An ode to Sister Jean

Each March the question arises: Who will be this year’s Cinderella? What mid-major will carve its name into March Madness history?

We’ve have George Mason becoming the second ever 11-seed and first mid-major 11-seed to reach the Final Four by knocking out the mighty UConn Huskies in 2006. Stephen Curry became a household name as he shot Davidson into the Elite Eight in 2008. VCU went First Four to Final Four in 2011. Dunk City in 2013. Saint Peter’s making a run to the Elite Eight in 2022. The list goes on and on.

While each of those examples stole our hearts for a couple of weeks, there’s one that endures even more: the 2018 Loyola Chicago Ramblers. No, not because of any of the players, and not because any of their games on the way to the Final Four stand out that strongly, though they were some epic games.

It’s because of one person within the program. One person who never even stepped onto the court that season. Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt. The Ramblers’ chaplain. No, let me rephrase that.

The then-98-year-old took the world by storm sitting in her wheelchair on the sideline cheering on Loyola Chicago.

“The fact that you had this team chaplain that had become this symbol of what college basketball and March Madness can be was incredible,” CBS’ Matt Norlander said on a recent episode of the Eye on College Basketball Podcast. “She’s an angel on this planet.”

At the Final Four that year, she was the biggest draw. More than Villanova, which was gunning for its second national championship in three years. More than Blue Blood Kansas. More than Michigan making its second Final Four in the decade.

While many these teams’ runs lasted three weeks and ended in Texas in early April, Sister Jean’s has endured. But it’s coming to an end. She announced her retirement this week at the age of 106 after having to scale back her responsibilities due to health concerns. She had served as chaplain since 1994.

Let’s put things in perspective. Sister Jean was born less than a year after the conclusion of World War I. She was born the same year Ohio State beat Michigan for the first time in football. She’s older than sliced bread. For the first 39 years of her life, the U.S. had 48 states.

Sister Jean is a real-life Forrest Gump having lived through so many historic events. And we are all better for seeing a piece of her history.

And we almost didn’t meet her.

Loyola Chicago needed late-game heroics in each of its first three games to win by a combined four points. Yes, three wins by a total of four points.

You could say the Ramblers had a little divine intervention in March 2018. And we’re perfectly happy about that. Cheers to you, Sister Jean, as you embark on your next chapter.