YouTube Gold: A Look At The 1963 National Champions, The Loyola Ramblers
A truly legendary team that should be better remembered
Duke is an annual threat to make the Final Four these days, but it wasn’t always that way of course.
The Blue Devils made their first Final Four in 1963 behind the brilliant Art Heyman and Jeff Mullins. However, the still segregated Duke team would run up against Loyola of Chicago and Ramblers coach George Ireland, thinking that Duke’s limited experience outside of the segregated South would work against them, said that “any good team with a predominantly Negro lineup could beat them.”
As it turned out he was right: Loyola won 94-75.
The Ramblers got a much tougher opponent in the title game as Cincinnati emerged to face Loyola.
The Bearcats had had the great Oscar Robertson from 1957-1960 and made the Final Four for five straight years, from 1959 to 1963, and won back-to-back titles right after Robertson graduated, in ‘61 and ‘62.
They very nearly won again in ‘63. The Bearcats had a considerable lead but Loyola pulled off a big comeback and won on a last-second shot.
This video aired on an Arizona TV station and talks about the impact of that 1963 Loyola squad. It’s a mostly forgotten championship team now but as you’ll see, it has a special place in history.