By Woodrow Carroll
Some things fall into place after many rough moments. For Chicago’s Loyola University men’s head basketball coach Porter Moser the present and future have a rosy glow.
Sunday in St. Louis, Mo., Moser’s Loyola Ramblers defeated the Drake Bulldogs, 75-65, to capture the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship. The victory, Loyola’s 17th in its last 18 games, improved the Ramblers’ record to 24-4 and locked up a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Berths will be announced at 5 p.m. Sunday n CBS-TV for the touanment with all games played in the Indianapolis, Ind. area.
Moser, 52, is a graduate of Benet Academy in Lisle and played collegiate ball at Creighton University. Moser, 52, has had some fitful moments early in his coaching career.
First, as a head coach in the collegiate ranks was a four-year run at Arkansas-Little Rock, 2000-2003. It was not not a bad run. The Trojans’ record was 54-34 in those four years.
Next, for Moser was the head coach job at Illinois State University. Life in Normal was a struggle. The Redbirds experienced three losing campaigns in Moser’s four years at the school. After that fourth season, Moser was out at ISU.
After leaving Illinois State, Moser served as an assistant at St. Louis University under Rick Majerus. Time spent under the skilled and entertaining Majerus helped Moser land the Loyola University job in April 2011.
In 1963, the Ramblers came from 15 points behind to beat defending champion University of Cincinnati, 60-58, in overtime for the 1963 NCAA championship. After that great run in the 1960s Loyola basketball fortunes were a mixed bad: Some good moments and periods of struggle.
When Moser signed on with the Jesuit school on Chicago’s North Side, the Ramblers were in the Horizon League. In season number three for Moser, Loyola joined the Missouri Valley Conference. For both Moser and the school, the move into the MVC proved to be a good one.
The 2015 season was a bit unusual for Moser and the Ramblers. Loyola was 19-13 at the end of the regular season. The school elected to enter the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and it paid off. Five postseason victories in the tournament provided a 24-13 final record and a championship trophy.
Three seasons later the Ramblers reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament before falling to the University of Michigan in a semifinal game. Loyola concluded with a 32-6 record. The 32 victories was the most for the men’s basketball program and surpassed the 29-2 record by the 1963 national championship squad.
The past four seasons the Ramblers’ won-loss records have been 32-6, 20-14, 21-11 and 24-4 with one or more games remaining this season.
Of all the teams to reach the Final Four in recent years, Loyola’s Joe Gentile Arena, seating of 4,486 has the smallest seating capacity of any of those schools. Sellout crowds and Pack the Place Nights have fallen on hard times with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ramblers were 13-0 at home this season so there may be some magic in the arena even without crown noise.
The Missouri Valley is comprised of 10 member schools. The Valley played all of its scheduled conference games with notable modifications in 2020-2021. The old home-and-away conference schedule did bite the dust.
In the final Missouri Valley standings, Loyola was 16-2 followed by Drake, 15-3 which was 14-1 at home. The Bulldogs’ only defeat at home was an 81-54 thumping by Loyola February 13. Cameron Krutwig, a 6-9 senior center, was the Missouri Valley tournament Most Valuable Player Award winner. He played Jacobs High High School in the Fox Valley Conference.
Loyola played Southern Illinois twice, February 26-27, at Gentile Arena to close out the regular season. Then to open the MVC Tournament in St. Louis last week, the Ramblers knocked off Southern Illinois University, 73-49. It is the type of familiarity one sees only in the NBA playoffs.
With an NCAA berth locked up, the Ramblers’ repeat of a 2018 Final Four would be most welcome by Chicago area and Loyola fans The NCAA tournament games will beg Thursday, March 18 in the Indianapolis area.