Sister Jean draws a crowd at press conference

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Loyola-Chicago basketball team chaplain Jean Dolores Schmidt, known to fans worldwide as ‘Sister Jean,’ met with the media Friday morning in San Antonio.

The Ramblers will take on the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday at the Alamodome.

One question to Sister Jean centered on a comment from Mary Belle Hicks, the 100-year-old grandmother of former Michigan star Jalen Rose.

“Sister Jean, it’s been a good ride. But it’s over Saturday. Go Blue!” Hicks said in a video.

Sister Jean said she’s seen the video.

“I saw it on Facebook the other day,” she told reporters. “I also heard that she said she’s out to get me, so we’ll see.

“Somebody said, ‘Maybe you need a pair of boxing gloves,’ and
I said, ‘Well, we’ll see what happens.’

“I hope we see each other. I hope we meet there. I love to meet people.”

Sister Jean said it’s been a challenge to balance religious obligations with basketball on Easter weekend.

“It’s a real challenge, but we’re going to Good Friday service this afternoon because we have that nice break.

“We’re having a university Mass together on Easter Sunday – you know I said Easter Sunday because we hope to stay, and
we’re confident enough we will.

“And one of our Jesuits is coming down to say the Mass for us. It’s hard, though. We have to keep our minds in a quiet attitude as well, and I think we make that space, and that’s what we do at Loyola.

“We think about what we’re doing. We focus on what we do. That’s part of the team’s success.”