The Loyola Project | |
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Directed by | Patrick Creadon |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Narrated by | Lucas Williamson |
Cinematography | Erin G. Wesley |
Edited by |
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Music by | Alex Mansour |
Production company | O'Malley Creadon Productions |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Loyola Project is a 2022 documentary film about the 1963 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team and the Game of Change. [1] The film details how the Ramblers, led by coach George Ireland, broke down racial barriers in college basketball on their path to becoming NCAA champions.
The Loyola Project is directed by Patrick Creadon and is narrated by 2022 Ramblers guard and co-captain Lucas Williamson. [2]
The Loyola Project premiered on CBS Sports Network on February 7, 2022 in honor of Black History Month. [2]
Shortly after the film’s release, O’Malley Creadon Productions partnered with CBS and Northwestern Mutual to host the “63 for 63 Screening Series." [3] In honor of the 1963 Ramblers team, the “63 for 63 Screening Series” brought The Loyola Project to 63 college campuses throughout the spring of 2022. [3] Due to the success of this tour, O’Malley Creadon Productions later announced that they would be expanding screening opportunities to all American universities through June 2023, as well as creating a separate tour for businesses and community organizations.
The Loyola Project received positive reviews upon its release. Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Rick Telander praised the documentary as a “historic, mesmerizing, complex film.” [4] In a similarly positive review, WGN Radio’s John Landecker called The Loyola Project an “unbelievably great documentary” that was “recommended for everyone.” [5]
Leslie Henry Hunter was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA). Hunter played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers and was the starting center on their NCAA championship team in 1963. He was a two-time ABA All-Star.
Jerald B. Harkness was an American professional basketball player. He played for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association (ABA). Harkness played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers, where he was captain of the 1962–63 team that won the 1963 NCAA national championship. A consensus first-team All-American, Harkness was selected by the Knicks in the second round of the 1963 NBA draft. He was also a civil rights activist.
George Ireland was an American basketball coach who led the Loyola Ramblers to the 1963 NCAA championship.
The Loyola Ramblers are the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago. Most teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which the school joined in 2022 after leaving the Missouri Valley Conference. They previously played in the Horizon League. Notable athletes from Loyola have included middle-distance runner Tom O'Hara, volleyball player Thomas Jaeschke, and basketball players Mike Novak, Jerry Harkness, Les Hunter, Wayne Sappleton, Alfredrick Hughes, LaRue Martin, and Blake Schilb. The nickname "Ramblers" was first used in 1926. The Loyola Ramblers departed from the Missouri Valley Conference and joined the Atlantic 10 Conference effective July 1, 2022.
Patrick Creadon is an American filmmaker primarily known for his work in documentaries. His first film, Wordplay, profiled New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz and premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film screened in over 500 theatres nationwide and became the second-highest grossing documentary of that year. His second film, I.O.U.S.A., is a non-partisan examination of America's national debt problem and forecast the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. I.O.U.S.A. premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was later named one of the Top 5 Documentaries of the Year by film critic Roger Ebert.
The 1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago. The head coach was George Ireland. The Ramblers were the 1963 NCAA tournament champions, defeating top-ranked and two-time defending champion Cincinnati Bearcats in a 60–58 overtime contest. The 1962–63 Ramblers were one of the first NCAA men's Basketball teams to have broken the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" among coaches in which no more than two black players would be on the floor at one time : the Ramblers would regularly have three or four black starters, paving the way for the 1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team who would finally put the "agreement" to rest and have an all-black starting five. They played in the Game of Change, in which a Mississippi State team defied segregationists to play against Loyola, breaking the unwritten law that Mississippi teams would not play against black players.
The Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represents Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The Ramblers participate as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Ramblers had joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 2013, and stayed until 2022. Prior to 2013, the team had spent 34 seasons as a charter member of the Horizon League.
Porter Andrew Moser is a college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball team. Moser spent 10 years (2011–2021) at Loyola University Chicago, helping lead the Ramblers to the Final Four in 2018.
Jerry Lyne is a South Side Chicagoan, who played for, captained and coached the Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team over the course of several decades that he was affiliated with the Loyola University Chicago.
W. Victor Rouse was an American college basketball player. He was an All-American at Loyola University of Chicago and is best remembered for hitting the game-winning shot as time expired in the overtime period of the 1963 NCAA championship game.
David Bailey is an American professional basketball player. He is most notable for his time spent as point guard for the Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team from 1999 to 2003. He was a three-time All-Horizon League selection, a Horizon League scoring champion, a Horizon League assists champion and Horizon League All-Tournament team selection. He is the older brother of crosstown Horizon League foe and former George Westinghouse College Prep teammate Martell Bailey. The brothers' tenure in the league overlapped for two seasons, including one in which they were both All-League honorees. They played head-to-head several times, including a Horizon League men's basketball tournament championship game in which both were key performers.
The 1963 NCAA University Division basketball championship game was the final of the 1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament and determined the national champion in the 1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The game was held on March 23, 1963, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The matchup pitted the Loyola Ramblers, who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance, against the Cincinnati Bearcats, the two-time defending national champions. After trailing by 15 points in the second half, Loyola rallied to force an overtime period, and won the game 60–58 on a basket by Vic Rouse with one second left. The Ramblers earned their first championship in men's college basketball.
The 2017–18 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by seventh-year head coach Porter Moser, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago. They were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. With a win against Evansville on February 18, 2018, Loyola clinched at least a share of its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. With a win over Southern Illinois on February 21, the Ramblers clinched the outright MVC championship. The Ramblers defeated Northern Iowa, Bradley, and Illinois State to win the MVC tournament. As a result, the Ramblers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 11 seed in the South Region, they upset No. 6-seeded Miami (FL) on a last second three-pointer. In the Second Round, they defeated No. 3-seeded Tennessee to earn the school's first trip to the Sweet Sixteen since 1985. They then defeated Nevada in the Sweet Sixteen and Kansas State in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1963. Their Cinderella run ended with a loss to the eventual runner-up Michigan in the national semifinal.
Clayton Custer is an American former basketball player and current assistant coach for the Loyola Chicago Ramblers. A 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) point guard, he played college basketball for Loyola University Chicago, and was the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. Custer briefly played professional basketball for Śląsk Wroclaw of the Polish Basketball League.
The 2018–19 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by seventh-year head coach Porter Moser, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois. They were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 20–14, 12–6 in MVC play to earn a share of the MVC regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament, they beat Valparaiso before losing to Bradley in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their tournament championship, the Ramblers received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 7 seed in the TCU bracket. There they lost in the first round to Creighton.
The Game of Change was a college basketball game played between the Loyola Ramblers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs on March 15, 1963, during the second round of the 1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan. Taking place in the midst of the American civil rights movement, the game between the racially integrated Loyola team and the all-white Mississippi State team is remembered as a milestone in the desegregation of college basketball.
John "Jack" Egan is an American retired basketball player. His playing career is best remembered for his role on the 1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team, which won the 1963 NCAA Championship. Egan was the lone white starting player on a team that broke racial barriers by starting four black players in an era when two or three was considered the maximum.
The 1963–64 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago. The head coach was George Ireland. The Ramblers finished with a 22–6 record after finishing as the third place team for the Mideast region of the NCAA tournament.
Christine O'Malley is an American film producer and documentary filmmaker.
Lucas Williamson is an American professional basketball player for the Edmonton Stingers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers.