Loyola’s run shines light on ’63 title team that broke barrriers
CHICAGO (AP) — Under the bright lights of the popping flashbulbs, Jerry Harkness grasped the magnitude of the moment.
There he was on that day in March 1963, a black player from Loyola of Chicago shaking hands with a white player from Mississippi State, Joe Dan Gold, at center court. They were about to tip off in a regional semifinal in East Lansing, Michigan, that would come to be known as the Game of Change .
"Boy, the flashbulbs. I couldn't believe," Harkness recalled this week. "I just couldn't understand. ... I was shocked. I looked him in his eyes. He didn't smile; I tried to smile at him. I could tell he was there, he was happy to play us and he was happy to be there. He had on his game face. I was shocked with the bulbs and I went back to the huddle in kind of a daze, a little.
"I thought, boy, this is more than a game. This is history."
Loyola is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1985 thanks to two last-second shots and two prayers answered for Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 98-yearold team chaplain who has become a celebrity during this captivating run that continues with a game against Nevada on Thursday night in Atlanta.
It's also shining a light on the team that blasted through racial barriers 55 years ago. With four black starters, Loyola won what remains the only NCAA Division I championship by an Illinois school. And for the players who were there, the current run is bringing back all sorts of memories.
From the taunts in Houston to the death threats mailed to their dorm, from the biggest blowout in NCAA Tournament history to the Game of Change and beating Cincinnati in overtime to win it all, it was unforgettable.
Three years later, Texas Western with five black starters beat Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky team for the championship.
But the Ramblers ad started paving that glory road, whether they realized it at the time or not.
"Was it impactful? Yes, it was very impactful," said Ron Miller, a guard from the Bronx. "My opinion was we did not realize what we were going through, nor did we fully appreciate it at the time. I think it came later. I know for me personally, it came later."
They saw the obstacles in front of them, heard the insults thrown their way.
Miller remembers coming off the bench the previous season because coach George Ireland was following the unwritten rule that teams could play one black player on the road, two at home and three if they were way behind. A loss in the NIT and pressure to win switched his thinking.
"He'd have played four green guys if they would help the team," said John Egan, the point guard and lone white starter on the championship team. "I believe that."