2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team


The 2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by first-year head coach Drew Valentine, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the regular season 25–7, 13–5 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. As the No. 4 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Bradley, Northern Iowa, and Drake to win the MVC tournament for the second consecutive season. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed, where they lost in the first round to Ohio State.

2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball
Missouri Valley tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record25–8 (13–5 MVC)
Head coach
Associate head coachDan Hipsher
Assistant coaches
  • Amorrow Morgan
  • Sean Dwyer
  • Patrick Wallace
Home arenaJoseph J. Gentile Arena
Seasons
2021–22 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Northern Iowa 14 4   .778 20 12   .625
Missouri State 13 5   .722 23 11   .676
Drake 13 5   .722 25 11   .694
Loyola Chicago 13 5   .722 25 8   .758
Bradley 11 7   .611 17 14   .548
Southern Illinois 9 9   .500 16 14   .533
Valparaiso 6 12   .333 14 18   .438
Illinois State 5 13   .278 13 20   .394
Indiana State 4 14   .222 11 20   .355
Evansville 2 16   .111 6 24   .200
2022 MVC tournament winner

On November 16, 2021, Loyola announced that the season would be the last season for the team in the MVC as they joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in July 2022.[1]

Previous season

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In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ramblers finished the 2020–21 season 26–5, 16–2 in MVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Southern Illinois, Illinois State, and Drake to win the MVC tournament championship.[2] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the Midwest region.[3] There they defeated No. 9-seeded Georgia Tech[4] and upset No. 1-seeded Illinois to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.[5] In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Oregon State.[6]

On April 3, 2021, head coach Porter Moser left Loyola to accept the head coaching position at Oklahoma.[7] A few days later, the school announced that assistant coach Drew Valentine would take over as the Ramblers' head coach.[8]

Offseason

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Coaching changes

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On April 20, Valentine announced the hiring of assistant coaches Amorrow Morgan, Sean Dwyer, and Patrick Wallace.[9] Former Oakland associate head coach Dan Hipsher was named special assistant to the head coach.[9]

Departures

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Due to COVID-19 disruptions, the NCAA did not count the 2020–21 season against the eligibility of any basketball player, meaning that all seniors in that season could choose to return for 2021–22.

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Paxson Wojcik 0 G 6'4" 185 Sophomore Charleston, SC Transferred to Brown
Jake Baughman 2 G 6'3" 180 RS Senior Bloomington, IL Graduated; chose not to return
Baylor Hebb 13 G 6'2" 170 Freshman Colleyville, TX Transferred to Colorado State
Cooper Kaifes 23 G 6'3" 195 RS Sophomore Shawnee, KS Transferred to Samford
Cameron Krutwig 25 C 6'9" 255 Senior Algonquin, IL Graduated; signed to play professionally in Belgium with the Antwerp Giants
Sami Ismail 31 G 6'1" 182 Junior Orland Park, IL Transferred to Highland CC (IL)
Franklin Agunanne 33 F 6'9" 245 Junior Abuja, Nigeria Transferred to SMU

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Ryan Schwieger 13 F 6'7" 205 Senior Matthews, NC Transferred from Princeton
Chris Knight 23 F 6'7" 225 Senior Madison, WI Transferred from Dartmouth

2021 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Ty Johnson
G
Chicago, IL DePaul College Prep (IL) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Nov 11, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Ben Schwieger
G / F
Aurora, IL Waubonsie Valley (IL) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Nov 11, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Saint Thomas
F
Omaha, NE Millard North (NE) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Apr 13, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:    247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: N/R
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 132
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2021 Loyola Ramblers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  • "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

