PLAYTIME
Porter Moser, the new men’s basketball coach, after throwing the first pitch at Loyola alumni night at a Cubs game
On the up-and-up S
New men’s b-ball coach building the program
ummer isn’t a vacation for Men’s Basketball Coach Porter Moser: he’s working up to 17-hour days in prepara- tion for the upcoming season in the
hopes of identifying future Rambler stars. A typical day for Moser might mean spending four or five hours with a high school student making
MEN’S BASKETBALL
an unofficial visit to campus, then running an afternoon youth basketball clinic. Before the day ends, there might be a speech or personal ap- pearance to promote Loyola basketball. But Moser prides himself on building winning teams, and he’s willing to put in the long hours.
32 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
“I know the process of a turnaround. I’m all
in,” Moser says. A native of Naperville, Moser is credited with the turnaround of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock team in his first head coach- ing job. He later helped lay the foundation for successful Illinois State University teams before joining legendary coach Rick Majerus at St. Louis University. As an assistant at St. Louis, Moser was helping with another turnaround when Loyola hired him as the new head coach. “The stars were aligned, all the arrows
pointing up for this job,” Moser says. “There is a new athletic director in Grace Calhoun, a new athlete-training facility, Gentile Arena is being remodeled. There is a lot of energy on campus.” Moser has already notched some recruiting
successes. First, he landed point guard Cully Payne, transferring from the University of Iowa, who will have three years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2011-12 season. Christian Thomas, a 6-foot-5 forward from St. Louis,
signed a letter of intent to join Loyola. Then Moser found Devin Hill, a 6-foot-9 forward trans- ferring to Loyola after three seasons at DePaul. “Recruiting is my No. 1 target,” Moser says.
“We’re going out and telling people all the great things about Loyola.” While Moser sees a formi- dable foe in Butler University, which made it to the NCAA championship game the past two sea- sons, he thinks it’s a positive for his recruiting. “Butler has brought recognition to the Ho-
rizon League. It is now one of the elite leagues in the nation,” Moser says. “We have top-notch academics. We are in a great city. And we have these new facilities.” Moser’s dedication comes with the support
of his wife, Megan, and four children, Jordan, 9, Jake, 8, Ben, 6, and Max, 4. “I’m blessed to have a supportive wife. She’s
a big part of the program. She’ll cook dinner, and we’ll have 25-30 people over to the house,” Moser says. “We run the team like it’s a family.”
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