The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Players like prayers
Nun, 98, has been Loyola’s chaplain since 1994.
‘They know they can talk to me any time they want. We can pray together. ’
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, Loyola team chaplain
CHICAGO — Twenty minutes before tipoff in a tunnel leading to the Gentile Arena basketball court, towering Loyola players formed a circle around a 98-year-old nun as she quietly prayed.
Music thumped, fans screamed and cheerleaders shook pompoms on the court in anticipation of Wednesday night’s game against Valparaiso. But in the tunnel Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt spoke softly, holding hands with players on each side of her wheelchair.
“Dear gracious God,” she started. She asked for players to remain uninjured and that they play to their potential. As it has before nearly every Loyola home game for decades, her pregame blessing morphed into advice a coach would give.
“Don’t worry about the opponents’ height,” the 5-foot nun told the Ramblers. “We need your win.”
Sister Jean, as seemingly everyone on campus knows her, has served as the team chaplain since 1994. She provides the Ramblers with prayer, comfort and — believe it or not — scouting reports.
“She’s like another coach,” senior guard Donte Ingram said. “The first game (as a freshman), it caught me off guard. I thought she was just going to pray. She prayed, but then she starts saying, ‘You’ve got to box out and watch out for 23.’
“She knows her stuff. She’s on it. She’s not just here to clap, but she also lifts you up. There’s times I didn’t play up to my abilities, and Sister Jean will be like, ‘You’ll get them next time, Donte.’”
Sister Jean missed nine home games this season after breaking her hip by falling off a curb, but she has returned for the last three as the first-place Ramblers (23-5, 13-3) aim for their first Missouri Valley Conference championship and first NCAA Tournament invitation since 1985.
“It’s great to be back with all of these young people who have so much energy,” said Sister Jean, who last year was inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame and had a bobblehead made in her likeness.
Since her fall, she watches games in a wheelchair from a tunnel near the team bench, wearing her Loyola letterman’s jacket, a long maroon-and-gold scarf and a pair of Nikes, quietly clapping and nodding when the Ramblers hit a shot. Before each game she also leads the fans in prayer, asking God to help the referees call fouls “justly” and asking that the scoreboard “at the end indicates a Ramblers win.”
Before Wednesday’s game Sister Jean rarely had a moment to herself. Cheerleaders waved to her. The dance team director gave her red roses and chocolates for Valentine’s Day. A woman in the stands approached for a selfie, proclaiming, “I’m a huge fan of yours.”
As the players headed toward the locker room after pregame warmups, everyone ran by and gently shook her hand or rested his hand on her shoulder. Some stooped for a hug. In the final moments of the game, former Loyola star and current Nets guard Milton Doyle stopped to chat.
“This is my NBA guy,” Sister Jean said proudly.
“She’s a rock star,” said Bill Behrns, the school’s sports information director.
Sister Jean was born in 1919 in San Francisco to a family of sports fans. In high school from 1933 to ’37, she played on the girls basketball team. For girls, the court was divided into three sections, and only the forwards could shoot.
“I was a very short girl, so I didn’t shoot,” she said.
In 1939, Sister Jean said, the rules changed to allow girls to play half-court. So when she became a teacher and coach “at noon, during lunch on the playground, I would have the boys play the girls. I told them, ‘I know you have to hold back because you play full court, but we need to make our girls strong.’ And they did make them strong.”
In third grade, inspired by her teacher, Sister Jean knew she wanted to become a nun. After high school, she left for Iowa to join the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary convent. In 1941 she returned to teach in California, where her students included Bob Hope’s children.
In 1961 she accepted a teaching job at Mundelein College, an all-women’s school near Loyola that focused on preparing women to teach in Chicago schools. She attended athletic events at both schools and drove some Mundelein teams to competitions.
Mundelein merged with Loyola in 1991, and Sister Jean retired from the education department not long after.
“When the chaplain of the men’s (basketball) team retired, one of the Jesuits said, ‘How would you like to be the chaplain?’” she recalled. “I said, ‘Well, I’ve never done it, but that would be fine.’
“I wanted to be their friend first of all and be sure to encourage them. They know they can talk to me any time they want. We can pray together. I don’t try to take (coach Porter Moser’s) job, but we talk about people we need to watch on the other side.”
Moser found a manila envelope on his desk when he was hired in 2011. Sister Jean had left pages of detailed notes on the strengths and weaknesses of each returning player.
“She’s knowledgeable,” Moser said. “She watches the game closely.”