Loyola fans celebrate Final Four team's return to Chicago
Loyola's men's basketball team returned home Sunday to a conqueror's welcome from championship-hungry fans packing Joseph J. Gentile Arena at the university's Rogers Park campus on Chicago's North Side.
The fans erupted in a spontaneous chant of "Sister Jean" as the legendary nonagenarian team chaplain was wheeled onto the court. Descended upon by photographers, she held up her hand in a "No. 1" salute.
She was followed by Coach Porter Moser and his squad, including Marques Townes, who was clutching the 2018 Division I South Regional Championship trophy, and Donte Ingram, who was wearing the basketball net that was cut down in Atlanta following Saturday's triumphant rout of Kansas State in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.
As the team mounted a platform, the fans showered them with a chant of "Final Four."
When the crowd noise subsided, Moser then whipped up fans even further, saying, "How much fun is everybody having?"
Moser was just as caught up in the excitement, when he said, "This group onstage is what's right about college basketball. This could be an unbelievable ride and journey for our university."
For the students and alumni in the crowd, it was a chance to savor the school's newfound dominance after many lean years.
"It's been crazy," said Rachel Gomez, a senior in finance from Lombard, who remembers the atmosphere at the games prior to this year.
"It was honestly like watching a middle-school basketball game. You had the parents here that were excited to watch their kids. You had a couple of the friends coming to cheer them on."
Now, junior Jasmine Patel of Crystal Lake, said, "Everyone is talking about the basketball team and everyone is in a good mood all the time, I feel like. And we're all going for a common goal."
Charishma Reddy, a sophomore from Naperville, illustrated the renewed interest. She said, "It was only when we got into March Madness that I started attending all the games. I think that's the same with everyone else."
Saturday night at the Damen Student Center, students from other schools, including DePaul and UIC, as well as Loyola alumni, joined the watch party, said Pooja Patel from Glendale Heights, one of three unrelated Patels from the suburbs sitting together at the rally. The third girl, Puja Patel, a junior from Bartlett, said she and her friends were supposed to go to the library Sunday but decided to attend the rally instead.
Holding the trophy, Townes told the crowd, "We're just so happy to bring this back home to you guys."
And Clayton Custer spoke about the team unity, saying, "This is such a group of good dudes. We love each other so much."
"We love you!" one fan shouted back.
Loyola will face Michigan on Saturday in San Antonio. The winner will play in the NCAA title game on April 2.