There he was on that day in March 1963, a black player from Loyola of Chicago shaking hands with a white player from Mississippi State, Joe Dan Gold, at center court. They were about to tip off in a regional semifinal in East Lansing, Michigan, that would come to be known as the Game of Change.
Loyola is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1985 thanks to two last-second shots and two prayers answered for Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old team chaplain who has become a celebrity during this captivating run that continues with a game against Nevada on Thursday night in Atlanta.