Reminder that The Loyola Project debuts this evening at 8pm Central on CBS Sports Network. I also understand they are doing screenings at a bunch of college campuses across the country, including Loyola. Really looking forward to it and hope everyone tunes in.

Bump.

I thought it was incredibly well done. Great interviews. Great footage. Quite a few moments gave me real chills. Also learned quite a bit. I did think it was interesting how they portrayed George Ireland.

I wish CBS Sports had done more to promote this, including having its top NCAAB guys (Gary Parrish, etc.) tweet about it. It was on par with a 30 for 30 documentary in terms of production value.

We are so lucky to have someone like Lucas represent our university for five years. He makes me proud to be a Rambler.

I tried to write a book about the '63 team in 2002. I did a whole lot of research, interviewed most of the people in The Loyola Project film (Egan, Miller, Rochelle, etc.) and many others who weren't seen (1960-61 Freshman team coach Frank Hogan, Red Rush, etc.). I had a 140-page manuscript that went over the prelude to the 1963 season and the aftermath. Here's how the film differed from my understanding:

1. I was not able to confirm that the barber shop across the street from Loyola would not allow Black patrons. I heard that allegation several times. The way I understood it, they didn't have the tools and knowledge to properly cut black hair. Those are two different things, and I couldn't confirm that there was a malice or bias in that. Some of the players told me that they went to Evanston to get their hair cut a black barber shop, which sounds like something players would do today.
2. One thing that I did confirm that wasn't mentioned in the film was Loyola playing five black players in a game at a Christmas 1962 tournament in Oklahoma City. It's the first known instance of five black players on the court for a major college men's basketball team.
3. They didn't mention that the players who flunked out for grades were Pablo Robertson (part of the Harlem Globetrotters of the glory years in the 1970s when they had a Saturday Morning cartoon show), and Billy Smith, who came back to play at Loyola after fixing his grades and starring in the 1965-66 season.
4. I wish they would have mentioned more about the brilliance of Vic Rouse. He had five college degrees, including the Loyola Bachelor's, Master's degrees from Southern Illinois University (where he was a student member of the Board of Trustees), and a Ph.D. from USC. Ron Miller also had a Bachelor's and an MBA from Loyola, in an age when most people had a high school education.

Great job by Lucas Williamson. Well done, all around-- great interviews and footage. Although the book I tried to write didn't get published, Mike Lenehan wrote "Ramblers" and used some of the text I published online on Ramblermania to serve as a guide for his book. I'm glad a lot of people who have no idea about our school's important and essential role in college basketball are getting to learn about it.

So many great stories, and well done. Two hours almost doesn’t do it justice. Really great footage and interviews of the Mississippi State team, too.

The only thing that slightly irked me was all of the commercials. I get why there needs to be the commercial breaks, but I really want to see it straight through.

The opening was especially well done. I’m not sure why I never realized it before, but I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between two of the biggest plays in Loyola history: a missed free throw, big rebound and outlet pass, a mad rush down the court (even the same sides of the court), and a last second shot. One sent the 63 title game into over time, and the other sparked the 2018 Tournament run.

A last second shot by a lefry

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A few comments from a student at that time:
- I am also not sure about the barber shop. The story at that time was that it was not equipped to cut black's hair.
- Sister Jean may have watched the game on a small black and white TV, but the telecast in Chicago was preempted by the Illinois high school basketball championship and was televised well after the game was over. Those of us in the dorm listened to Red Rush in the cafeteria.
- I participated in the "riot" on Sheridan Road but went inside upon arrival of the police dogs.
- I was not aware of some of the information about George Ireland.
- I agree the players' advanced degrees should have been mentioned.
- The film would be banned in those jurisdictions and school districts which have chosen to hide the aspects of history described in the film.

63 good comments.
my brother was also in Campion (didnt Ronnie Miller live in Campion ?)....but did not go back inside...and to this day has a scar where he was bite by a police dog...
I am buying 2 copies of the documentary and donating it to my local high school Social Science Department and my local public library.
absolutely correct about the game being pre-empted and the re-run is what I watched late at night by the blue flame of a gas stove in the middle of rural Illinois.....It was right out of Hoosiers...had on my white converse sneakers and my LU sweatshirt with the old LU logo...

All of the players lived in the dorm at 6525 N. Sheridan. I can't remember the name of the dorm, but I don't think it was Campion. My roommate was Jim Reardon, a good guy who loved to play chess with himself.

wasnt Campion the only dorm on campus then,,,cept for Stebler and Chamberlien for the women???