.
Anderson played football and basketball for the Cadets, leading Army to three consecutive National Invitational Tournaments (NIT) in basketball and achieving the rank of cadet sergeant. He became a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers before leaving the service and returning to Minnesota, where he began a business career.
“This is an exciting time for Tommie basketball and St. Thomas athletics. We are thrilled to welcome Army to open Lee & Penny Anderson Arena,” St. Thomas women’s basketball coach Ruth Sinn said.
Sinn will have played or coached in all four home arenas in St. Thomas basketball history. She was a player in the team’s final season in O’Shaughnessy Hall, coached in both Schoenecker Arenas, and will serve as head coach in the inaugural season in Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
