COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Charlie Theis felt a little guilty when he called Saint John's head coach Pat McKenzie '04 to tell him he'd decided to play basketball for the Johnnies.

It wasn't that the 6-foot-4, 210-pound post from East Ridge High School didn't think McKenzie would be happy to hear the news.

But his future head coach was vacationing in Mexico at the time and Theis felt bad about interrupting.

"I had kind of a weird recruitment process," Theis recalled. "I'd originally committed to Dakota State (an NAIA school in Madison, S.D.). I made the decision pretty early because I just wanted to get it out of the way and focus on my senior season.

"But deep down, I had this feeling I didn't make the right call," he continued. "And after talking to my AAU and high school coaches and a lot of my family members, I decided to decommit and come to Saint John's. Pat was in Mexico when I called him, which I felt bad about. I didn't want to intrude on his vacation.

"But he told me I actually made it better."

Indeed, McKenzie said it was a call he was thrilled to receive regardless of his geographic location.

"Not that you ever need another reason to celebrate when you're in Mexico, but that news definitely made things even more festive," he said. "It was definitely a call worth taking."
Theis' play this season has proven that enthusiasm warranted.

Like many of SJU's younger players, he didn't see much action on a senior-laden roster that finished 25-4 a year ago, won the MIAC playoff title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

But the graduation of eight of the Johnnies' top nine scorers opened the door for plenty of new faces, and Theis has taken full advantage of the opportunity.

Through play Wednesday (Dec. 10), he is averaging 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

"Charlie is one of those guys who had a great offseason," McKenzie said. "He knew he had a chance to play an expanded role, and you can tell he invested time in the weight room. He came into practice ready to go and he's pretty quickly found a way to factor into things.

"He's got some size, but he's one of our best shooters as well. And he's starting to emerge as a little more of a vocal leader on the court too."

Theis had perhaps his breakout game when the Johnnies defeated Central (Iowa) 74-71 on Nov. 14 at Sexton Arena. In that game – which was McKenzie's 200th career victory – he finished with 21 points and six rebounds off the bench, second on the team only to freshman guard Peyton Podany's 24 points and nine rebounds.

"I think that game really did help me find my footing a little bit," Theis said. "I was feeling kind of shaky about my shooting early on. But playing well there helped me build more confidence in what I was doing."

Theis said he learned a lot being part of such a talented team a year ago, especially from veterans like wing Connor Schwob '24 and post (and fellow East Ridge graduate) Luke Budzyn '25.

"That whole group was the tightest-knit team I've ever been part of," Theis said. "Every senior took a freshman or sophomore under their wing and taught us about toughness and how to win basketball games at this level.

"For me, the two guys were Connor and Luke. Connor brought an energy level and leadership that was one-of-a-kind. It's hard to replicate, but I'm trying. And Luke was just a sparkplug. He really provided a boost offensively every minute he was in the game.

"I played with him in high school my freshman year, so he was one of the guys I talked to a lot when I was looking at coming here. Both he and his whole family couldn't say enough great things about this place."

Now Theis – a global business leadership major who hopes to one day follow in the footsteps of his father John and pursue a career in sales – has stepped into a leadership role himself.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure what my role was going to be coming into this season," he said. "But as we've gotten into things, I've tried to be a little more vocal when the situation calls for it. I just want to whatever is needed to help the team win."

As might be expected from a team with almost an entirely new rotation, the Johnnies have had some ups and downs early.

But SJU picked up a big 82-65 win over previously unbeaten Concordia last Saturday (Dec. 6) at Sexton Arena – a game in which Theis finished with 10 points.

"It feels like things are starting to come together," he said. "We've struggled a bit with our shooting at times. But I think this has the potential to be one of the best shooting teams in the conference.

"We have so much talent. It's just a matter of playing more together and getting a rhythm down."

The young Johnnies will get a big chance to test themselves when they travel to St. Paul to play an exhibition matchup against Division I St. Thomas at 7 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 11) at the brand-new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.

It marks the first meeting between the former MIAC archrivals since St. Thomas left the conference following the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season. 

Since that time, the Tommies have established themselves as a power in the Summit League, finishing 24-10 overall a year ago and advancing to the conference title game. They are already off to a 7-4 start this season led by sophomore guard Nolan Minessale, who is averaging 21.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. The matchup will count toward St. Thomas' overall record.

"I don't know a whole lot about what the rivalry was like," Theis said. "I've heard stories about how crazy the crowds were, or about ESPN showing up to broadcast from a football game (in 2015).

"I know they have a very good team. But we walk into every game believing we have a chance to win. So we're going to go out there, give our best effort and see what happens."

That approach is in keeping with the mindset Theis and his teammates started this season with – refusing to use inexperience as a crutch.

"There's a standard of success that's been set here and we want to live up to it," he said. "We're not looking at this as a rebuilding year or anything like that. We believe we can contend for a conference title, get into the MIAC playoffs and go from there.

"I'm really excited to be playing with these guys. In some ways, it feels like I'm back in high school playing with my buddies again. And it's nice to know I still have two more years left with this group after this."