黑料门

Then came the rupture that was the Ramblers鈥� March Madness run. Through some alchemical combination of talent, grit, and luck, 黑料门rampaged through the postseason last spring, finishing with a 32-6 record and advancing to the national semifinals as an 11-seed, just the fourth school to do so in college basketball history. For a few intense weeks, the country鈥檚 attention (and its cameras) descended. Overnight, Sister Jean transformed into a meme, then an inspiration, then a bona fide celebrity. Krutwig couldn鈥檛 walk 10 feet to class without somebody stopping him. Townes likened the surreal experience to that of a pilot or astronaut: 鈥淭he program definitely shot up in the sky.鈥�

A 2019 curtain call was always going to be tricky. This year鈥檚 club still wasn鈥檛 big (197th in height, nationally), nor was it stacked with five-star recruits or touted transfers. Three versatile contributors were lost to graduation, including guard Ben Richardson, the most competitive defender Moser has ever coached. On top of the roster turnover, Moser stiffened the slate in November and December, scheduling match-ups against major conference powers (Maryland) and talented mid-majors (Nevada, Furman). And the glare of the hard-earned national spotlight barely wavered. There was more media attention, more television crews, more nerves. The ball wasn鈥檛 moving as crisply. Unexpected losses piled up. 鈥淚n the beginning of the season, we lost sight of the process,鈥� Townes says, during a rare off-day in February, reflecting on the Ramblers鈥� 7-6 start. 鈥淎nd coming back from the Final Four, teams were definitely trying to take their best shot.鈥�

New-year reset

At the end of December, Moser gave his players a much-needed holiday break. Trying to recreate last year鈥檚 recipe was an understandable impulse, but ultimately self-defeating; this was a new group with new pieces and new goals. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to keep chasing,鈥� Moser told the Washington Post . 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the thing I鈥檓 consumed with. Man, we鈥檝e got to be looking out our windshield, not our rearview mirror.鈥�

When the Ramblers returned to campus to prepare for conference play, Moser shifted the focus towards fundamentals, film sessions, and positivity. 鈥淲hen we came back from Christmas, Coach told us to press the restart button,鈥� Townes says. All they needed to right the ship and position themselves for another MVC title, Townes thought, was to 鈥渟tring out some wins and stay steady.鈥�

Leaning on Krutwig certainly helped. The 6鈥�9鈥� center spent his offseason improving his conditioning. Still baby-faced but notably slimmer than 12 months prior, he transformed into an interior force, and the undeniable focal point of Loyola鈥檚 offense. The most efficient rebounder in the MVC and a crafty passer for his size, Krutwig averaged 14.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Those are big numbers for anyone, but especially for an underclassman only scratching the surface of his potential.

Townes also took on a larger load, to great effect. Always an adept on-ball defender, the fearless New Jersey native lead the team in scoring (15.6 points per game) and assists (3.5) while displaying a confident, yet understated, swagger. His backcourt partner and the reigning MVC player of the year, Clayton Custer, still served as the Ramblers鈥� main orchestrator, displaying what the coaching staff calls an unflappable demeanor.

After the calendar flipped, 黑料门played with a newfound urgency, rattling off seven January wins in nine tries. They kept pace with Drake and Missouri State atop the league in February, despite occasional lapses in defensive concentration and another injury to sophomore Lucas Williamson, a key rotational player. (He only suited up 15 times.) By the beginning of March, they鈥檇 rally to claim a share of the conference regular season title, securing for the second straight season the top seed in the Arch Madness tournament. If it felt like a modest step back from 2018, it also represented a run of success about which past Ramblers could only dream.

March unfolded in a largely predictable manner: 黑料门plays at a slow pace, turns the ball over at a rate that still frustrates Moser, and rarely rebounds its own misses, which gives them a slim margin for error. (The Ramblers had a chance to win Arch Madness, according to the advanced statistics website KenPom.com.) 鈥淵ou know, we lay eggs here and there,鈥� Townes says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still trying to play consistently.鈥漎et the program is absolutely pointed in the right direction. Next year鈥檚 recruiting class is the most decorated in at least two decades. The newcomers will train in the state-of-the-art , expected to open its doors summer after next. Krutwig thinks the upgraded facilities will help 黑料门鈥渓ure some better players and become a destination.鈥� Championships no longer feel like a pipe dream, but the expectation.