Sister Jean addresses the media at the Final Four and talks about how she and the team are staying humble. USA TODAY Sports
CHICAGO — Damon Cates is excited. He’s the senior vice president of institutional advancement at Loyola Chicago. The school being thrust into the national spotlight is nothing but good news for him.
Loyola’s run to the Final Four doesn’t just help the basketball program. With web traffic 400% higher than last year, people who might not ever have heard of the school on the far north side of Chicago are now talking about it. Cates now faces the challenge of harnessing the power of the intense spotlight to benefit the school beyond basketball season.
Loyola merchandise is so popular the school set up a pop-up shop on its downtown campus just off Chicago’s famed Michigan Avenue. Besides merchandise sales, one of the first places a Final Four “bump” is felt is in admissions.
“The higher education market generally is a noisy space, and talking about what makes the Loyola education distinctive on a national level, you don't get that opportunity very often,” Cates said. “That’s what this is helping provide for us, a chance to tell Loyola's story.”
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Cates said applications are already up, and are expected to go up over the next few years. As for fundraising and alumni involvement, he said Loyola already had a strong base, but now they are much more energized.
“People were on the sidelines, always ready to help, but now they're jumping up and down saying, 'Put me in! How can I help?' That's been the best part of this. That's not just been our alumni, by the way. The city of Chicago and around the country, we're getting all kinds of requests for involvement,” Cates said.
Broderick Hicks, vice president for the Wasserman Group and a former basketball player for Wake Forest, says one of the best ways for Loyola to extend the benefits of its run is by reinvesting money back into the basketball program.
“Their basketball team has really driven and elevated their platform. It's probably their best marketing tool at this point,” Hicks said. “Spend some money to keep their coach, go after some higher level players, potentially try to attract players who are highly recruited at other places and are looking to transfer. Maybe even invest in facilities to really amp up their program so they can make more runs like this one.”
Schools such as Florida Golf Coast and George Mason have experienced the same spotlight Loyola is enjoying now. After FGCU made it to the Sweet 16, applications jumped 27.5%. In 2006, George Mason was an 11-seed that made it to the Final Four, like Loyola. Their out-of-state applications went up 54%.
But one thing Loyola has that no other school can boast? Sister Jean.
“Not only do they have an amazing story, they also have a figure at the top of it for people to attach to. She's a sentimental figure, as well. VCU and George Mason didn't have that. You can't make this stuff up,” Hicks said. “I honestly haven't seen a run like this, with a school like this, with some of the authentic emotional attachment to a team, a figure like Sister Jean, or a program probably ever.”
Her stardom has benefited Loyola, as she agreed to license her image for the university’s benefit. As of Thursday, more than 10,000 Sister Jean bobbleheads had been sold, and they’ve been ordered in every state.
But even if she wasn’t a star, the 98-year-old would still be there with her team.
“She's been a fixture at the university, and when the team wasn't doing as well as they are this season, she was their chaplain, too. She's committed to the students doing well and being successful and playing as a team,” Cates said.
