MVC Basketball

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt became a national celebrity as the team chaplain for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers during their Cinderella run to the Final Four in the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament, but she is taking a step out of the spotlight after Saturday's loss.

"She's done for a while," Ryan Haley, assistant director of athletic communications for Loyola-Chicago, said, per Josh Peter of USA Today. "We're going to give her a little bit of an extended break from everything ... and let her kind of catch her breath."

Sister Jean is 98 years old, but that didn't stop her from attending all of Loyola-Chicago's tournament games and becoming a highlight of many of the television broadcasts.

Peter noted "dozens of reporters crammed into a room for a specially scheduled interview session with Sister Jean" on Friday during media sessions for the Final Four.

While Saturday's 69-57 loss to Michigan didn't end the way Sister Jean would have wanted, Loyola-Chicago became the darlings of the tournament by emerging from the South Regional as a No. 11 seed.

The 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago Ramblers' Cinderella run in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship came to an end in the Final Four on Saturday night, and with it came the heartbreak that is March Madness.

Loyola-Chicago held a double-digit lead over the Michigan Wolverines in the second half of the national semifinal matchup. However, Michigan's Moe Wagner (24 points and 15 rebounds) came up big for his team down the stretch and helped the Wolverines pull out a 69-57 victory.

Ramblers players were understandably emotional walking back to the locker room after the season-ending loss:

Loyola Chicago players in tears as they make their way to the locker room following a 69-57 loss to Michigan. #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/JZpVechfkw

— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) April 1, 2018

The loss stings now, but reaching the Final Four for just the second time in program history is an incredible accomplishment:

Thank you to everyone who supported us during this amazing season and run. We couldn't have done it without you. #OnwardLU #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/S4Jdh32qOa

— Loyola Men's Basketball (@RamblersMBB) April 1, 2018

College basketball fans will not soon forget these Ramblers.

On Saturday night, the 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago Ramblers' incredible tournament run came to an end with a 69-57 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the men's Final Four at the Alamodome.

Loyola-Chicago controlled much of the game, holding a double-digit lead in the second half. However, Michigan's Moe Wagner (24 points and 15 rebounds) led his team to its second championship game appearance in five years.

It was a run that nobody will soon forget. Taking out Miami, Tennessee, Nevada and Kansas State in the span of nine days to reach the program's second Final Four is no small feat. And although the season ended with a loss, it was a good showing in the Final Four. The squad made Loyola-Chicago fans everywhere proud.

Thank you to everyone who supported us during this amazing season and run. We couldn't have done it without you. #OnwardLU #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/S4Jdh32qOa

— Loyola Men's Basketball (@RamblersMBB) April 1, 2018

The Ramblers may not have made an early exit at the 2018 NCAA tournament, but the same can't be said about Sister Jean. As the end result became clear, the 98-year-old team chaplain decided to leave the scene before the final buzzer sounded:

Sister Jean caught heading out a little early.#FinalFour https://t.co/lihw8kGfc1

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 1, 2018

After the game, Wolverines freshman Jordan Poole made sure to track down Sister Jean for an awesome display of sportsmanship, as Chase Shannon of KAKE captured:

https://twitter.com/chase_shannon/status/980239207506567173

Of course, the internet was ready for a Loyola-Chicago loss, for better or worse:

Sorry, Loyola-Chicago 😭 pic.twitter.com/IQ8MT21XeE

— SB Nation (@SBNation) April 1, 2018

pic.twitter.com/UmZYrMj7vn

— blue sky big cow (@RememberBigCow) April 1, 2018

What a run it was for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers 👏 pic.twitter.com/p2pHTWoQ6w

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 1, 2018

I thank #Loyola for a great season. Brought us a little bit of joy and a whole lot of hope! #Ramblers #NoFinishLine pic.twitter.com/xCyy3c6eNL

— Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes) April 1, 2018

Cinderella's time at the Big Dance is over, and with that, so is Sister Jean's.

SAN ANTONIO — Late Thursday evening in San Antonio—less than 48 hours before the Final Four—the scramble was on at Loyola of Chicago's team hotel.

