Rozner: Loyola ride doesn't have to end here

Most good things must come to an end.

For the purposes of our collective sanity, and this particular argument, let's not assume that all must conclude.

For Loyola, it is both proper and healthy to consider that while the Cinderella run of 2018 was wonderful, the Ramblers got everything they could out of the storybook trip to the Final Four.

It was entertaining and heartwarming.

So now what?

The cynics among us will dismiss it as a one-and-done and believe that it might be another 55 years before Loyola crashes the ball again.

Perhaps.

Or you could look at Gonzaga and Butler and Villanova and wonder if — given enough time with a coach willing to hang around — the Ramblers could develop into one of those schools that can become a national player.

The NCAA Tournament has certainly reached an era of parity that makes it possible for any school to sell the notion that a player can be recognized anywhere in the country, even at the smallest of city schools.

Nothing presents that opportunity better than reaching the Final Four, and Porter Moser has used the platform to show that a genuine personality can enthrall the nation.

Nobody did that better than Ray Meyer, but it took decades at DePaul to create a Chicago team that the city could get behind. It helps that Chicago sports were pretty much invisible in the late '70s and early '80s.

Still, with Meyer at the helm for 42 years, DePaul became the most popular team in Chicago for several years, not just the most popular college team in Illinois.

With the beloved Meyer in charge, DePaul recruited heavily in the city and suburbs and managed to land players like Joe Ponsetto, Dave Corzine, Curtis Watkins, Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Skip Dillard, Bernard Randolph, Teddy Grubbs, Howard Nathan and Quentin Richardson.

An amazing 14 times they were in the top 20 from 1975-92. They had seven top-5 teams, while two reached No. 1.

Loyola has a Kansas City connection working right now, but if they can start landing the best of Chicago, the sky's the limit.

Of course, every team between Lake Michigan and Champaign has been hoping for the same forever, and rarely does it happen.

But the immediate question involves Moser and whether Loyola can satisfy his needs, and whether he can be satisfied staying in Chicago.

A guy in his position might never get a better opportunity to cash in huge and land at a national powerhouse.

That's where chickens and eggs come into play. If he stays and builds Loyola into a powerhouse, he won't have to go anywhere else. It's been done before in unexpected places.

And if he doesn't stay and try, how would we ever know if it's possible to get it done again here in Chicago?

No matter what happens next, this has been a happy story for Chicago sports in a winter that shows no sign of giving in to spring, a winter in which the Blackhawks and Bulls offered little diversion from the endless cold and gloom.

Loyola has been fun to watch and easy to embrace, a team that played as a team, at a time when we so rarely get to witness such unselfishness.

They spread the floor, spread the ball and hit the glass as one in the image of a coach who preached that any team can make a deep run playing the right way.

No matter what happens, it was a pleasure.

A simple thank you is all that remains.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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