Sachs and now Ireland started recruiting black athletes before it became the way to win.  This has paid great dividends for this program.  The Ramblers also have a wide open offense that encourages scoring.  And the team presses the entire game meaning Ireland’s guys are going to have to be in incredible shape.  This Jesuit school most known for being the training grounds for the button-down mind of one Bob Newhart. Ireland is a big fan of his but has no sense of humor whatsoever and does like being stuck in a mid-major conference.  After all this program has been indies for decades now but understands that to get ahead you have to get along and that means joining a league which they did begrudgingly a few years back.  He thinks his program deserves better and the chip on his shoulder carries over to his players which is a good thing. 

The Ramblers have some great athletes.  Led by their Triple H scoring threesome the Ramblers averaged over 90 points a game last season.  Senior Jerry Harkness is the Biggest H on this campus.  The team captain and leader of this team came from Harlem and grew up in a poor household with a single mother where there were many days he did not eat and he went to school with cardboard in his shoes to keep the water out.  But he always loved sports, just not necessarily basketball.  Harkness did not even start playing basketball until his Senior year (and then only because of a chance meeting with THE Jackie Robinson in a Y who encouraged him and thus gave him the impetus to overcome his fear of failing and thus tried out) of as he was a middle-distance runner but he led his high school to a city championship and by happenstance ended up in Chicago.  After several weird mishaps including a dorm burning down in Texas this mature lefty finally decided to go to Loyola (to be honest he was out of options).  The Circle of life is a strange thing sometimes and Ireland could not have picked a better representative to implement his ‘new’ style of basketball as the hard working and humble Harkness.  He would be the first to admit he did not like playing in the South with all of the racial nonsense that goes on and he even admitted his game was off at times but like Robinson grinned and put up with it.  And kept on playing.  Harkness may not be as gifted as Alfredrick ‘the Great’ but he understands how to play the game and contributes way more than the box score. He is a solid scorer who is a great number two option behind Hughes though Ireland wants his Senior taking the big shots at the end of games.  He can handle the ball though this is not his strength.  His strength is his ability to do anything for this team to win.  Harkness does all the little things a great all around player can do like defend and rebound and get his teammates involved.  His leadership and knowledge of the game will be impossible to replace but he is on his way back to NYC after getting drafted by the Knicks. No matter where Harkness ends up he will be a role model and continue to work to help his fellow man.  If there was a picture of role model in the dictionary it just might a be a profile of a smiling Jerry Harkness. 

The Triple H’s showed they are a dynamic force on the offensive end.  Foremost of these is sophomore Alfredrick Hughes.  Hughes is a great inside outside scoring threat.  This Chicago native is a physical specimen with a Greek god’s body who loves taking advantage of his strength inside.  The erstwhile wing player loves to go inside and match up against smaller and less strong wings.  He can also hit the jumper does not mind shooting it.  Hughes never met a shot he didn’t like and he if he misses one (or 20) he is ready and able on the next possession to shoot again.  They call this the shooter’s mentality and Hughes has it to the 9th degree.  Hughes was the go to offensive weapon for the Ramblers and that is saying something as this team had some guys who could score.   Hughes has become hugely popular on the North End with a t-shirt popping up all over campus that read ‘Save Loyola basketball, shoot Alfredrick Hughes!  He not only led the Ramblers in scoring he also can board though his defense and passing are a bit limited mainly due to desire instead of ability.  His potential is unlimited but he may need to get more selective er consistent on his jump shot and that includes taking it out beyond the arc in this modern basketball world.  

The third H is Big Man Les “Big Game” Hunter.  Hunter may not be the most recognized Rambler but he might be the best.  A great player with great heart, Hunter was the soul of this team.  This makes sense as Ireland found Hunter (and teammate Vic Rouse) in Memphis on a recruiting trip down south.  Hunter did not start right away but he knew this was his year and he was right.  He loves to fill it up front the post but can also take it out to the perimeter and get the job done.  Hunter will do whatever it takes to win.  He may not be as big as some other power forwards but Hunter will guard you all day long and is solid on the boards.  The Ramblers were always better when Big Game was on the court and he lived up to his moniker by coming through huge in the conference tourney.    Starting next to Hunter the first few games was fellow Senior Jack Kerris.  Kerris is an undersized but tough as nails power forward who loves to mix it up under the boards.  Ireland was planning on phasing out this Chicago kid who had been a mainstay for the Ramblers for three years a huge part of their history.  In their historic upset of Kentucky in the NIT a few years back (the game which put the Ramblers on the map for maybe not all of the right reasons) Kerris outplayed Alex Groza.   

