The 2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

during the

2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the c ...

. The Ramblers, led by first-year head coach

Drew Valentine Carlton Andrew Valentine II (born May 25, 1991) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at Loyola University Chicago, a position he assumed in 2021. He played college basketball at Oakland University in Michigan, ...

, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the regular season 25–7, 13–5 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. As the No. 4 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Bradley,

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

to win the MVC tournament for the second consecutive season. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed, where they lost in the first round to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. On November 16, 2021, Loyola announced that the season would be the last season for the team in the MVC as they joined the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

in July 2022.

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Ramblers finished the 2020–21 season 26–5, 16–2 in MVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

, and

to win the MVC tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated No. 9-seeded Georgia Tech and upset No. 1-seeded

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Oregon State. On April 3, 2021, head coach

Porter Moser Porter Andrew Moser (born August 24, 1968) is a college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Oklahoma Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball, men's basketball team. Moser spent 10 years (2011–2021) at Loyola University ...

left Loyola to accept the head coaching position at

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. A few days later, the school announced that assistant coach Drew Valentine would take over as the Ramblers' head coach.

Offseason

Coaching changes

On April 20, Valentine announced the hiring of assistant coaches Amorrow Morgan, Sean Dwyer, and Patrick Wallace. Former

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

associate head coach

Dan Hipsher Dan Hipsher (born December 6, 1954) is the associate head coach for the Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team. He was previously the head coach at Wittenberg University, Stetson University, the University of Akron and Texas–Rio Grande Valley. ...

was named special assistant to the head coach.

Departures

Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

disruptions, the NCAA did not count the 2020–21 season against the eligibility of any basketball player, meaning that all seniors in that season could choose to return for 2021–22.

Incoming transfers

2021 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

After losing several game to cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19, Loyola and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

agreed to play a game on January 6, 2022, on the campus of

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through onl ...

. , - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, MVC tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*''AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.''
^''Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team Loyola Loyola Ramblers men's basketball seasons Loyola Ramblers men Loyola Ramblers men 2022 in Illinois 2020s in Chicago Loyola