LUC Run It Back – One More Time

Rambler Vets Writing Their Story

(Indianapolis, IN) – Run it Back. We heard it all season coming out of the Loyola Chicago basketball team. Four Loyola veterans returned for another season to write their own story.

The first part of the story was to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and get back to the Big Dance. Part two was to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Graduate student Lucas Williamson came back and solidified his place in Loyola history as a two-time ‘Defensive Player of the Year’, becoming a first-team all-conference player and leading the team in scoring. He topped that off by being named the ‘Most Outstanding Player’ at Arch Madness.

Aher Uguak, Tate Hall and Keith Clemons were all players that chose to use their extra year of eligibility to come reset and ‘run it back’.

New Coach – Same Goals

Loyola has a veteran team and a rookie coach. After the last four years of outstanding success under Porter Moser, Drew Valentine took over. While keeping the same culture, Valentine brings a different kind of energy and vibe to the Rambler program.

Williamson says Valentine has done a good job of continuing the tradition of success, but also staying true to who he is as a person and coach.

“I would just say his energy is a bit different, his coaching style, the way he communicates is just a bit different than Porter’s,” said Williamson. “Not to say that that’s necessarily a bad thing, they’re just two different people. But yeah, him being able to come in and take this job and the success that we’ve had in the past. There was a lot of pressure on him to get back to this point, so just for him, it was just trying to maintain and keep that culture and keep that winning — the success that we’ve had in the past and for him to go into the future.”

LUC is 25-7 and went 13-5 in league play and the Ramblers won their third tournament title in five years. Valentine seems to be doing just fine.

Hungry For More

Williamson isn’t satisfied. He wants more NCAA Tournament victories on his resume. The 6’5 wing is 6-2 in NCAA Tournament games. The pressure, expectation and joy in Williamson is obvious to all that listen to his voice and see that smile.

“I think for me, especially this being my last year, it means the world,”  “Playing in the tournament, that’s something that you grow up dreaming about, something that I always watched growing up. I remember like trying to sneak out after school to come watch some of the games with Mr. Roe in sixth grade. I’m just going to relish every moment, appreciate every single detail, especially since it’s my last go-around.”

Junior guard Braden Norris agrees and says the extra pressure associated with March Madness is also a rare opportunity. He believes LUC’s veteran squad’s experience is a large asset.

“There’s a different type of pressure, a different type of intensity,” said Norris. “I think you’ve just got to embrace and enjoy every opportunity, and I think our experience, experiencing that, these guys have been to a Final Four, and then most of our guys have been to a Sweet 16. That’s super valuable experience, and you can’t really do anything to replace that experience.”

Valentine wants his players to ‘embrace the moment’ without feeling entitled to it.

“It’s tournament time and we’re excited to be here,” shared Valentine. “We talked to our team a lot this week about not being entitled because our program has had a recent history of getting to this point. I think you can kind of get to the point where you don’t take advantage of the moment. Like this is what everybody that’s a young man wants to be in this moment. Like you have to embrace it and do everything you can to put yourself in position to be successful.”

Friday’s Game Against Ohio State

LUC has once again, drawn a ‘power conference’ opponent. During the 2018 Final Four run, the Ramblers knocked off teams from the ACC, SEC, Mountain West and Big Twelve before losing to a Big Ten team. While scampering to the 2021 Sweet Sixteen they took the measure of another ACC squad and a Big Ten member prior to dropping a decision to a PAC Twelve entrant.

Norris is an Ohio native and is excited to take on his ‘hometown team’.

“It’s really cool for my family and friends,” said Norris. “I have a lot of friends that go to Ohio State. Yeah, it’s cool to play the hometown school. I grew up watching them all the time. I’m 10 minutes away from campus. Like I’ve been saying, this game has nothing to do with me personally. I have no personal agenda. It’s about Loyola advancing to the round of 32.”

Watching double-digit seeds fall is very normal, that is why LUC’s postseason success has been so special. The Ramblers returned to run it back and do more damage to power conference programs.

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