Sister Jean Will Be Going To Indianapolis To Cheer On Her Loyola Ramblers
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Sister Jean is 101 and still up for dancin' – she's headed to Indianapolis to cheer on her Loyola Ramblers in the NCAA Tournament.
The Loyola team chaplain – full name Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt – has been vaccinated for COVD-19.
She won't be allowed around the players - but she will still lead them in a pregame prayer via telephone.
Sister Jean really had to fight for the right to party - but if she didn't get permission, she was ready with what one might call some alternate plans.
"One alum wrote, told me that her husband was willing to drive me down. Somebody else told me that she was going to sneak me out of the university, and another couple said that they thought they would like to kidnap me and then Loyola would have to search for me. Loyola didn't know any of those things. I didn't tell them until after," she said. "They were worried about that I was going to go down on the court, and I said, 'If I'm not supposed to go on the court, I'm not going to go on the court – and I'm not going to cause any disturbance.'"
Sister Jean also weighed on the prospect of Loyola playing the Fighting Illini.
"It just amazes me that, first of all, that they put two Illinois schools together to go against each other rather than to support each other," Sister Jean said.
Loyola will be playing Illinois if both teams win their first games. Sister Jean is picking the Ramblers to beat the Illini – and she has the Ramblers getting as far as the Elite 8. But she likes Gonzaga to win it all.