SportsPulse: Loyola-Chicago is on a Cinderella run and along for the ride is now-famous team chaplain, Sister Jean. Here's what she had to say about her rise to stardom. USA TODAY Sports
Before two of the NCAA tournament's most thrilling underdog teams tipped off in a Sweet 16 battle Thursday night, their suddenly famous mega-supporters provided the pre-game entertainment and analysis.
And the two March Madness stars only have a 90-year age difference.
Mariah Musselman, the 8-year-old daughter of Nevada coach Eric Musselman, interviewed 98-year-old nun, Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt — the team chaplain for Loyola-Chicago — on TBS' NCAA Tip-Off show. The segment featured two of the biggest off-the-court stars of 2018's tournament discussing the matchup between the seventh-seeded Wolf Pack and 11th-seeded Ramblers.
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"I think we're going to have to work hard," Sister Jean said of Loyola-Chicago when asked by Musselman of her thoughts on the matchup. "I think Nevada's going to have to work hard, too. ...I'm anxious. I'm sure you're anxious, too. The (Ramblers) are calm. I said to our team, I think I'm more nervous than you are."
The two super-fans then compared their best in-game rituals. While Sister Jean's was to pray, Musselman showed off her lucky Wolf Pack ears to the nun.
"I'm going to look to see you (in the game) to see how good of a luck charm that is," Sister Jean said.
Musselman hilariously asked Sister Jean, "do you know what going viral means?" The nun answered no before Musselman offered a quick explanation.
To close the segment, Sister Jean and Musselman exchanged T-shirts.
"I think you and I are both blessed to have these teams to (root) for," Sister Jean said to Musselman. "We'll go in this together. ... Our teams have to be good sports. So you and I have to be good sports."
To illustrate the contrast of the two stars, an NCAA video, published shortly before the TV segment, captured the age gap when it quizzed Musselman and Sister Jean about their favorite things. When asked about their favorite movies, Musselman listed Finding Nemo (2003) among others. Sister Jean named Lost Horizon (1937).
Sister Jean has been a die-hard Loyola fan for most of her life and was thrust into the national spotlight when the Ramblers upset Miami (Fla.) in the first round off a Donte Ingram buzzer-beater. Next, they took out No. 3 seed Tennessee off a Clayton Custer game-winner with three seconds left. Coach Porter Moser and the players have praised Sister Jean's presence, as the nun prays for the team before every game and even offers scouting reports. After a reporter asked Sister Jean about her national stardom, she quipped, "International star."
Mariah Musselman has been a tournament sensation while appearing in several television interviews as the Wolf Pack won two down-to-the-wire comeback games in the first and second round — first storming back from 14 down to beat Texas in overtime and then knocking off No. 2 seed Cincinnati after trailing by 22. In a video that went viral, Mariah interviews her father and asks him, "What's harder: Waking me up or going in a game in overtime?"
Follow Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson
