Poor Sister Jean.
The 105-year-old superfan and team chaplain of the Loyola Chicago men’s basketball program did not receive fist bumps from several distracted players Wednesday night in a clip that has gone viral.
Sister Jean sat in a wheelchair outside the tunnel that presumably leads to the locker room and extended her fist to celebrate the 76-54 home win over Eastern Michigan.
The short clip shows junior guard Kymany Houinsou extending his left hand to celebrate before an unknown player walks by without greeting Sister Jean.
Junior guard Justin Moore and senior forward Jalen DeLoach then both passed her without extending their fists, but the pair seemed to be distracted. Both upperclassmen turned their heads to the right toward the stands while exiting, seemingly not seeing Sister Jean while they passed her.
Naturally, seeing Sister Jean left hanging — seemingly unintentionally — did not sit well with some.
“Why’d they do Sister Jean like that? 💔,” the College Basketball Content account on X tweeted.
Barstool Sports’ X account posted: “Sister Jean didn’t carry Loyola Chicago all the way to a Final Four just to be treated like this.”
Sister Jean rose to fame in 2018 while she cheered for Loyola Chicago during its underdog run to the Final Four as an 11-seed before losing to Michigan in the Final Four.
Broadcasters revealed her backstory to the world while she attended the Ramblers’ games, with the squad capturing the hearts of America during its upsets of Miami, Tennessee, Nevada and Kansas State en route to reaching its first Final Four since winning the national title during the 1962-63 season.
Sister Jean first served as an academic advisor with the men’s and women’s programs in 1994 before becoming the men’s team chaplain in 1994, per the university website.
She entered the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
“That evolved into a position as official team chaplain for the men’s basketball team, with her pre-game prayers and advice to players becoming a critical part of the team’s success,” reads the school website’s profile of Sister Jean. ” Her role with the team has also earned her numerous accolades, including a much-deserved induction in the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame.
“But make no mistake, Sister Jean is more than just a fan—she knows her basketball as well as anyone on the court. Upon arriving at Loyola, Coach Porter Moser got a scouting report from Sister Jean on every one of his players.”
Sister Jean has had plenty to cheer for this season with Loyola Chicago off to a 7-0 start. The Ramblers ranked fifth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll.
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