By Craig Lynch –
Loyola University men’s head basketball coach Porter Moser grew up in Naperville. He was a three-year starting forward for the Benet Academy Redwings in the 1980s.
“When I was at Benet our gym was packed and we were in the midst of a long homecourt winning streak (102 games),” said Moser, prior to singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at the Chicago Cubs’ home-opening baseball game against Pittsburgh in Wrigley Field Tuesday, April 10.
More than sports fans know of the Ramblers exploits in the 2017-2018 season. Their record was 26-5 during the regular season. They went on to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship. Even those who hadn’t watched college basketball all season were caught up in the Ramblers’ run to the NCAA Final Four.
When asked about his time at Benet he talked about head coach Bill Geist. “Coach was a strong disciplinarian,” said Moser. “We had to work hard.”
Despite winning a lot of games, the Redwings couldn’t duplicate the run that Kevin Conrad and Mike Lang went on in 1979 to third place in the Class AA two-class State Tournament. “We just couldn’t get by West Aurora and Kenny Battle,” Moser said without a trace of sadness.
Moser talked about the recent Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis. “We had to win the tournament to get into the NCAA,” Moser said. “We beat Northern Iowa, Bradley, and Illinois State; there was lots of pressure right there.”
The Chicago area college basketball fans will wait to see if the Ramblers can continue with success next season and what will happen to Moser and the Ramblers in the future.
