CSC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Saint John's University senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America first team – his third-consecutive honor – on Tuesday, April 15.

Academic All-District and Academic All-America nominees must be of a sophomore academic standing or better, with a 3.50 GPA or higher. The Academic All-District and All-America teams are voted on and selected by registered members of CSC. 

A biochemistry major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 4.0 GPA, Thissen is a three-time CSC Academic All-District selection, will be a four-time Academic All-MIAC honoree (minimum 3.5 GPA) and earned his third MIAC Elite 22 Award this season for having the highest cumulative GPA among student-athletes who participated in the six-team MIAC Playoffs. 

On the court, Thissen was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-America second team March 19 and both the D3hoops.com All-Region 9 and NABC All-District 9 first teams March 18. The D3hoops.com All-Region honor was the second for Thissen, who earned third-team honors in 2022-23. He became the program's sixth All-American and first since Aaron Burtzel '11 in 2011 (D3hoops.com All-America honorable mention).

He helped lead Team Fenlon to a 104-92 win over Team Lambert in the 2025 NABC Division III College All-Star Game on March 22 in Fort Wayne, Ind. Thissen made the start for Team Fenlon and was second on the squad with 15 points on a 7-for-10 shooting performance (1-for-2 from three-point). He also grabbed seven rebounds with two assists in 20 minutes of play.

Thissen was named the 2024-25 MIAC Offensive Player of the Year and is a three-time All-MIAC (2023-25) selection. He led SJU in minutes (29.0 mpg.) and scoring (14.7 ppg.) as eight Johnnies averaged 8.5 points or more per game this season. Thissen was also second in rebounding (5.3 rpg.), assists (75) and steals (19). He ended his career second in program history with 1,680 career points and is SJU's all-time leader in games played (114) – all starts – and ranks ninth in assists (287).

He is the fifth Johnnie basketball student-athlete and the 10th overall to be named an Academic All-American:

1977-78 - Pat McKenzie - G (second team)
1990-91 - Derrick Buettner - F (third team)
1993-94 - Joe Deignan - F (second team)
1994-95 - Joe Deignan - F (first team)
2016-17 - David Stokman - G (third team)
2017-18 - David Stokman - G (first team)
2018-19 - David Stokman - G (first team)
2022-23 - Ryan Thissen - W (first team)
2023-24 - Ryan Thissen - W (third team)
2024-25 - Ryan Thissen - W (first team)

SJU (25-4, 15-1 MIAC) won its 12th MIAC regular-season championship (fourth in the last six seasons) and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 74-59 win over Carleton March 1 for the program's fourth MIAC Playoff championship in the last six tournaments (ninth overall). The national postseason appearance was the Johnnies' 22nd (13th at the Division III level) and fifth in the last seven seasons. SJU ended the season ranked No. 13 in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll. 

The 20-win season was the Johnnies' 16th overall and sixth in the past nine seasons. Three of SJU's four losses were decided by four points or less.