Roster

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2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Saint Thomas 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Millard North Omaha, NE
G 1 Lucas Williamson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) GS Whitney Young Chicago, IL
G 2 Ty Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr DePaul College Prep Chicago, IL
G 4 Braden Norris 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr Hilliard Bradley
Oakland
Hilliard, OH
G 5 Keith Clemons 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) GS Wesley Christian
Vincennes
Norcross, GA
F 10 Tom Welch 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Naperville North Naperville, IL
G 12 Marquise Kennedy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Brother Rice Chicago, IL
F 13 Ryan Schwieger 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Wedington
Princeton
Matthews, NC
C 22 Jacob Hutson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Edina Edina, MN
F 23 Chris Knight 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr James Madison Memorial
Dartmouth
Madison, WI
G/F 24 Tate Hall 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) GS Greenfield-Central
Indianapolis
Greenfield, IN
F 30 Aher Uguak 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) GS Harry Ainlay
New Mexico
Edmonton, AB
G 31 Will Smythe (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr St. Mary's Prep Rochester Hills, MI
G/F 33 Ben Schwieger 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Waubonsie Valley Aurora, IL
F 35 Damezi Anderson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Riley
Indiana
South Bend, IN
F 45 Will Alcock (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Zionsville Community Zionsville, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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After losing several game to cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19, Loyola and San Francisco agreed to play a game on January 6, 2022, on the campus of Salt Lake Community College.[10]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 3, 2021*
7:00 p.m.
UW–Stout W 93–41 
Gentile Arena (2,374)
Chicago, IL
Regular season
November 9, 2021*
7:00 p.m., NBCSC+
Coppin State W 103–45  1–0
Gentile Arena (2,982)
Chicago, IL
November 13, 2021*
1:00 p.m., ESPN+/NBCSC
Florida Gulf Coast W 89–77  2–0
Gentile Arena (3,277)
Chicago, IL
November 16, 2021*
7:00 p.m., NBCSC
Chicago State W 92–56  3–0
Gentile Arena (2,637)
Chicago, IL
November 20, 2021*
3:00 p.m., NBCSC
UIC W 80–63  4–0
Gentile Arena (3,732)
Chicago, IL
November 24, 2021*
11:00 a.m., ESPN
Michigan State
Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals
L 61–63  4–1
Imperial Arena 
Nassau, Bahamas
November 25, 2021*
1:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 19 Auburn
Battle 4 Atlantis consolation round
L 53–62  4–2
Imperial Arena (804)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 26, 2021*
6:00 p.m., ESPNews
Arizona State
Battle 4 Atlantis 7th Place Game
W 77–59  5–2
Imperial Arena (739)
Nassau, Bahamas
December 1, 2021
7:00 p.m., NBCSC
Indiana State W 88–76  6–2
(1–0)
Gentile Arena (2,915)
Chicago, IL
December 4, 2021*
3:00 p.m., FS1
at DePaul W 68–64  7–2
Wintrust Arena (6,774)
Chicago, IL
December 7, 2021*
7:00 p.m., ESPN3
Roosevelt W 88–49  8–2
Gentile Arena (2,379)
Chicago, IL
December 10, 2021*
7:00 p.m., SECN+
at Vanderbilt W 69–58  9–2
Memorial Gymnasium (7,002)
Nashville, TN
December 19, 2021*
1:00 p.m., ESPN3/ESPN+
Norfolk State Canceled due to COVID-19 issues Gentile Arena 
Chicago, IL
December 22, 2021*
1:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Davidson Canceled due to COVID-19 issues John M. Belk Arena 
Davidson, NC
January 2, 2021*
1:00 p.m., ESPN3
Saint Xavier Canceled due to COVID-19 issues Gentile Arena 
Chicago, IL
January 6, 2022*
1:00 p.m., WCC Network
vs. San Francisco W 79–74  10–2
Lifetime Activities Center (112)
Salt Lake City, UT
January 8, 2022
3:00 p.m., NBCSC
Bradley W 78–71 OT 11–2
(2–0)
Gentile Arena (3,092)
