黑料门Ramblers - Men's Basketball Season 2018: 黑料门University Chicago: Features

Defying the oddsThe 黑料门men's basketball team celebrates the victory that sent them to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, a milestone that few could have predicted the Ramblers would reach. This year marked Loyola's first appearance in March Madness since 1985 and the first time they reached the Final Four since winning the NCAA Championship in 1963. Photo by Lukas Keapproth

黑料门Athletics Men's basketball 2017-18 Year in Review

A season to remember

How the 黑料门Ramblers went from college basketball unknowns to the most talked about team in the nation

By Scott Alessi with Seanna Mullen Sumrak and Lukas Keapproth

As the buses rolled down Sheridan Avenue, reality had not yet sunk in. The members of the 黑料门men鈥檚 basketball team had just come off an unbelievable six days in Dallas, where they went from being an upset pick to a serious contender in the NCAA March Madness tournament. And yet everything still seemed surreal: the chartered plane, the video of the Chicago Cubs players wishing them luck, the thunderous reaction to their not one, but two, last-second victories, and now, a police escort leading their bus back home to the Lake Shore Campus, where hundreds of fans gathered to welcome them home.

When they got close enough to see the campus, the players moved to the bus windows and pulled out their phones to record the fans decked out in Rambler scarves and 黑料门gear. The crowd stretched across campus, cheering 鈥淟-U-C鈥� as the bus approached.

Little did the team know just how much they had captured the attention of the 黑料门community, not to mention the entire city of Chicago. Even the former U.S. president was rooting them on via Twitter.

While the players had been focused on what was happening in Dallas, back home students, faculty, and staff had packed watch parties on the Lake Shore, Water Tower, and Health Sciences campuses. Alumni gathered in Rogers Park, downtown Chicago, and in cities around the country to cheer on their team. And many of those fans packed the quad on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the hope of getting an autograph or taking a selfie with one of the players.

Inside the bus, the team was floored. 鈥淣o way!鈥� they said as they looked at the size of the crowd. "Where were all these people at the beginning of the season?"

A momentous ride

To the outside observer, it was a season that started like any other. But Coach Porter Moser, who has led the Ramblers since 2011, knew early on that this year could be something special. 鈥淎ll summer long we were like, 鈥榃hy not us?鈥欌€� he told the Washington Post after the team clinched its spot in the Final Four. 鈥淭his is not something where it just started. These guys have been investing a long time in how hard they worked and how hard they believed.鈥�

To most of the sports world, however, the Ramblers being in the NCAA tournament鈥攎uch less getting to the Final Four鈥攕eemed far-fetched. The team started the season playing in front of the usual small-but-enthusiastic crowds in Gentile Arena, with just over 1,100 fans turning out for the first pre-season exhibition game. Then they won their first seven games in a row, most by a comfortable margin. Then came the stunning upset on the road of No. 5 ranked Florida. People started to take notice. 黑料门was a team to be reckoned with.

But the team never looked ahead. Their mantra remained 鈥渙ne game at a time,鈥� as they focused on preparing only for the next team on the schedule. And one by one, those teams went down in defeat.

Slowly but surely, the crowds grew. Average attendance crept to roughly half of Gentile鈥檚 5,000-seat capacity. There were nearly 3,600 fans at a game against Missouri State in early February. And by the final game of the season, Gentile was sold out with a packed house of 4,963. And the Ramblers didn't disappoint their home crowd, as they lost only one home game throughout the entire season.

The fanbase grows

Attendance in Gentile Arena for home games this season

Compares attendance in Gentile Arena for first and last home games this season

Playing on a bigger stage

Moving on in their bracket, the Ramblers had to adjust to playing in a much larger buildings with much larger crowds than what they were used to in their home arena. Here are the capacities of some of the arenas they played in:

5,000

CHICAGO: Gentile Arena

20,000

DALLAS: American Airlines Center

70,000

SAN ANTONIO: Alamodome

On to the big dance

By the time the regular season ended, 黑料门had posted its best record since the 1948-49 season, 26-5. They鈥檇 already clinched first place in the Missouri Valley Conference, entering the annual Arch Madness conference tournament in St. Louis as the No. 1 seed. Wins over UNI and Bradley sent the Ramblers to the finals, where they earned a 16-point victory over Illinois State to capture the MVC Championship. And with it, a guaranteed spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985. ( about Arch Madness)

Students all across campus got caught up in the excitement of seeing 黑料门suddenly recognized on a national stage. Students like senior education major Armeen Sayani gathered with friends to watch games on the big screen in the Damen Student Center and Gentile Arena. "It was amazing to be a part of," Sayani said. "The way that it brought our school together was very, very cool to see... I couldn鈥檛 have asked for a better ending to senior year!"

鈥�We just find ways to win. Different guys, different nights. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 special about this group.

