Nickname Ramblers Colors Maroon and Gold Division Division I (NCAA) Mascot LU Wolf | Student section Rambler Rowdies Arena/Stadium Joseph J. Gentile Arena Head coach Porter Moser | |
University Loyola University Chicago Conference Missouri Valley Conference Location Chicago, Illinois, United States | ||
Loyola ramblers men s basketball season highlights 2014 2015
The Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represents Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The Ramblers joined the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2013, ending a 34-season tenure as charter members of the Horizon League.
Contents
- Loyola ramblers men s basketball season highlights 2014 2015
- Racial integration
- NCAA Tournament results
- NIT results
- CBI results
- Awards
- References
In 1963, Loyola won the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament (then the "NCAA University Division") men's basketball national championship under the leadership of All-American Jerry Harkness, defeating two-time defending champion Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime in the title game. All five starters for the Ramblers played the entire championship game, without substitution.
Surviving team members were honored on July 11, 2013 at the White House to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their victory. The entire team was inducted in November of that year in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. As of 2015, Loyola remains the only school from the state of Illinois to win a men's Division I basketball national championship. And a first-round regional victory by Loyola on March 11, 1963 over Tennessee Tech remains a record margin of victory (69 points) for any NCAA men's basketball tournament game.
Racial integration
The Loyola University Chicago teams of the early 1960s, coached by George Ireland, are thought to be responsible for ushering in a new era of racial equality in the sport by shattering all remaining color barriers in NCAA men's basketball. Beginning in 1961, Loyola broke the longstanding gentlemen's agreement (not to play more than three black players at any given time), putting as many as four black players on the court at every game. For the 1962-63 season, Ireland played four black Loyola starters in every game. That season, Loyola also became the first team in NCAA Division I history to play an all-black lineup, doing so in a game against Wyoming in December 1962. In that season's NCAA tournament, Loyola defeated the all-white team of then-segregated Mississippi State by a score of 61-51, a game especially notable because the Bulldogs defied a state court order prohibiting them from playing against a school with black players.
In 1963, Loyola shocked the nation and changed college basketball forever by starting four black players in the NCAA Championship game. Loyola's stunning upset of two-time defending NCAA champion Cincinnati, in overtime by a score of 60-58, was the crowning achievement in the school's nearly decade long struggle with racial inequality in men's college basketball, highlighted by the tumultuous events of that year's NCAA Tournament. Loyola's 1963 NCAA title was historic not only for the racial makeup of Loyola's team, but also due to the fact that Cincinnati had started 3 black players, making 7 of the ten starters in the 1963 NCAA Championship game black.
NCAA Tournament results
The Ramblers have appeared in five NCAA Tournaments. Their record is 9–4.
NIT results
The Ramblers have appeared in four National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 5–4.
CBI results
The Ramblers have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once, winning it in 2015. Their record is 5–0.
Awards
All-Americans
Academic All-Americans
MCC Coach of the Year
MCC/Horizon League Player of the Year
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley First Team
MCC/Horizon League Second Team
Missouri Valley Conference Third Team
MCC/Horizon League All-Defensive Team
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley Newcomer of the Year
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley All-Newcomer Team
Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year
Missouri Valley All-Freshman Team
Missouri Valley Sixth Man of the Year
MCC/Horizon League Tournament MVP
MCC/Horizon League All-Tournament Team