Guard Marques Townes had received word that a rather notable fan in Dallas was seeking a Ramblers jersey—pronto!—with his No. 5 on the back. And now the junior guard was pestering equipment managers and marketing types to see whether they could make it happen.

"Get him a jersey as [quickly] as you can!" Townes said he told Loyola staffers. "Make one if you have to!"

The time restraints, though, were too tight, and Loyola wasn't able to fill the request. Not even for Karl-Anthony Towns.

Yes, that Karl-Anthony Towns. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward hoped to show his support for his former high school teammate by wearing his jersey during warm-ups before Friday's road tilt with the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

Instead, he'll have to settle for posting Twitter shoutouts to Townes during Saturday's NCAA men's tournament semifinal against Michigan. Marques ranks third on the Ramblers in scoring with 11.2 points per game.

"Marques deserves this moment," Karl-Anthony told Bleacher Report via text. "He's an amazing basketball player—one of the best teammates I ever had—and an amazing person."

Long before he was starring alongside Andrew Wiggins and Jimmy Butler in Minneapolis, Towns—the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA draft—was taking post feeds from Marques and current Portland Trail Blazers guard Wade Baldwin IV at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey.

"They had one of the most unique bonds of any group I've ever seen at that level," said Dave Turco, who coached the team. "Individually, they could've gone to lesser teams and averaged 30 or 40 points each. But they sacrificed their numbers for each other. They sacrificed because they wanted to win."

And even though Towns (who signed with Kentucky) and Baldwin (Vanderbilt) were high-major recruits, there was never a sense in the locker room that Marques was a level beneath them.

"He's just as good as us," Turco recalls Baldwin often saying.

Karl-Anthony led the 2013-14 St. Joseph squad in scoring with 20.9 points per game, while Baldwin chipped in 15.0. Sandwiched between them was Marques, a physical 6'4" guard who averaged 16.2 points and also starred on the football squad as a linebacker.

"There were a lot of games where people would try to take away Wade or Karl," Turco said, "but then they'd get burned by Marques. He performed really well in a lot of games where all of the limelight was on them."

Indeed, Townes ranks second in school history in scoring (1,863 points) behind only Jay Williams, who starred at Duke.

"Marques was an incredible scorer," Baldwin told Bleacher Report in a phone interview Friday. "But he was also the guy who always did the little things. Toughness, diving for loose balls, playing lockdown defense. The people that do those things...winning matters to them. And it mattered to Marques. It mattered to all of us."

While Towns and Baldwin long seemed destined for the NBA, Marques knew his athletic career would take a different path. He tinkered with playing Division I football—Syracuse, Ball State and Akron were among the schools that offered scholarships—but his passion for basketball led him to sign with Fairleigh Dickinson. Townes averaged 11.5 points per game as a sophomore and led the team to the NCAA tournament, where it lost in the First Four to Florida Gulf Coast.

Confident in his abilities to excel in a higher-level conference, he transferred to Loyola in the fall of 2016 and sat one season under NCAA transfer rules.

"He thought that with the way he was progressing, he could play at a higher level," Turco said. "He told me, 'I don't want to have any what-ifs.' So he gave it a chance, and it all worked out."

Even more so than Townes could've imagined.

When the Ramblers' plane touched down in San Antonio on Wednesday, it was guided into a private hangar. A red carpet lined the path for the players to walk to their bus as a band played their fight song.

"Like Coach [Porter Moser] was saying, there is nothing normal about this," Townes said. "We're enjoying the time and enjoying the moment, but when it comes to locking in on practices and the film we have in hotels, we do a good job of having a laser-like focus during those times."

Even though Towns and Baldwin are not here to witness Townes' big moment in person, they feel like they're experiencing it with him. They're part of a 10-person texting group that fires messages back and forth throughout Loyola's games. Turco is in the group too.

"My phone is buzzing the entire game," Turco said. "Sometimes it's, 'Did you see that defensive stop?!' and other times it's, 'He should've taken that shot!' We're just all so happy for Marques."

Not just because they like him but also because they respect what he's done to get here.

"He's [gone] through a lot of trials and tribulations," Karl-Anthony Towns wrote in his text. "People don't care about the labor pains. They only care about the baby. People don't see what Marques had to go through to get to this point."

The Ramblers are thankful he persevered.