With Harkness and Hughes handling the wings it was imperative that Ireland have a point guard who could handle the ball for large periods of time and get the ball to his teammates.  Senior Johnny ‘Token’ Egan starts the season out as the point and the only non-black starter.   He is a tough, feisty kid who loves defense and is known for mixing it up with the other team usually to defend his teammates who cannot strike back for obvious reasons.  Sophomore Darius Clemons was a highly recruited stud who can do it all except beat out Egan for the starting job in his first year here.  Clemons can dish and drive and score.   This Windy City native is street smart and knows how to play the game.  He is big for a point at 6’3 210 and plays with that chip on his shoulder but understands what he needs to do to help this team.  And that is set up his teammates.  He can score when needed but his bread is buttered hitting the three H’s and playing feisty defense.  Sure he can hit the open J but his job is leading the team and handling the ball.   

Junior big man Larue Martin has the most upside (and size) of any of the Ramblers. Ireland has been hesitant to start this hometown kid as he is most definitely a ‘project’ who needs to grow into his body. This almost seven footer (six eleven) has the size and ‘potential’ to dominate.  He is already a great rebounder using his size to his advantage and can really defend in the post when so desired.  His offense is coming a bit slower.  He was not counted on for much offense this year with Hunter, Harkness and Hughes around but will have to step up next year and be the man. Martin did average double digits in points and almost nine boards a game and does clog up the middle and will block a shot as playing around talent where he is not counted on to be the man was helpful in his progress.  He is good enough to be a solid center if he wants to be but he does need to become more aggressive and eat a few pizzas as at 208 is rail thin for big time basketball.  Still, the Ramblers will be reliant on this kid to step up this year and he ‘did’ grab the post from a contingent of big men Ireland had brought in challenging for the role.  The likes of seniors the afroementioned Kerris, Vic Rouse, James Tillman, Billy Smith, Jack Dwan and Sophomores Wayne Sappleton all got their shot at the title.  All of these guys can really board but none eat up the space Martin does and only Tillman and Rouse wre in the rotation by the end of the year (the other four dropped for a variance of reasons of which talent was not any of them).  Kerris got hurt early and opened the door for some new blood.  Sappleton, a Jamaican product was solid underneath and has soem size at 6’9 but also got injured. Ireland will give Sappleton a shot next year to replace Hunter though as he can really board and though he does not have the upside of Martin there is room for growth from this man with the three foot afro. Smith is a New York City kid who looks the part with solid athleticism but is a bit smallish.   Dwan is a terrific board guy but is too small as well at 6’4.  Rouse is the player Ireland wanted to give Hunter and Martin a break and bring some athleticism to the paint.  He might not be Dave Corzine off the bench but he can play and he will defend, board and screen all day long.   Seniors Nick Kladis and Don Hanrahan are some more undersized big men coming back who had some good days here but none of these guys will challenge for minutes unless there are major injuries.       

Ireland ended up playing his starters primarily down the stretch and through their post season run with a few exceptions.  The point guard rotation, Tillman and Kerris were the primary bench players as this single-minded coach shrunk his bench.  That does not mean he did not have a plethora of players who contributed throughout the year to the team’s success.  Egan, Ron Miller, Walter Robertson are a group of great seniors who produced many great moments in their careers with the Ramblers but are up against it this year.  This group of players helped put this program on the map and though they did not play as much as they had in the past will be tough acts to follow.  Rouse in particular who came along with his buddy Hunter from Memphis will be missed coming off the bench up front.  Ironically he became his buddies primary backup when he was healthy and pushed him hard in practice.  He battled injuries throughout his career but may be the best board man and defender on the team.  His tipin to beat Butler and put the team in the tourney is the greatest moment in team history.  Ironically, Egan is the only white player off the bunch.  Talk about reverse discrimination?  Ireland was one of the first coaches to openly recruit black players and this is the first class he recruited.  It surely paid off. 

The Loyola of Chicago Ramblers are without a doubt one of the best teams in the country that nobody knows about.  They had a wonderful season winning the tougher than given credit Horizon League.  Coach George Ireland has always brought in players who could play and his senior class had an amazing run including changing the very makeup of this great game.  The players in that group has graduated and handed the keys to some other limousines.  It will be up to the Alfredrick Hughes and Keith Gaeles and the potential that is LaRue Martin to uphold the fine tradition of Rambler basketball and keep this car running down the road at the same pace it has for a very long time on the North side of Chicago.  That will be a challenge as that old car just won’t run the same without Harkness, Hunter and company behind the wheel.