Chicago, IL
January 11, 2022
8:00 p.m., CBSSN
Valparaiso W 81–74 2OT 12–2
(3–0)
Gentile Arena (2,193)
Chicago, IL
January 15, 2022
6:00 p.m., CBSSN
at Indiana State W 64–56  13–2
(4–0)
Hulman Center (3,614)
Terre Haute, IN
January 18, 2022
7:00 p.m., NBCSC+
No. 22 at Evansville W 77–48  14–2
(5–0)
Ford Center (3,190)
Evansville, IN
January 22, 2022
2:30 p.m., CBSSN
No. 22 Missouri State L 69–79  14–3
(5–1)
Gentile Arena (4,105)
Chicago, IL
January 25, 2022
7:00 p.m., NBCSC
Southern Illinois W 59–47  15–3
(6–1)
Gentile Arena (2,941)
Chicago, IL
January 27, 2022
7:00 p.m., NBCSC
at Southern Illinois W 44–39  16–3
(7–1)
Banterra Center (4,315)
Carbondale, IL
January 30, 2022
1:00 p.m., ESPN2
at Drake L 68–77  16–4
(7–2)
Knapp Center (3,994)
Des Moines, IA
February 2, 2022
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
Illinois State W 78–64  17–4
(8–2)
Gentile Arena (3,097)
Chicago, IL
February 6, 2022
1:00 p.m., ESPN2
at Missouri State W 71–62  18–4
(9–2)
JQH Arena (6,117)
Springfield, MO
February 9, 2022
8:00 p.m., CBSSN
at Bradley L 61–68  18–5
(9–3)
Peoria Civic Center (4,450)
Peoria, IL
February 13, 2022
3:00 p.m., ESPN2
Northern Iowa W 85–58  19–5
(10–3)
Gentile Arena (4,019)
Chicago, IL
February 16, 2022
7:00 p.m., NBCSC+
at Valparaiso W 71–69  20–5
(11–3)
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,208)
Valparaiso, IN
February 19, 2022
5:00 p.m., ESPN2
Drake L 76–83  20–6
(11–4)
Gentile Arena (4,557)
Chicago, IL
February 21, 2022
7:00 p.m., NBCSC
at Illinois State
Rescheduled from January 5
W 59–50  21–6
(12–4)
Redbird Arena (3,354)
Normal, IL
February 23, 2022
7:00 p.m., NBCSC
Evansville W 82–31  22–6
(13–4)
Gentile Arena (3,843)
Chicago, IL
February 26, 2022
5:00 p.m., ESPNU
at Northern Iowa L 96–102 OT 22–7
(13–5)
McLeod Center (6,497)
Cedar Falls, IA
MVC tournament
March 4, 2022
2:30 pm, MVC TV
(4) vs. (5) Bradley
Quarterfinals
W 66–50  23–7
Enterprise Center (5,394)
St. Louis, MO
March 5, 2022
2:30 pm, CBSSN
(4) vs. (1) Northern Iowa
Semifinals
W 66–43  24–7
Enterprise Center 
St. Louis, MO
March 6, 2022
1:00 pm, CBS
(4) vs. (3) Drake
Championship
W 64–58  25–7
Enterprise Center (5,164)
St. Louis, MO
NCAA tournament
March 18, 2022
11:15 am, CBS
(10 S) vs. (7 S) Ohio State
First Round
L 41–54  25–8
PPG Paints Arena 
Pittsburgh, PA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
APRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRV22RVRVRVRVRVNot released
CoachesRVRV^RVRVRVRVRVRVRV24RVRVRVRVRV

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

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  1. ^ "Loyola Athletics To Join Atlantic 10 Conference in 2022-23 Academic Year". Loyola University Chicago Athletics. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Drake falls to No. 20 Loyola in MVC Championship". Radio Iowa. March 7, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  3. ^ Hefferman, Todd. "MVC Basketball | Drake slotted in First Four, Loyola receives 8 seed". The Southern. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "Georgia Tech vs. Loyola Chicago - Game Recap - March 19, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  5. ^ Lauren M. Johnson and Homero De la Fuente. "No. 8 Loyola Chicago stuns No. 1 seed Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16". CNN. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  6. ^ "Oregon State vs. Loyola Chicago - Game Recap - March 27, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "Oklahoma hires Loyola Chicago's Porter Moser to replace Lon Kruger as Sooners coach". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  8. ^ "Drew Valentine Hired as Loyola-Chicago's Head Coach, Replacing Porter Moser". NBC Chicago. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Loyola Announces Men's Basketball Staff". Loyola University Chicago Athletics. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  10. ^ "After losing conference games to COVID, San Francisco and Loyola Chicago agree to play game Thursday". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 4, 2022.