Chicago City Wire

Loyola University Chicago men's basketball coach Porter Moser had the House floor’s full attention Wednesday afternoon.

The only business conducted among lawmakers at the beginning of the midweek debate was handing off HR1045 congratulating the Ramblers and listening intently to Moser describe his team’s dedication and drive that gave them the No. 11 seed victory in the NCAA Final Four in March.

“Thank you, representatives, for forcing my players to stand up and applause me," Poser said, beginning a motivational speech. "I do appreciate that."

Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) addresses Porter Moser at House floor debate.

Pointing out in-state players in the front row -- Jake Baughman of Bloomington, Christian Negron of Elgin and Lucas Williamson of Chicago -- Moser said their success goes beyond a three-point shot, noting the three players, prior to walking on the House floor, received their GPAs, which averaged above 3.0, while waiting in House Speaker Michael Madigan’s (D-Chicago) office.

“At Loyola, we are tied with Harvard for the No. 1 graduation rate in the country academically for our athletic department,” Moser said. He noted the time he made the mistake of phrasing the fact wrong to team chaplain Sister Jean Delores-Schmidt.

“I can see sister right now clenching her fists because I said that one time and she corrected me; she said, ‘No, Porter, Harvard is tied with us,’” Moser said.

On a more serious note, Moser addressed the statewide anticipation of the win.

“To see the excitement that it brought to the state and the city of Chicago was truly amazing and a blessing for us,” Moser said.

Brushing off the criticism when he first took the job that Loyola would be difficult to coach since it was a “pro town,” Moser said that was not the case.

“No, it’s not, it is a sports town ... they love, blue-collar hard teams, winning and doing things the right way,” Moser said.

That is why America got behind Loyola on their 11-seed journey, he added, striking up the similarity between the lawmakers and the team. He said when something bad happens, like politicians, teams tend to get lumped together when something bad happens.

“What happened with the scandal this year and the FBI investigation and to see a program like Loyola come from the bottom and the whole country saw the character of our student-athletes,” Moser said.

The Ramblers did it the right way; they didn’t have to cheat, he added.

“We had the No. 1 graduation rate in the country, and we made it all the way to the Final Four," Moser said. "Who would have thought?"

Born and raised in Naperville, Moser had the special attention of Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville), who said visitors cannot come to the town without seeing the true impact the Moser family has had on it.

“The Naperville River Walk would not exist if not for Porter’s father,” Wehrli said.

Wehrli added being immensely proud to see one of Naperville’s sons take the Loyola Ramblers all the way to the Final Four were the only words to express his gratitude.

“I cannot think of a more fitting individual from Naperville than Porter Moser to exemplify some of the finest that come out of our state,” Wehrli said. “Porter, we are extremely proud of you for doing this with class and character … Go Ramblers.”

Concluding his speech, Moser may have not even realized how prophetic his words were to the politicians.

“It’s amazing what you can do when you have a group of people who don’t care who gets the credit,” Moser said.