1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team

The 1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago. Champions of the 1963 NCAA tournament, the Ramblers were coached by George Ireland. They defeated 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 (and in some road games, black players would have to rotate so that only one of them was playing at any given moment): 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.

1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions
National Championship Game, W 60-58OT vs. Cincinnati
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 3
Record	29–2
Head coach	George Ireland (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Jerry Lyne Nick Kladis

1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Loyola (Ill.)		–			–			29	–	2		.935
Providence		–			–			24	–	4		.857
Miami (FL)		–			–			23	–	5		.821
Colorado State		–			–			18	–	5		.783
Seattle		–			–			21	–	6		.778
Niagara		–			–			14	–	4		.778
Idaho		–			–			20	–	6		.769
Pittsburgh		–			–			19	–	6		.760
Penn State		–			–			15	–	5		.750
Utah State		–			–			20	–	7		.741
Canisius		–			–			19	–	7		.731
Memphis		–			–			19	–	7		.731
Texas Western		–			–			19	–	7		.731
Oregon State		–			–			22	–	9		.710
Seton Hall		–			–			16	–	7		.696
Marquette		–			–			20	–	9		.690
Oklahoma City		–			–			19	–	10		.655
Villanova		–			–			19	–	10		.655
Notre Dame		–			–			17	–	9		.654
DePaul		–			–			15	–	8		.652
Holy Cross		–			–			16	–	9		.640
Iona		–			–			12	–	7		.632
Regis		–			–			15	–	9		.625
Butler		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Dayton		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Florida State		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Duquesne		–			–			13	–	9		.591
Houston		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Louisville		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Detroit		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Gonzaga		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Boston University		–			–			10	–	9		.526
St. Bonaventure		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Creighton		–			–			14	–	13		.519
Georgetown		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Montana State		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Loyola (LA)		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Navy		–			–			9	–	9		.500
Centenary		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Air Force		–			–			10	–	12		.455
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			10	–	13		.435
Xavier		–			–			12	–	16		.429
Oregon		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Army		–			–			8	–	11		.421
Boston College		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Hardin–Simmons		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Syracuse		–			–			8	–	13		.381
Idaho State		–			–			9	–	15		.375
Portland		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Rutgers		–			–			7	–	16		.304
Colgate		–			–			5	–	13		.278
Montana		–			–			6	–	18		.250
West Texas State		–			–			6	–	18		.250
Denver		–			–			6	–	19		.240
Washington State		–			–			5	–	20		.200
New Mexico State		–			–			4	–	17		.190
Rankings from AP Poll

On July 11, 2013, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their championship, surviving members of Loyola's team were honored by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the Oval Office of the White House. It also was announced that the entire team would be inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in a ceremony scheduled for November 2013.

Roster

Name	#	Position	Height	Year	Hometown
Dan Connaughton	34			Sophomore	Hamilton, Ohio
Jack Egan	11	Guard	5–10	Junior	Chicago, Ill.
Jerry Harkness	15	Forward	6–3	Senior	Bronx, N.Y.
Les Hunter	41	Center	6–7	Junior	Nashville, Tenn.
Earl Johnson	30			Sophomore
Ron Miller	42	Guard	6–2	Junior	Bronx, N.Y.
Jim Reardon	33			Senior
Pablo Robertson	14	Guard	5–7	Sophomore	Bronx, N.Y.
Rich Rochelle	10	Center	6–9	Junior
Vic Rouse	40	Forward	6–6	Junior	Nashville, Tenn.
Billy Smith	24	Forward	6–5	Sophomore
Chuck Wood	23			Junior

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
December 1, 1962*	No. 4	Christian Brothers	W 114–58	1–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
December 3, 1962*	No. 4	North Dakota	W 110–56	2–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
December 10, 1962*	No. 4	Milwaukee	W 107–47	3–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
December 15, 1962*	No. 4	South Dakota	W 105–58	4–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
December 17, 1962*	No. 4	Western Michigan	W 123–102	5–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
December 19, 1962*	No. 4	at Indiana	W 106–94	6–0	Gladstein Fieldhouse  Bloomington, IN
December 22, 1962*	No. 4	#10 Seattle	W 93–83	7–0	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
December 26, 1962*	No. 3	Arkansas All-College Tournament	W 81–62	8–0	Municipal Auditorium  Oklahoma City, OK
December 27, 1962*	No. 3	Memphis State All-College Tournament	W 94–82	9–0	Municipal Auditorium  Oklahoma City, OK
December 28, 1962*	No. 3	Wyoming All-College Tournament Championship	W 93–82	10–0	Municipal Auditorium  Oklahoma City, OK
December 31, 1962*	No. 3	Dayton	W 74–69	11–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
January 3, 1963*	No. 2	Marshall	W 103–58	12–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
January 5, 1963*	No. 2	Loyola (LA)	W 88–53	13–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
January 8, 1963*	No. 2	at Marquette	W 87–68	14–0	Milwaukee, WI
January 10, 1963*	No. 2	at Western Michigan	W 107–69	15–0	University Arena  Kalamazoo, MI
January 19, 1963*	No. 2	at Kent State	W 96–55	16–0	Memorial Gymnasium  Kent, OH
January 21, 1963*	No. 2	at Ohio	W 80–72	17–0	Grover Center  Athens, OH
January 26, 1963*	No. 2	Santa Clara	W 82–72	18–0	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
January 31, 1963*	No. 2	Washington (MO)	W 118–58	19–0	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
February 2, 1963*	No. 2	Iowa	W 86–68	20–0	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
February 12, 1963*	No. 2	Marquette	W 92–90OT	21–0	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
February 16, 1963*	No. 2	at Bowling Green	L 75–92	21–1	Anderson Arena  Bowling Green, OH
February 18, 1963*	No. 2	at St. John's	W 70–47	22–1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
February 23, 1963*	No. 3	at Houston	W 62–58	23–1	Jeppesen Gymnasium  Houston, TX
February 27, 1963*	No. 3	Ohio	W 114–94	24–1	Alumni Gym  Chicago, IL
March 2, 1963*	No. 3	#8 Wichita State	L 72–73	24–2	Chicago Stadium  Chicago, IL
NCAA Tournament
March 11, 1963*	No. 5	vs. Tennessee Tech NCAA mideast regional quarterfinal	W 111–42	25–2	McGaw Hall  Evanston, IL
March 15, 1963*	No. 3	vs. No. 7 Mississippi State NCAA mideast regional semifinal "Game of Change"	W 61–51	26–2	Jenison Fieldhouse (12,143) East Lansing, MI
March 16, 1963*	No. 3	vs. No. 8 Illinois NCAA mideast regional final	W 79–64	27–2	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
March 22, 1963*	No. 3	vs. No. 2 Duke NCAA national semifinal	W 94–75	28–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
March 23, 1963*	No. 3	vs. No. 1 Cincinnati NCAA national championship	W 60–58OT	29–2	Freedom Hall (19,153) Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. Source: 2018–19 Loyola men's basketball media guide

Rankings

Main article: 1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

Jerry Harkness:

• Consensus First Team All-American
• First Team AP All-American
• First Team USBWA All-American
• First Team NABC All-American
• First Team UPI All-American
• Second Team NEA All-American

Team:

• College Basketball Hall of Fame (2013)

Records

Loyola's first-round Mideast Regional victory over Tennessee Tech, 111–42, continues to be the record margin of victory (69 points) in an NCAA men's basketball tournament game.

NBA draft

Main article: 1963 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	9	Jerry Harkness	New York Knicks

External links

• Roster and stats at Sports Reference