The lights were dim at Philips Arena in Atlanta on Saturday roughly two hours after Loyola defeated Kansas State to advance to its first Final Four since 1963. The thousands of fans who were at the game were gone.
Ramblers coach Porter Moser stood alone in the tunnel, his media duties finally done. Moser’s family was on its way back to the hotel, and his team waited for him on the bus.
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Moser made his way to the court. At the baseline, he soaked it all in. Maintenance workers, cleaning up maroon and gold confetti, were the only others left in the arena.
“I didn’t want to go,” Moser admitted.
Moser’s eyes were fixed on the “Elite 8” painted on the court for a brief moment before he examined the floor.
After a few moments, Moser walked away and joined his team on the bus with the South Regional trophy.
Three days removed, it hasn’t hit Moser yet.
“[The Final Four] is like the Super Bowl for basketball,” Moser said. “I’m still looking around at my friends, like, really, did this just happen?”
This will be Moser’s 28th consecutive trip to the Final Four, but his first as coach of a Final Four squad.
Moser remembers sitting near midcourt in the stands as a college basketball fan for the 2013 Final Four, which involved Wichita State, Michigan, Syracuse and Louisville. He was joined by some of his fellow coaches.
“I don’t want to use the word jealousy or envy, but I remember sitting there . . . Chris Jans, my former assistant, was on the staff at Wichita State [at the time],” Moser said. “I remember just going like, ‘Wow, how incredible was it that a team in our [future] league — in the Missouri Valley — is sitting here in the Final Four.’ ”
And now, it’s the gritty Ramblers’ turn.
Moser plans to step back and reflect on Loyola’s record season, but for now, he’s doing what he and his coaching staff have done all season.
“I’ve been preparing,” Moser said. “It’s been like this for weeks and weeks and weeks. . . . You don’t sleep. You’re just so much about the next opponent. So I know there will be a time when I step back and look at how we’ve played this year and the impact it’s had on the university, but right now, I’m in the moment.
“I’m going to let the guys — same thing I said in the regionals — I want them to enjoy it. But we 100 percent are in it to advance.”
Follow me on Twitter @madkenney.
