# 2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by first-year head coach Drew Valentine, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois 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, and Drake 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.
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 in July 2022.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ramblers finished the 2020–21 season 26–5, 16–2 in MVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Southern Illinois, Illinois State, and Drake 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 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Oregon State.
On April 3, 2021, head coach Porter Moser left Loyola to accept the head coaching position at Oklahoma. 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 associate head coach Dan Hipsher was named special assistant to the head coach.

### Departures

Due to COVID-19 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.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Paxson Wojcik | 0 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Sophomore | Charleston, SC | Transferred to Brown |
| Jake Baughman | 2 | G | 6'3" | 180 | RS Senior | Bloomington, IL | Graduated; chose not to return |
| Baylor Hebb | 13 | G | 6'2" | 170 | Freshman | Colleyville, TX | Transferred to Colorado State |
| Cooper Kaifes | 23 | G | 6'3" | 195 | RS Sophomore | Shawnee, KS | Transferred to Samford |
| Cameron Krutwig | 25 | C | 6'9" | 255 | Senior | Algonquin, IL | Graduated; signed to play professionally in Belgium with the Antwerp Giants |
| Sami Ismail | 31 | G | 6'1" | 182 | Junior | Orland Park, IL | Transferred to Highland CC (IL) |
| Franklin Agunanne | 33 | F | 6'9" | 245 | Junior | Abuja, Nigeria | Transferred to SMU |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Ryan Schwieger | 13 | F | 6'7" | 205 | Senior | Matthews, NC | Transferred from Princeton |
| Chris Knight | 23 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Senior | Madison, WI | Transferred from Dartmouth |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ty Johnson G | Chicago, IL | DePaul College Prep (IL) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 11, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Ben Schwieger G / F | Aurora, IL | Waubonsie Valley (IL) | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 11, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Saint Thomas F | Omaha, NE | Millard North (NE) | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Apr 13, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/R ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 132 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Loyola Ramblers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021. ||||||

## Schedule and results

After losing several game to cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19, Loyola and San Francisco agreed to play a game on January 6, 2022, on the campus of Salt Lake Community College.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | UW–Stout | W 93–41 | | Gentile Arena (2,374) Chicago, IL |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NBCSC+ | | Coppin State | W 103–45 | 1–0 | Gentile Arena (2,982) Chicago, IL |
| November 13, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+/NBCSC | | Florida Gulf Coast | W 89–77 | 2–0 | Gentile Arena (3,277) Chicago, IL |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NBCSC | | Chicago State | W 92–56 | 3–0 | Gentile Arena (2,637) Chicago, IL |
| November 20, 2021* 3:00 p.m., NBCSC | | UIC | W 80–63 | 4–0 | Gentile Arena (3,732) Chicago, IL |
| November 24, 2021* 11:00 a.m., ESPN | | Michigan State Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 61–63 | 4–1 | Imperial Arena Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 25, 2021* 1:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 19 Auburn Battle 4 Atlantis consolation round | L 53–62 | 4–2 | Imperial Arena (804) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 26, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPNews | | Arizona State Battle 4 Atlantis 7th Place Game | W 77–59 | 5–2 | Imperial Arena (739) Nassau, Bahamas |
| December 1, 2021 7:00 p.m., NBCSC | | Indiana State | W 88–76 | 6–2 (1–0) | Gentile Arena (2,915) Chicago, IL |
| December 4, 2021* 3:00 p.m., FS1 | | at DePaul | W 68–64 | 7–2 | Wintrust Arena (6,774) Chicago, IL |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Roosevelt | W 88–49 | 8–2 | Gentile Arena (2,379) Chicago, IL |
| December 10, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN+ | | at Vanderbilt | W 69–58 | 9–2 | Memorial Gymnasium (7,002) Nashville, TN |
| December 19, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3/ESPN+ | | Norfolk State | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| December 22, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Davidson | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | John M. Belk Arena Davidson, NC |
| January 2, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Saint Xavier | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 6, 2022* 1:00 p.m., WCC Network | | vs. San Francisco | W 79–74 | 10–2 | Lifetime Activities Center (112) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 8, 2022 3:00 p.m., NBCSC | | Bradley | W 78–71 $^{OT}$ | 11–2 (2–0) | Gentile Arena (3,092) Chicago, IL |
| January 11, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Valparaiso | W 81–74 $^{2OT}$ | 12–2 (3–0) | Gentile Arena (2,193) Chicago, IL |
| January 15, 2022 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Indiana State | W 64–56 | 13–2 (4–0) | Hulman Center (3,614) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 18, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSC+ | No. 22 | at Evansville | W 77–48 | 14–2 (5–0) | Ford Center (3,190) Evansville, IN |
| January 22, 2022 2:30 p.m., CBSSN | No. 22 | Missouri State | L 69–79 | 14–3 (5–1) | Gentile Arena (4,105) Chicago, IL |
| January 25, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSC | | Southern Illinois | W 59–47 | 15–3 (6–1) | Gentile Arena (2,941) Chicago, IL |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSC | | at Southern Illinois | W 44–39 | 16–3 (7–1) | Banterra Center (4,315) Carbondale, IL |
| January 30, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Drake | L 68–77 | 16–4 (7–2) | Knapp Center (3,994) Des Moines, IA |
| February 2, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Illinois State | W 78–64 | 17–4 (8–2) | Gentile Arena (3,097) Chicago, IL |
| February 6, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Missouri State | W 71–62 | 18–4 (9–2) | JQH Arena (6,117) Springfield, MO |
| February 9, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Bradley | L 61–68 | 18–5 (9–3) | Peoria Civic Center (4,450) Peoria, IL |
| February 13, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Northern Iowa | W 85–58 | 19–5 (10–3) | Gentile Arena (4,019) Chicago, IL |
| February 16, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSC+ | | at Valparaiso | W 71–69 | 20–5 (11–3) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,208) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 19, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Drake | L 76–83 | 20–6 (11–4) | Gentile Arena (4,557) Chicago, IL |
| February 21, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSC | | at Illinois State Rescheduled from January 5 | W 59–50 | 21–6 (12–4) | Redbird Arena (3,354) Normal, IL |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSC | | Evansville | W 82–31 | 22–6 (13–4) | Gentile Arena (3,843) Chicago, IL |
| February 26, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Northern Iowa | L 96–102 $^{OT}$ | 22–7 (13–5) | McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2022 2:30 pm, MVC TV | (4) | vs. (5) Bradley Quarterfinals | W 66–50 | 23–7 | Enterprise Center (5,394) St. Louis, MO |
| March 5, 2022 2:30 pm, CBSSN | (4) | vs. (1) Northern Iowa Semifinals | W 66–43 | 24–7 | Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO |
| March 6, 2022 1:00 pm, CBS | (4) | vs. (3) Drake Championship | W 64–58 | 25–7 | Enterprise Center (5,164) St. Louis, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2022 11:15 am, CBS | (10 S) | vs. (7 S) Ohio State First Round | L 41–54 | 25–8 | PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV^ | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | — | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings. ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.