Townes has played a huge role in Loyola's Final Four run, having assisted on the winning shot against Miami in the round of 64 before connecting on his own game-winner a week later against Nevada.

"I'm happy for Marques," Baldwin said, "but I'll be honest: I'm not surprised. This is what I expect from him. This is what he does. He's a winner. This is what he should be doing. He's just as worthy of being on that stage as anyone else."

Townes believes that too. Still, as confident as he is in his abilities, he's not above asking his friends for pointers and advice. That's why he spent a little extra time speaking with Towns on Thursday night once the jersey idea fell through.

In 2015, Towns' Kentucky Wildcats entered the Final Four with an undefeated record, but their championship hopes were crushed with a loss to Wisconsin in the semifinal.

"We got to the Final Four but couldn't finish it," Karl-Anthony told Townes. "You better finish it for me."

Townes laughed.

"I just told him: 'I got you. We're going to try our best.'"

Loyola of Chicago team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt addressed several topics in a press conference Friday before the Ramblers' Final Four clash with Michigan on Saturday.

The 98-year-old expressed her belief that God is a basketball fan, but more so college than the NBA, according to Nancy Armour of USA Today:

https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/979737342645800962

She then explained the rationale behind her opinion, per Tom Martin of KCTV5:

SISTER JEAN 🔥 TAKE:

God likes the NCAA more than the NBA because “these young players play with their heart and not for financial gain.”

— TOM MARTIN (@TwoCirclesTom) March 30, 2018

Sister Jean also addressed the comments by Jalen Rose's 100-year-old grandmother, Mary Belle Hicks, that the No. 3 Wolverines would beat the No. 11 Ramblers.

According to Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, Sister Jean said: "Someone said maybe you need a pair of boxing gloves. We will see what happens."

Rose, who played collegiately at Michigan, posted the following video on Instagram of his grandma's bold prediction:

If Loyola-Chicago can pull off another upset, it will be the first No. 11 seed to ever reach the national championship game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Loyola-Chicago? Household name. Sister Jean? You bet.

The Ramblers' leading scorer? Eh, maybe not so much.

Twitter user Riley Counihan posted a video of a bus driver imploring passengers to cheer Loyola while apparently failing to recognize star point guard Clayton Custer, who appears to be sitting to his left:

CURRENTLY ON THE SHUTTLE AND THE BUS DRIVER IS MAKING US CHEER FOR LOYOLA AND HE HAS NO IDEA THAT CLAYTON CUSTER IS SITTING RIGHT THERE 😂😂😂 this is too much pic.twitter.com/Y9REzhJoqI

— riley (@riley__lauren) March 27, 2018

Custer is the team leader in points (13.2) and assists (4.2) per game and has arguably been the team's best player throughout its run in the NCAA tournament. Despite this, Custer has not become an overnight celebrity.

After Loyola clinched its Final Four berth, guard Ben Richardson told a story of a fan asking Custer to take a picture of the team.

"Earlier today, we were getting on the elevator after shootaround, and somebody in the hotel, I think it was like a high school kid or something, was asking for a picture with the team, and they said, hey, can you take this, Mister, and they gave the phone to Clay. He was going to take it, too. He was polite, he was going to take it. I was like, oh, man," Richardson said on TBS (h/t the Kansas City Star's Pete Grathoff).

Perhaps Custer should resort to just wearing his jersey everywhere so this doesn't happen again.

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt has been one of the biggest stars of March Madness as the team chaplain for Loyola of Chicago, but now there's some trash talk from another longtime fan heading into the Final Four of the 2018 NCAA men's tournament.      

Jalen Rose's grandmother, Mary Belle Hicks, wasn't willing to take it easy on the fourth No. 11 seed to ever reach this stage. In a video posted by Get Up, the 100-year-old Hicks said the Ramblers have had a "good ride, but it's over Saturday. Go Blue!":

Sister Jean, @jalenrose’s grandma said see you at the Final Four … 💯 pic.twitter.com/vQwZkbMdHh

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 26, 2018

Rose played for Michigan from 1991-94, and the Wolverines are set to face Loyola-Chicago in the national semifinals at the Alamodome in San Antonio. 

