College basketball is sorely missing Sister Jean

College basketball season is about to begin, but fans are deeply saddened by the loss of “America’s favorite team chaplain” – Sister Jean of Loyola University Chicago.

Jean Dolores Schmidt, a member of the religious order of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), died of natural causes on October 9, 2025. She was 106.

She became the chaplain of the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers men’s basketball team in 1994 at age 75 and continued in that capacity until she retired in September 2025, citing health concerns.

Founded in Chicago, Ill., in 1870 as St. Ignatius College, the school was renamed Loyola University in 1909. Today, it is one of the nation’s largest private Jesuit, Catholic universities, with an enrollment of nearly 17,400 students.

The university has posted a series of essays on its official website detailing Sister Jean’s “life of faith, service and basketball. She was a beloved icon of Loyola University Chicago for more than six decades…and celebrated worldwide for her infectious smile, quick wit and basketball acumen.”

“Sister Jean was universally adored and touched the lives of countless people throughout her lengthy tenure at Loyola.”

Indeed, Sister Jean captured the hearts of fans who turned on their televisions to watch the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Unexpectedly, Loyola-Chicago made it all the way to the Final Four, thrusting the coach, chaplain, players and campus into the international spotlight.

It was the classic “Cinderella story”…only better.

Loyola-Chicago, with a 15-3 league record, finished first in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season standings in 2017-18. The Ramblers then won the conference tournament championship to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Loyola-Chicago didn’t get much respect from the selection committee, however. The team was assigned a lowly No. 11 seed in the South Region.

The Ramblers managed to advance, by upsetting four higher-ranked teams – Miami, Tennessee, Nevada and Kansas State, respectively – to move on to the Final Four.

Since the tournament field was expanded to 48 teams in 1980, only six No. 11 seeds have made it to the Final Four.

Sister Jean was there every step of the way, positioned courtside with her maroon and gold Loyola “lucky scarf” wrapped around her neck, usually wearing her LU sweater or a varsity jacket.

She shared with sports reporters a bit about her pregame prayers. “I may begin, ‘Good and gracious God…today we hope to win this game.’”

“I tell God that we will do our part, if He will do His. I pray the referees call the right kind of game, that good sportsmanship prevails, that nobody gets injured.”

Players said Sister Jean would read the scouting reports before the game, and her prayers for the team’s success often included specific instructions disguised as requests to God, such as “we hope to score early and make our opponents nervous.”

Sister Jean said she also prayed for her team to play with courage and to stay focused. “When the buzzer goes off at the end of the game, we want the numbers to indicate that we get the big ‘W.’”

The prayer would often end with a variation of “God bless us. Go Ramblers. Amen.”

While many dignitaries offered heart-felt condolences after Sister Jean’s death, Jeff Link, senior writer within the university’s communications office, went out on campus to interview members of the student body. He wrote that they “expressed a bittersweet mix of grief, nostalgia and fondness for Sister Jean.”

Evie Abderraza, a freshman, summed it up best when she remarked that Sister Jean “really was the soul of our school.”

Alie McDougall, a senior, said she was taken by Sister Jean from Day One. While addressing incoming students at orientation “Sister Jean would tell a story about a caterpillar coming out of its cocoon and becoming a butterfly…leaving parents and students sobbing and wanting to thank her and greet her.”

“It just proved how much of a light she was and how much wisdom she had; people wanted to be a part of that,” McDougall said.

Alex Von Gillern, a recent Loyola graduate and classroom assistant in Information Technology Services, described Sister Jean as “everybody’s smiling grandma, who provided a little blip of positivity for students, especially during stressful periods like finals week.”

“I don’t think it’s too crazy to say that she was almost like a Loyola second mascot,” Von Gillern added.

Freshman William Richter said he first learned about Loyola and Sister Jean during the men’s basketball team’s 2018 March Madness Final Four run when he was 11 years old. “I grew up Catholic. So, seeing her at a nationwide level…it was kind of inspirational how she shared her faith with the world.”

Graduate student Lucas Williamson, a former varsity basketball player, said he developed “an especially close relationship with Sister Jean.”

A little-known fact is that she would send out an email to the team after every game and add a personalized note to each player. “It would be like ‘P.S. Lucas, I think you’re doing a great job leading the team.’”

To commemorate the life and times of Sister Jean, the Loyola-Chicago basketball team will display a patch on their jerseys this season that features a likeness of their beloved former chaplain.

 

Loyola University Chicago teams were first known as the Maroon and Gold but became the Ramblers in 1926. 

Because the football team played most of its game on the road, sports reporters dubbed the team “the Ramblers,” because it rambled hither and yon about the country. Ramblers stuck.

The first mascot arrived on the scene in 1980. “Bo Rambler” was his name, and he was a bum or a hobo with a big, giant head that featured droopy eyes and a shaggy beard. 

He wore a suit jacket rife with patches. A shabby hat with an “L” topped it all off. Bo carried a small suitcase, presumably containing his only belongings.

 

Bo was eventually replaced in 2000 by “LU,” a wolf. The character has evolved into an overstuffed, loveable guy; a big hugger.

 

The idea for the wolf reportedly came from the heraldic shield of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1541.

Legend has it that the family, living in northern Spain near the Bay of Biscay, was so generous that after feeding all the humans who came by, they would then put out a pot to feed wild animals including wolves.

The image of two wolves and a cauldron adorns the family coat of arms and has also been adopted by many Jesuit universities, colleges and high schools across the country.