Loyola Ramblers

Loyola Ramblers
University	Loyola University
Conference(s)	Horizon League
NCAA	Division I
Athletics director	Dr. M. Grace Calhoun
Location	Chicago, IL
Varsity teams	13
Basketball arena	Joseph J. Gentile Arena
Soccer stadium	Loyola Soccer Park
Other arenas	Alumni Gym
Mascot	LU Wolf
Nickname	Ramblers
Fight song
Colors	Black, Gold, and Maroon
Homepage	www.loyolaramblers.com

Plaque commemorating 1963 Men's Basketball Team on the side of the Alumni Gym

The Loyola Ramblers are the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago. Most teams compete in the Horizon League of NCAA Division I. Notable athletes from Loyola have included middle-distance runner Tom O'Hara and basketball players Mike Novak, Jerry Harkness, Les Hunter, Wayne Sappleton, Alfredrick Hughes, LaRue Martin, Keir Rogers and Blake Schilb.

Men's basketball

The 1962-1963 men's basketball team, led by coach George Ireland, won the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, by defeating the University of Cincinnati, 60-58, in the title game. Walter Victor Rouse tipped in the winning bucket to win the game. Loyola is the only school in Illinois that has ever won an NCAA basketball championship. Moreover, Loyola made it to the finals of the National Invitation Tournaments (NIT), in 1939 and 1949 and the 'Sweet Sixteen' of the 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

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.^[1] 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.^[2] In that season's NCAA tournament, Loyola defeated the all-white team of then-segregated Mississippi State, 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

References

External links

• Loyola Ramblers official website