The 98-year-old Sister Jean has become a national sensation during the Ramblers' run, even being the focal point of merchandising.

The result is some of the most unique bulletin-board material in recent memory.

Sister Jean Delores Schmidt gave Loyola-Chicago officials clearance to license her name and image on merchandise this week, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.

Loyola-Chicago Senior Associate Athletic Director Tom Sorboro said "she didn't ask for anything for herself" upon approval, including compensation.

The 98-year-old Sister Jean has been one of the breakout stars of the NCAA tournament.

She is the team chaplain for the Loyola-Chicago men's basketball squad, and she has been a visible presence throughout the 11th-seeded Ramblers' surprising run to the Final Four.

Per Rovell, Loyola-Chicago has approved more than 25 Sister Jean-related T-shirts, including a Final Four shirt that includes her signature catchphrase, "Worship. Work And Win."

Loyola-Chicago will look to become the first No. 11 seed to ever reach the title game when it faces the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday.

The Loyola of Chicago Ramblers arrived at the Big Dance with only a bit of attention. Four victories later, they're guaranteed to leave March Madness as a legendary team.

Thanks to a 78-62 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats, the Ramblers earned a spot in the Final Four and secured their place in men's college basketball history.

Loyola, the No. 11 seed in the South Regional, joined 1985-86 LSU, 2005-06 George Mason and 2010-11 Virginia Commonwealth as the lowest seed to ever reach the national semifinals. That alone is reason enough for the Ramblers to be remembered in the annals of the NCAA tournament.

But because of how they kept surviving and advancing, Loyola will be one of the most memorable Cinderella stories.

On their way to the Elite Eight, the Ramblers edged sixth-seeded Miami just before the buzzer. They clipped No. 3 seed Tennessee when a jumper rattled home in the closing seconds. They buried No. 7 seed Nevada with a late three.

Based on margin of victory, this unexpected run is unparalleled in March Madness history.

Only 1980-81 Saint Joseph's also won its first three games by a combined four points, per ESPN Stats & Info. But in the Elite Eight, that squad lost by 32 points. Loyola, on the other hand—with a trip to San Antonio at stake—led for the final 36 minutes of Saturday's game.

The Ramblers left no doubt they deserved a spot in the Final Four.

https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/977699616069226496

One noteworthy point the coming years will determine is whether a specific player will be immortalized. That seems improbable, since Donte Ingram, Clayton Custer and Marques Townes all hit clutch shots and no player has consistently taken over games a la Stephen Curry for 2007-08 Davidson.

Granted, Sister Jean—the 98-year-old team chaplain whose likeness was featured on a collectible bobblehead—could fill that role.

Still, it's more likely Loyola will be remembered for its collective success as a scarcely known mid-major program. 2005-06 George Mason and 2010-11 VCU also fit that description.

Really, that would be the most fitting legacy for Porter Moser's team. For many—if not all—of these players, this will be the glory days story they tell their children and grandchildren.

Custer paced the Ramblers with 14 points in their opening game. Aundre Jackson's 16 led the way during the second round. Townes notched a team-best 18 in the Sweet 16. Ben Richardson eclipsed his previous season high of 14 by pouring in 23 during the South Regional-clinching victory.

BIG BUCKET from Ben Richardson! 👌

Loyola Chicago stops a 10-0 run by the Wildcats with the SWISH! #MarchMadness #Elite8 pic.twitter.com/Ihc9d0Vh90

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2018

Loyola is team basketball exemplified. And given its coach's path, that shouldn't be a surprise.

Moser utilizes concepts he learned from his former boss, Rick Majerus. The Ramblers showcase a free-flowing motion offense and a pack-line defense—a similar philosophy to what Virginia was decried for using because it "led" to a historic upset in the first round.

In the not-too-distant future, the 49-year-old Moser may be fielding calls from power-conference schools. That's a common theme in the history of remarkable tournament runs.

Jim Larranaga—who oversaw George Mason's surge—eventually headed to Miami, and he's guided the Hurricanes to four of the 10 NCAA tournament bids in program history. Shaka Smart made VCU into an annual tourney qualifier prior to leaving for Texas.

But no matter whether Moser stays at Loyola for a long time, he'll always be the coach of a legendary Cinderella journey.

Exactly where does this one rank all-time? That question will be debated now and in the future. But that's not as important as one concurrent truth.

The glass slipper fit.

And now, Loyola is unforgettable.

    

Stats via Sports Reference and NCAA.com unless otherwise noted. Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.

The No. 11 seed Loyola of Chicago Ramblers' Cinderella run in the 2018 NCAA men's tournament continued Saturday, as they defeated the No. 9 seed Kansas State Wildcats 78-62 in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four.

By virtue of the Ramblers' victory at Philips Arena in Atlanta, they won the South Regional and became just the fourth No. 11 seed to reach the Final Four—joining 1985-86 LSU, 2005-06 George Mason and 2010-11 Virginia Commonwealth.

Loyola-Chicago shot a blistering 57.4 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range and limited Kansas State to 34.8 percent from the floor and 24.0 percent from deep.

Senior guard Ben Richardson led the Ramblers with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-7 from long range. The Wildcats were paced by sophomore forward Xavier Sneed, who registered 16 points.

Saturday marked only the sixth time this season that Richardson has reached double figures in scoring.

Loyola-Chicago will play for a chance to be the first No. 11 seed to take part in a national championship game when it faces the winner of No. 3 seed Michigan and No. 9 seed Florida State in the Final Four next Saturday.

Loyola-Chicago entered Saturday's contest as a slight underdog, per OddsShark, but it set the tone by knocking down shot after shot.

SB Nation's Ricky O'Donnell alluded to the Ramblers' ridiculous start:

Loyola's offensive strategy of "literally never missing a shot" is bold but I respect it

— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) March 24, 2018

They made eight of their first 10 shots and roared to a 19-7 lead in the first eight minutes.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Loyola-Chicago's early three-point shooting display dwarfed what Kentucky mustered against Kansas State in the Sweet 16:

Loyola-Chicago rolled off the bus ready to shoot. The Ramblers have opened up 8-10 from the field and 3-3 from behind the arc.

Kansas State held Kentucky to 3-12 from 3-point range in their Sweet 16 showdown. pic.twitter.com/9SQx60tG3A

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 24, 2018

The Ramblers have far exceeded expectations throughout the tournament, and Brian Hamilton of The Fieldhouse made mention of that during their hot start Saturday:

Me: "There's no way Loyola can pull off another insanely long, efficient stretch of offense."

Loyola: "Hold this beer, and then pass it to the open man."

— Brian Hamilton (@_Brian_Hamilton) March 24, 2018

Kansas State gradually closed the gap in the first half, and it cut Loyola-Chicago's lead to five with 5:55 remaining before the break.

The Ramblers rebounded after that lull, though, and Richardson's trifecta 13 seconds before halftime gave them a 36-24 advantage with just 20 minutes to play, as seen in the following video courtesy of NCAA March Madness:

Ramblers close out the first half with a late THREE! 👌#MarchMadness #Elite8 pic.twitter.com/9s8t0bwHu1

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2018

That make was the product of ball movement, and Eli Boettger of Mountain West Wire commented on Loyola-Chicago's efficiency in that regard:

Hard to believe there were 23 teams that had higher assist rates than Loyola this season. Ramblers move the ball so well and it almost always leads to good looks.

— Eli Boettger (@boettger_eli) March 24, 2018

The Wildcats had their work cut out for them to start the second half, and they didn't do themselves any favors.

Arguably the play of the game took place three minutes into the second half, when Richardson was fouled by Kamau Stokes while making a three:

Richardson converted the free throw for a four-point play, and the Ramblers never looked back.

Their lead ballooned to 19 on Richardson's trifecta with 11:14 left:

Loyola-Chicago led by as much as 23 in the second half before Kansas State went on a 10-0 run that closed the gap to 61-48.

But Richardson hit his sixth three, Marques Townes scored five unanswered points with under three minutes remaining, and the Ramblers put the game away by making their free throws late.

In a region that included powerhouses such as Virginia, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona and Kentucky, Loyola-Chicago was the last team standing.

The Ramblers are lacking in terms of superstar players, but with their fundamentally sound brand of basketball and big-time performances by unheralded players such as Richardson, they are a threat to win the national title.