The media star of this year’s March Madness can’t dribble, never dunked and is 98-years old.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, 98, is the team chaplain for Loyola-Chicago.
The Ramblers have won two, last-minute upset victories in the NCAA basketball tournament, with some help from Sister Jean and what might be called divine intervention.
Sister Jean has gone viral on the Internet and is a regular interview on national TV during the games, and her videos keep popping up on YouTube.
One sportscaster described her this way: “America’s grandma.”
If Loyola-Chicago keeps winning – they play again Thursday night in the Sweet 16 — Sister Jean might become the biggest thing on TV since Charles Barkley.
The Ramblers and Sister Jean are hot.
Last week, Sister Jean’s crew knocked off Miami – 64-62 — in the final seconds and then did the same thing beating favored Tennessee, 63-62.
“I told them that we were going to win, that we could do it and that God would be on our side.” Sister Jean said during her pregame speech.
When Sister Jean talks, people listen. That’s why she gives a locker room speech and prayer before each game.
“Sister Jean is our team chaplain, she’s our team comfort blanket, and she’s our team scout. She’s just a blessing,” Ramblers Coach Porter Moser told CBS. “The way she prays for us, the way she smiles. When you walk in a room and you see Sister there, you just feel good.”
And oh brother, does this sister know her basketball.
“The way she prayed just stuck out,” Rambler Clayton Custer told ESPN. “In the middle of her prayer there’s a scouting report mixed in. She tells us who their best players are and what to watch out for. Sometimes she’ll pray for the referee to make the right calls.”
That ain’t cheating – that’s faith.
Maybe God is a Ramblers’ fan.
“We prayed that God would help us,” Sister Jean told the New York Times after beating Miami. “We said we would do our part and make our shots, but we needed God’s assistance. We said we were going into this game with great confidence and that we wanted to win this game so badly. We said we would be careful of our shots, careful not to foul.
“At the end of the prayer, Sister Jean added one more request: I asked that when the buzzer went off, we wanted to be sure that we got that big ‘W.’”
Big-time sports, especially college basketball, has been fighting an image problem. The FBI is currently investigating multiple schools over illegal recruiting, and under-the-table payments to athletes.
The NCAA basketball program has a black eye and someone like Sister Jean is not only a breath of fresh air, but also demonstrates the positive moral value of college athletics.
Her story is proof of that value.
Sister Jean, who now uses a wheelchair, played basketball while growing up. She became a nun, was a teacher, and started girls’ basketball programs at her schools.
In 1961, she moved to Mundelein College, an all-women’s Catholic school in Chicago, near Loyola. The schools merged in 1991, and Sister Jean joined Loyola as an academic advisor and has been basketball chaplain nearly 25 years.
Sister Jean sees some similarities in this year’s Loyola team, and the one that won a national championship in 1963. The current team, “plays with their heads and their hearts; they’re together; they like each other, and they just want to keep winning.
How cool is Sister Jean?
She has a pair of Nike sneakers. One sneaker has the word “Sister” on it.. The other “Jean.” Frank Sinatra is her favorite singer. She wears a pair of yellow sunglasses with the words “Ramblers” on the lenses. And, like millions of other Americans, she has her own NCAA playoff bracket.
Sister Jean picked Loyola-Chicago to make it to the Sweet 16. But she also had two brackets after that: one with the Ramblers and the other without.
Win or lose, Sister Jean is content to see her beloved Ramblers make it this far.
“It just means so much,” she told ESPN. “I didn’t expect to see this happen in my lifetime.”
Tony Violanti writes for Villages-News.com
