Tag Archives: Ken Burmeister

The Dark Years: The Nauseous Nineties (1990-1996)

In the late 1980s, Loyola men’s basketball was faltering in its attempt to compete with DePaul and Illinois. The Ramblers’ 1985 Sweet 16 run had just about lost all its luster by 1988, when Loyola was playing in an empty livestock arena on the South Side. A shared MCC regular season title in 1987 was followed by a rebuilding year, and then a change in the leadership in the Department of Athletics. But a huge change in the philosophy of the department of athletics was about to kick in, with critical implications for Loyola men’s basketball in the 1990s.

The Dark Years

Chuck Schwarz was hired as Athletic Director in 1988, and arrived with a focus on raising academic standards in the athletic department. Several key Loyola men’s basketball players– who were eligible to play based on NCAA standards– were ruled ineligible because they failed to meet Loyola’s standards. Kenny Miller and Tim Bankston were ruled ineligible before the 1988-89 season, and Gerald Hayward (averaging 22.4 points per game) and Antowne Johnson (19.2 ppg, 12.8 rpg) were ruled ineligible before the spring semester. Coach Gene Sullivan resigned (er, really he was fired) after a 11-17 season in March 1989.

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