Sports
OU’s Moser reflects on Sister Jean: ‘Heart is sad’
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As he looked ahead to next season on Wednesday, Oklahoma coach Porter Moser reflected on the life of one of his favorite people: Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who died last week at the age of 106.
Moser said he’ll miss his friend.
“My heart is sad,” said Moser, who planned to fly to Chicago after SEC media day for Sister Jean’s funeral mass Thursday. “It’s also joy and gratitude that she was in my life. I vibe with energetic, positive people. I’ll never meet someone who had such a positive attitude and poured that attitude into other people more than Sister Jean. And I was blessed to be her friend.”
Sister Jean became a national icon as she supported Moser and his Loyola-Chicago squad during their run to the Final Four in 2018. While her basketball passion made her famous and drew the attention of celebrities and politicians, including former President Joe Biden, who once sent her flowers, she endeared herself to the campus community that loved her.
Moser said he was always stunned by Sister Jean’s independence. Although she was in a wheelchair during packed news conferences and nationally televised interviews during her favorite team’s miraculous NCAA tournament run seven years ago, Moser remembers her moving around Loyola-Chicago’s campus in her favorite sneakers.
“She was always running around in her Nike shoes,” Porter said. “On the back of them, one said ‘Sister’ and the back of the other shoe said ‘Jean.'”
Sister Jean lived at the dorms with the students at 98 years old, he said. And one night, Moser was walking out of a parking garage after late-night recruiting calls when he saw her walking toward the dorms at 8:30 p.m. on a cold Chicago night. He offered her a ride, but she refused.
“She lived in the dorms by herself,” he said. “Self-sufficient. Now think about that. She’s 98, by herself, living in the dorm for the students. I said, ‘Sister Jean, jump in. I’ll take you across the street to the dorm.’ She’s like, ‘No, no. This is great for me.’ It had to be 10 degrees.”
Those who knew Sister Jean also understood that her passion for basketball was real, he said. She didn’t like to be bothered when she was watching games and would hush anyone who disrupted her viewing experience.
“I remember her being such a basketball fan,” Moser said. “She loved my kids, but I remember she sat behind my kids at a game, and she shushed my kids. They were making noise and she’s like, ‘Sshhh, I’m trying to watch the game.'”
But her warmth, humility and kindness toward others, Porter said, will be his lasting memory of her. Sister Jean, who had been with Loyola-Chicago basketball since 1991, would pray for the Ramblers and their opponents. She would also cheer for Moser’s players and give them pregame pep talks.
Moser said he and Sister Jean stayed in touch even after he left for Oklahoma in 2021.
He attended her 105th and 106th birthday celebrations in Chicago, too.
As he prepared to fly to Chicago for Thursday’s ceremony, he said he’s confident about one thing: There will never be another person like Sister Jean.
“She meant everything to all of us before she became, in her words, the international star — not just a national star,” Moser said.
Undefeated Nebraska earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament bracket released Sunday.
The five-time national champion Huskers (30-0) have dominated this season, dropping just seven sets. They lead Division I in hitting percentage at .352.
Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as both a Nebraska player and assistant, took over at her alma mater this season after longtime Huskers coach John Cook retired. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to the NCAA final in 2024, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State.
The other No. 1 seeds are Kentucky, Texas and Pitt. The Wildcats have won one NCAA title, and the Longhorns have four. The Panthers reached the final four the past four seasons but lost in the semifinals each time.
Pitt and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC at 18-2, and the Cardinal won their head-to-head matchup 3-2 at Stanford on Nov. 14. But the Panthers’ overall body of work secured them the last No. 1 seed, while nine-time NCAA champion Stanford is the No. 2 seed in Texas’ region.
SEC regular-season and tournament champion Kentucky defeated Texas 3-2 in the conference tournament final. They would face each other in the national semifinals should they advance that far.
Defending national champion Penn State, the only school that has appeared in every NCAA tournament dating back to the event’s start in 1981, is a No. 8 seed in Texas’ quarter of the bracket. St. Thomas (Minnesota) and Toledo are both making their first appearance in the tournament.
The Big 12 led all leagues with 10 teams in the field, the Big Ten has nine, the ACC seven and the SEC five.
Early-round matches will be held from Dec. 4 to 6 on campus sites. The regionals, scheduled for Dec. 11-14, will be hosted by the four highest seeds still standing in each quarter of the bracket.
The final four is at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in the tournament’s history. It was there that Penn State won the championship in 2010 and Nebraska won its most recent title in 2017.
The national semifinals are Dec. 18 (ESPN), and the championship match is Dec. 21 (ABC).
The Commanders return from their bye week searching for their first victory since Oct. 5. It won’t be easy against the Broncos, who have won eight straight.
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Ruben Amorim has said that Manchester United are “stealing” set-piece routines from other clubs after goals from two free-kicks helped earn a valuable 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
United came from behind at Selhurst Park thanks to second-half goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount, both of which came from Bruno Fernandes set plays.
Amorim’s team have now scored 10 Premier League goals from set-pieces this season — joint most with table-toppers Arsenal.
“We work a lot,” Amorim said when asked about United’s improvement at set-pieces.
“We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England.
“I think you are used to seeing that, but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.”
United looked destined for another set-back following Monday’s defeat to 10-man Everton when Crystal Palace went in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to a retaken penalty from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
But there was marked improvement in their performance after the break as Amorim’s team recorded just their second league win away from home since March.
“I just said to the players we need to be more alive and you can feel that,” Amorim said.
– Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee inspire Man United comeback win at Crystal Palace
– Zirkzee leads Man United comeback in game of two halves vs. Palace
– Premier League table
“So if you are more alive, you are in more places, you are near the ball more often. I think everyone did that.
“But we also need to understand that the opponent was tired also in the second half.
“And when you increase the rhythm and the opponent gets tired a little bit, suffers right away a goal, you felt that we had the control of the game and that’s it.”
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