Final Four spot secured, Loyola gets warm welcome home
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt and Loyola-Chicago got quite a reception as they returned to campus on Sunday.
Fans serenaded the 98-year-old team chaplain and newfound celebrity with chants of “Sister Jean! Sister Jean!” as she was wheeled into the arena. They roared and screamed “LUC! LUC!” as the team walked toward the stage on the court.
Some players held up their phones and scanned the crowd, taking it all in a day after securing a spot in the Final Four. The Ramblers’ improbable run continues thanks to a convincing victory over Kansas State in the South regional final in Atlanta on Saturday night.
They’ll face Michigan in the national semifinals, and a win would put them in the championship game for the first time since the 1963 team won the title in a landmark tournament run for racial equity.
But on Sunday, Loyola was simply enjoying the moment.
“How much fun is everybody having?” coach Porter Moser said.
He didn’t have to ask.
The roars and sea of maroon and gold T-shirts let him know. Loyola senior Maggie Yarnold, seated courtside, came with a request for Clayton Custer. “Clayton when you’re done making 3’s will you go to the formal with me,” her sign read.
The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority’s formal at Chicago’s Willis Tower figures to be quite an event and Yarnold likes her chances.
“I think it’ll be hard to say no,” she said.
Yarnold has been going to games since she arrived at Loyola and watched an unselfish team grow over the course of the season. That’s why she insisted she is not stunned by this, even if the Ramblers were seeded 11th in their region.
“They’re probably the most unselfish, well-deserving team,” she said. “They’re too dedicated for them to stop. And they’ve shown it in their skill level. They’ve improved throughout the season immensely. And they’ve learned to trust each other completely.”
The Rambers (32-5) joined LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011) as the lowest seeds to reach a Final Four. The other three lost in the semis.