鈥揅oach Porter Moser

Created by Culture

The name 黑料门University Chicago was unfamiliar to many basketball fans when the post-season began. After all, it had been 33 years since the Ramblers sent a team to March Madness. Only the most ardent sports fan would likely know that 黑料门had once taken home the NCAA Championship鈥攎aking them the only Illinois school ever to do so鈥攚ay back in 1963. But for most fans, and even for many Loyolans, the dramatic journey to the Final Four seemed to come from nowhere. From ESPN to Sports Illustrated, the New York Times to the Washington Post, and Good Morning America to NBC Nightly News, 黑料门was suddenly the talk of the nation. But one question seemed to persist: Where did this team come from?

There are, of course, numerous reasons why the Ramblers went from virtual unknowns in basketball to the talk of the sports world. But perhaps the most important one was written right across their shirts: 鈥渃reated by culture.鈥�

Inside the team鈥檚 locker room stands a wall with the words 鈥満诹厦臗ulture鈥� emblazoned across the top. The wall is filled with sayings from Coach Moser鈥檚 playbook that he鈥檚 drilled into the players: Fake a pass to make a pass. Turn the tide. Make it hurt. When the ball moves, you move. All have deeper meanings that speak to the team鈥檚 approach to the game and the culture Moser has built.

Beyond the team鈥檚 intense attention to detail in the way they study film and prepare for their opposition, their culture is rooted in teamwork. No player takes center stage; each game throughout the playoff run had a different star, each time another Rambler took the winning shot or made a key play. They share the ball, they work together, and they always support one another.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what so special about our team,鈥� senior guard Ben Richardson told the Washington Post. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got so many unselfish guys, and we have so many weapons. Like we鈥檝e been saying, it can be anybody鈥檚 night, you know?鈥�

Media attention explodes

61,000

Media mentions during March Madness

38.7K

Online

14.5K

On TV

7.8K

On radio

More than basketball

The Ramblers鈥� culture is, of course, about much more than just basketball. The Jesuit values of 黑料门are ingrained in these players, and it shows on and off the court. It is the way they carry themselves and treat others. It鈥檚 the fact that they鈥檙e serious about their studies, being part of an athletics program at 黑料门that ranks at the top of the nation in Graduation Success Rate of student-athletes. It鈥檚 their special relationship with Sister Jean, who leads them in prayer before games and offers advice to each of the players.

Sister Jean's integral role on the team became itself a topic of conversation throughout the media, as everyone wanted to hear from the 98-year-old sister whose spiritual presence is matched only by her savvy when it comes to the game of basketball.

鈥淗er presence and her aura, when you see her, it鈥檚 just like the world is just great because [of] her spirit and her faith in us and 黑料门basketball... She鈥檚 the biggest 黑料门fan I鈥檝e ever met in my entire life.鈥�

鈥� Junior Marques Townes (Associated Press)

Sister Jean by the numbers

98

Age (Birthday: August 21, 1919)

57

Years at 黑料门(24 with team)

16,000+

Bobbleheads sold

38,595

Media mentions*

23,612

Likes on Loyola's Instagram*

*During March Madness

Behind the scenes

Perhaps what most defined the team through their historic March Madness run was their camaraderie behind the scenes. They took every game seriously, but still found opportunities to joke around in the locker room. Before the second-round game against Tennessee, center Carson Shanks grabbed a microphone and conducted mock interviews with some of his teammates. Before another game, freshman Cameron Krutwig did his best Will Ferrell impression during an on-camera interview while his friends tried to crack him up from off screen. And in the short slivers of free time they had at night, the players gathered in a hotel room to play FIFA on an Xbox One that freshman Dylan Boehm had brought along for the trip.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing what you can do when you get a group of people who believe and are really tight. I鈥檝e said that since day one,鈥� Moser said in a post-game press conference following the team鈥檚 second round win over Tennessee. 鈥淲e have a close-knit culture, and the guys in the locker room pull for each other, they share the ball, and it is just amazing. We all, we really believe.鈥�

Capturing hearts

The team may have been surprised to see the gathering of fans when they returned home from Dallas, but as the tournament wore on there was no denying that they鈥檇 become national stars. Every major media outlet was talking about Loyola鈥檚 Cinderella story, as they knocked off one big name team after another: No. 6 seed Miami. No. 3 seed Tennessee. No. 7 seed Nevada. And finally, No. 9 seed Kansas State, earning the Ramblers the distinction of being only the fourth No. 11 seed in NCAA tournament history to make the Final Four.

Back home, the watch parties grew more crowded. City buildings lit up the Chicago skyline in maroon and gold to show their support. Billboards featuring the players and Sister Jean greeted drivers on the Kennedy Expressway. No matter where you went in Chicago, March Madness鈥攁nd Rambler madness鈥攈ad enveloped the city.

Though the players tried to remain focused, it was hard to escape their sudden celebrity status. When the team was in Atlanta, they learned that NBA superstar Russell Westbrook was staying at their hotel鈥攂ut it was Westbrook who wanted to meet them. NBA legend and broadcaster Charles Barkley also made it known he was rooting for the Ramblers, and made it a priority to meet Sister Jean during the Final Four. When the team arrived in San Antonio, they walked past giant photos of themselves plastered in the hotel and the arena. There was no doubt that the Ramblers had arrived.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a blast so far. I think it鈥檚 brought us all together.鈥�

鈥擩ustina Birden (Sophomore, Broadcast Journalism major)

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