Wiedmer: Other than Sister Jean, nothing soft about this Final Four

Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self talks to his players during Sunday's Midwest Regional final against Duke. Kansas won 85-81 in overtime to reach the Final Four, joining Loyola-Chicago, Michigan and Villanova in next weekend's national semifinals in San Antonio.
Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self talks to his players during Sunday's Midwest Regional final against Duke. Kansas won 85-81 in overtime to reach the Final Four, joining Loyola-Chicago, Michigan and Villanova in next weekend's national semifinals in San Antonio.

His Kansas Jayhawks having just won their way to this week's Final Four by knocking off Duke in the Midwest Regional final Sunday evening, coach Bill Self wrapped up an interview with CBS with the following words: "I've called my team soft. There's nothing soft about them."

If any single trait runs through each of the four teams competing to be the last program featured in the iconic "One Shining Moment" video next Monday night after the NCAA tournament's title game, it's that none of them is soft.

The Jayhawks certainly weren't soft in their overtime victory over the outrageously talented Blue Devils. Earlier in the day, Villanova wasn't soft in when it outlasted tenacious Texas Tech in the East Regional final despite hitting but four of the 24 3-pointers it attempted.

Go back to Saturday, and Michigan was anything but soft edging Florida State - arguably the most athletically imposing defensive team in the field - in the West Regional final. Then there's Loyola-Chicago, which surely silenced whatever few silly critics it might have had left by pummeling Kansas State 78-62 in the South Regional title game inside Atlanta's Philips Arena.

Said Kansas State coach Bruce Weber, the savvy architect of that stunning Sweet 16 upset of Kentucky two days earlier: "They were better defensively than I even thought, to be honest. I don't care what league they are (Missouri Valley Conference). To win (32) games, to do what they've done, you know, they're a special group and they're very driven."

In today's supposed one-and-done environment - which is probably a tad bit overblown and sensationalized when it comes to the sport as a whole - all four of these teams are a victory for experience, paid dues, detailed coaching and the chemistry that only time can develop. All four have rosters dominated by juniors and seniors who have overcome prior disappointments to reach the biggest stage in men's college basketball.

Kansas had its heart ripped out in narrow Elite Eight losses each of the past two seasons, including falling to Villanova in a 2016 regional final before the Wildcats went on to win it all.

'Nova followed up that title by losing in last year's round of 32, despite being most folks' favorite to repeat. Michigan reached the national championship game in 2013 before falling to Louisville, which has since been forced to vacate that crown, though that doesn't really help the Wolverines, who haven't won it all since 1989.

As for Loyola, the Ramblers were improbable NCAA champs in 1963, but they haven't done anything worth noting since then.

Yet with a considerable number of prayers from their 98-year-old chaplain, Sister Jean, Loyola is surely the favorite of everyone who doesn't have one of the other three winning his or her office pool bracket.

In fact, she's already so popular that the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame - which has reportedly produced 500 different bobbleheads in the past three years - has already sold more than 1,000 Sister Jean dolls to buyers from 43 states and the District of Columbia for $33 each including shipping, even though they won't be shipped until June.

According to ESPN, the most the Milwaukee-based company has ever sold of one doll was a Clemson football national championship bobblehead that totaled 3,000 orders. Company CEO Phil Sklar told ESPN, "I don't know if this can beat that, but obviously if they continue to win, the interest in her will continue."

Actually, around the Loyola program, there have already been two previous Sister Jean bobbleheads - one in 2011 and the other in 2015. The Ramblers' run has caused so much fascination with her that one seller reportedly sold five of the earlier dolls for more than $300 each this week.

If the Ramblers win it all, she might get her own reality show.

And Loyola is clearly the feel-good story of the tournament. A single Ramblers moment that no starting point guard for Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan or Villanova will ever experience: While walking through their hotel lobby Saturday before they played K-State, some high school kids asked to take a picture with several players, including Ben Richardson, whose 22 points later in the day became the biggest reason they're in the Final Four.

Only trouble was, the person they asked to take the picture was Loyola starting point guard Clayton Custer, who was the MVC's most outstanding player this season before breaking Tennessee's hearts with his late basket in the round of 32.

"He was going to take it, too," said Richardson during Loyola's postgame press conference. "He was polite, he was going to take it."

Added Custer: "Everybody was laughing at me and stuff."

No one's laughing now, of course. While the craziest NCAA tournament in recent memory may have somewhat returned to normalcy with the presence of two No. 1 seeds in Kansas and Villanova and a No. 3 in Michigan, 11th-seeded Loyola guarantees a lot of casual fans might be more interested in Saturday's undercard than the nightcap. Loyola-Michigan tips at 6:09 EDT on TBS, with Kansas-Villanova to follow roughly 30 minutes after it concludes.

If nothing else, if Loyola wins it all, expect Sister Jean bobbleheads to become the most popular seller in the history of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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