Sister Jean is returning to March Madness.
Loyola-Chicago confirmed on Tuesday that Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 101-year-old chaplain of the school’s basketball team, will be present on Friday when the Ramblers open the NCAA tournament against Georgia Tech in Indianapolis. The Ramblers won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and are eighth in the Midwest.
Sister Jean, who became an international celebrity during the Loyola-Chicago race for the Final Four in 2018, has not attended the games since the coronavirus pandemic began. She offered prayers before the game virtually throughout the season, but remained in an independent apartment for seniors in downtown Chicago.
Sister Jean will attend Friday’s game at Hinkle Fieldhouse, but will have no direct personal contact with the team. She noted that if players’ parents can’t interact with them, she shouldn’t either. Sister Jean will have a nurse with her and a security guard who will help her accompany her from a hotel in downtown Indianapolis to the game. She said “there is no danger” for her to play the game, but she will follow all directions.
“What they wanted to do was make sure that all security factors were taken into account,” Sister Jean said on Tuesday during a video conference with reporters. “Sometimes people who haven’t been to the games, the NCAA or even March Madness, aren’t sure what’s going on there. Sometimes they think it’s like a teen show, where everyone is going to surround me and maybe not any space to breathe.
“If I am not supposed to go to the court, I will not go. And I will not cause any disturbance.”
Sister Jean wanted to go to the tournament for weeks and pushed hard to get the school released.
“I had other offers from people at the university,” she said. “A former student wrote and said that her husband was willing to take me down. Another person told me that she was going to get me out of the university, and another couple said that they would like to kidnap me and Loyola would have to look for me.”
Sister Jean has already filled in a key, but said she can still change it before the tournament starts. She noted how several well-known teams are not included – “I see no place in Kentucky” – while recognizing the new teams that arrived at the 68 field.
She is not a fan of Loyola’s tie, especially of a possible second round showdown with the American champion from Illinois.
“It surprises me that they put two Illinois schools together to go against each other, instead of supporting each other,” she said.
Despite the difficult road, Sister Jean attracted Loyola-Chicago to reach Elite Eight. In 2016, she made the Ramblers advance to Sweet 16. She did not expect to attend another NCAA tournament to see the Ramblers.
Sister Jean has not been to the Loyola campus since March 11, 2020, when the pandemic occurred. She maintained close contact with coach Porter Moser and the players by phone and email, but said it was “very difficult” to watch from her apartment.
“These young people keep me young, even though I am 101 years old, I consider myself young at heart,” she said.
Sister Jean also added: “In 2018, Loyola entered the map and everyone was happy. We also make people happy. I received letters from Germany and France, from different types of people, saying: ‘You have brought a lot of joy to our country’. Now we need something to make us even happier than in 2018. “
Born on August 21, 1919, Sister Jean entered the convent of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Iowa after finishing high school. She joined the Loyola-Chicago team in 1991 and has served as chaplain for the basketball team since 1994.