Getty Sister Jean greets Loyola basketball player Lucas Williamson after a game in 2018.
Loyola Chicago looks to keep its success going with Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt on the sidelines again. The Ramblers tip-off the season against Fairleigh-Dickinson on Monday, November 7.
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Fairleigh Dickinson vs Loyola Chicago Preview
A constant with the Loyola Chicago basketball program, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt turned 103 this year. She will be at the Ramblers’ season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday.
The Ramblers team chaplain received the recognition of a train station plaza on campus being named in her honor this year for her 103rd birthday. Now, she will support the Ramblers in the team’s quest for another Final Four appearance.
“I eat well. I pray well — I hope I pray well — and I sleep well,” Sister Jean told The Associated Press.
She also said that “just being with the students” is what she looks forward to in her latest school year at Loyola, per The Associated Press. Sister Jean entered the national college basketball spotlight in 2018 when the Ramblers made the Final Four for the first time since the 1960s.
Chicago Loyola kept going strong after that 32-win season with 25 or more wins in the past two full seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances. The Ramblers won at least 20 games during the COVID-shortened season but missed the lone Big Dance in that time period.
Loyola Chicago senior guard Braden Norris described how Sister Jean makes a difference in little things for the team. That includes gestures such as a pregame prayer and emails to the players.
“She means a lot,” Norris said per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “She’s kind of our whole brand, especially when we get into March. We always kind of joke around when we advance, it’s kind of like Sister Jean advancing to the round of 32.
“She’s great. I mean, she means a ton to our university and to our team, and it’s awesome to have her here,” Norris added.
Fairleigh Dickinson, a member of the Northeast Conference, looks to spoil the Ramblers’ home opener. The Knights went 4-22 last season, but the team has a new head coach in Tobin Anderson, who had a .771 winning percentage at the Division II level where he turned around the St. Thomas Aquinas College (New York) program.
“Guys want to play fast and score points,” Anderson said via NorthJersey.com. “The problem is, guys say they’re going to do that and don’t actually do it. We actually do it.”
“We spent a lot of time conditioning and we play fast in practice,” he added. “I think we’re in tremendous shape.”
Loyola Chicago looks to start the season strong under second-year head coach Drew Valentine. His club faces a new challenge with entry in the Atlantic 10 Conference, one of the higher-profile mid-major conferences in the nation.
“I think we have identity and culture, but this league is tough,” coach Drew Valentine said via Atlantic10.com. “The coaches, the players — I love the Valley, but we knew we were going to get a couple wins, probably. We could probably pencil a couple in. Who do we have penciled in with this league? It’s definitely a step up in weight class.”