"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Hall of Fame football coach Lou Holtz.

The night before Missouri S&T's men's basketball exhibition game against The University of Tulsa, Miner alumnus John Gibson addressed the team during dinner.

In addition to telling the team about his own experiences as a Miner basketball student-athlete, he also had a message for the players - although they were facing a NCAA Division I team, they were more than capable of winning the game and any other on their schedule for that matter. Essentially, the sky's the limit.

The team took Gibson's message to heart, nearly pulling off an upset against Tulsa the next day - falling in overtime after the Hurricanes drained a deep three in the final seconds of regulation. It was the first indication that the 2024-25 season had the makings of something special for Missouri S&T men's basketball.

When the season closed nearly five months later, it ended as one of the most exciting and successful years in the history of Miner basketball. It was one that saw the Miners tie a school record for wins in a 25-6 campaign, win their first regular season title in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with a 17-3 record, and earn a berth to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional as the #1 seed - the fourth national tournament berth in program history.

"What a historic season for our men's basketball team, and it's a testament to their hard work, heart, and resilience," said Melissa Ringhausen, Director of Athletics at Missouri S&T. "This accomplishment is incredibly meaningful, not just for our program, but for our entire campus, our alumni, and the Rolla community."

"I am beyond proud of our student-athletes, coaches, and support staff," Ringhausen added. "They brought energy and pride that will be remembered for years to come. Congratulations on an unforgettable year!"

The Miners' standout season came on the heels of back-to-back years where they narrowly missed qualifying for the GLVC Tournament. To make matters more challenging, the team entered the 2024-25 campaign without three of its top four scorers from the previous season. As a result, S&T was projected to finish 10th in the GLVC preseason coaches' poll; however, the Miner's new roster found chemistry early, and from the opening tip in Tulsa, it was clear this group was capable of something special.

"This team was as close as any I've ever been around," said Miner head coach Bill Walker, also an alumnus of the Miner program who was named Coach of the Year in both the NCAA Midwest region by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the GLVC. "There was leadership from the upperclassmen to go along with the talented, younger players who were eager to learn. We competed not only on the floor during games, but also in practice and that mindset was a key to our success."

The leadership was passed on to the sole returning member from the previous season's top scoring quartet, Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove). A fifth-year player who had grown into a team leader during his career at S&T, Williams made the most of his final season as he was the heartbeat of the Miners both on and off the floor. Williams finished the year as S&T's second-leading scorer, but it was his intangibles that truly made him indispensable.  He tallied 35 of his team-leading 163 assists in the first five games alone, including 10 in a signature win over nationally ranked Upper Iowa, setting the tone early as the offense's primary facilitator. Defensively, he often took on the toughest backcourt matchups, and when the Miners needed a clutch basket, it was Williams they trusted to deliver.

S&T also had three other key returners from the previous season and one of them - Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) - provided an early prelude of things to come. In the season opener against Ohio Dominican, Young, a junior, recorded the first of his nine double-doubles on the year, recording 22 points and 10 rebounds as S&T pulled away in the second half for a 91-77 victory.

Young emerged as a dominant presence, leading the team with averages of 16.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while also setting a new S&T single-season record with 54 blocked shots. He scored double figures in 27 of his 30 appearances, including all 19 conference games and all four contests in the GLVC and NCAA Tournaments. His stellar season earned him first-team honors on both the All-GLVC and All-Midwest Region teams, making him the first Miner in 11 seasons to receive these accolades. His impact extended beyond the court, as his academic achievements earned him a spot on the Academic All-America team, selected by the College Sports Communicators - only the sixth player in program history to receive this distinction.

Meanwhile, junior Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit) provided a steady hand at the guard position alongside Williams, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio near 3-to-1 - one of the best marks in the nation. He also helped anchor one of the top defensive backcourts in the GLVC, as both he and Williams earned spots on the GLVC All-Defensive Team.

Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon), who spent much of his freshman season playing in a reserve role, moved to the starting lineup as a sophomore and became a force as the season progressed. Stovall had two of his best performances of the season in benchmark wins: a 26-point effort in the win over Rockhurst that included a game-winning tip-in at the buzzer to clinch the GLVC regular season title for the Miners, and a career-high 30-point outing when the Miners rallied to defeat Malone in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament. In the latter, he scored seven of S&T's first eight points in overtime, setting the tone for the extra period.

Besides the quartet, the Miners added two impact transfers in Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, IL/Huntley) and Blaise Beauchamp (Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins). Sroka, who had played four seasons at Illinois Wesleyan, was a double figure scorer with an average of 11.1 points per game and his 44 three-point baskets were second only to the 49 made by Beauchamp, a junior transfer from the University of Evansville, who made a team-leading 45.4 percent of his long-range shots.

The Miners also benefitted from key contributions from a trio of freshmen who earned spots in the rotation as the season progressed. Zac Brown (Collinsville, OK/Collinsville) was Young's backup in the low post and shot over 59 percent from the field to earn GLVC All-Freshman team laurels, while Aidan Burns (Thayer, MO/Thayer) - who played a significant role in the late comeback against Malone - completed the season shooting 40 percent from three-point range. The third freshman, Adam Rickman (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia), provided an energy boost for the Miners off the bench and was a force on the defensive end as he recorded 32 steals on the year.

S&T started the season with seven straight victories, including wins in their first three GLVC matchups taking down Lincoln, 21st-ranked Upper Iowa, and Quincy. The winning streak was halted by St. Mary's in the first of two games during the Miners' Las Vegas trip in mid-December. The team, however, bounced back the next day, launching a record-setting winning streak with a decisive 89-78 victory over third-ranked West Liberty, led by Young's 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. This victory over West Liberty (who in March advanced to the national quarterfinals) marked the Miners' first appearance in the national rankings since 1997 and kicked off a 12-game winning streak. Ten of those wins came in GLVC play, and during this remarkable stretch, S&T secured several notable victories:

-- A 72-69 win at Truman State, who was the pre-season favorite to win the GLVC.
-- An 88-84 win over Missouri-St. Louis where Young hit the go-ahead shot with two seconds left to play.
-- An 80-60 win at William Jewell that ended a six-game losing streak to the Cardinals.
-- An 85-78 win at Illinois Springfield, the Miners' first win over the Prairie Stars in 10 tries in Springfield.
-- A 93-77 win over Indianapolis that snapped a 17-game losing skid to the Greyhounds.

S&T vaulted to an all-time best fifth in the national rankings during its winning streak that culminated in a win at Quincy on February 6. The win pushed the Miners to 13-0 in GLVC play, making them the fourth team in GLVC history to start a conference season with 13 straight victories. The streak came to an end two days later in a rematch against Upper Iowa but the Miners closed out their regular season title run with victories over Truman, Southwest Baptist, and a dramatic win at Rockhurst, sealed by Stovall's game-winning tip-in at the buzzer to clinch the title.

As the Miners were stacking up wins, the enthusiasm in Gibson Arena increased as well. Packed crowds became the norm throughout the second semester, with the lower section of the stands routinely filled as students and community members rallied around the team's surge to success. The attendance carried over to road games throughout the year, as the Miners brought large crowds to away games, in particular McKendree, Rockhurst, and Lincoln - all of which ended with S&T victories.

"The home court advantage we had at Gibson Arena was the best in the league," Walker said. "We said at the beginning of the year that if we win, everyone shares equally in the banner we'll hang from the rafters. The players accepted their roles, which is something characteristic of very successful teams. I am forever grateful to this group of Miners!"

When the Miners walked out of the arena in Tulsa the night after the dinner with John Gibson, they were disappointed with the loss but also knew what they were capable of accomplishing. They came together, stayed together, and worked as one to deliver the best men's basketball season Missouri S&T has seen in a generation.

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." - Author and historian Edward Everett Hale.