College basketball superfan Sister Jean celebrates 105th birthday

One of the country’s most popular basketball fans is 105 years old.

Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, better known as Sister Jeanis the team chaplain for the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team. Although she has been attending the Ramblers’ home games longer than the team’s players have been alive, college basketball fans across the country first became acquainted with her during Loyola’s improbable run to the 2018 Final Four.

Sister Jean was born on August 21, 1919, in San Francisco, where she played on the girls’ basketball team at St. Paul’s High School before graduating in 1937. She moved to Chicago in 1961 and became involved in the city’s civil rights movement. In 1994, she was named Loyola’s team chaplain.

Twenty-four years later, her Ramblers returned to March Madness for the first time since 1985, and Sister Jean quickly became the story of the tournament as Loyola overcame one nerve-wracking challenge after another to reach the Final Four in San Antonio.

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Sister Jean is more than just a fan. Ramblers players have praised her for her basketball knowledge and the scouting reports she compiles on Loyola’s opponents. She began incorporating those scouting reports into the team’s opening prayer against heavily favored Illinois during Loyola’s 2021 March Madness appearance. Loyola beat the No. 1-seeded Illini by 13 points.

In the years since, Loyola has continued to climb up the college basketball pecking order, and sister Jean still sits in the stands cheering on the Ramblers. In 2023, she and college basketball writer Seth Davis published a book together entitled Wake up with a purpose!: What I learned in my first hundred years.

“Tomorrow is sister Jean’s 105th birthday!!!!!” Davis wrote about X on Tuesday. “She is truly a gift from heaven and remains 100 percent cheerful, sharp and determined!”

Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Porter Moserwho coached the Ramblers during their 2018 and 2021 tournament runs, posted a photo this week that he took with Sister Jean after her birthday mass.

“Happy birthday to my dear friend Sister Jean! 🎉🎊,” he wrote. “It was so great to be back in Chi with her last week celebrating her 105th birthday!!👏👏 She still works 5 days a week and impacts LUC students!❤️ No one is like her!”

Despite her age, Sister Jean is still quick-witted. In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times In the article published on Wednesday, August 21, she looked back on her century-long experience and said it gave her “courage to move forward into the future.”

She also commented on hosting the 2024 Democratic National Convention in her city, the war between Israel and Hamas, and her goals for the future.

“I want to continue to be a happy person,” she said.

The Loyola community will celebrate Sister Jean’s birthday on August 29 with a street party in her honor on campus.