| Year: | 1962–63 |
| Team: | Loyola Ramblers |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Conference: | Independent |
| Coachrank: | 4 |
| Aprank: | 3 |
| Record: | 29–2 |
| Head Coach: | George Ireland |
| Hc Year: | 12th |
| Asst Coach1: | Jerry Lyne |
| Asst Coach2: | Nick Kladis |
| Champion: | NCAA tournament National Champions |
| Tourney: | National Championship Game |
| Tourney Result: | W 60-58OT vs. Cincinnati |
The 1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago. Champions of the 1963 NCAA tournament, the Ramblers were coached by George Ireland. They defeated top-ranked and two-time defending champion Cincinnati Bearcats in a 60–58 overtime contest. The 1962–63 Ramblers were one of the first NCAA men's basketball teams to have broken the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" among coaches in which no more than two black players would be on the floor at one time (and in some road games, black players would have to rotate so that only one of them was playing at any given moment): the Ramblers would regularly have three or four black starters, paving the way for the 1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team who would finally put the "agreement" to rest and have an all-black starting five.[1] [2] They played in the Game of Change, in which a Mississippi State team defied segregationists to play against Loyola, breaking the unwritten law that Mississippi teams would not play against black players.
On July 11, 2013, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their championship, surviving members of Loyola's team were honored by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the Oval Office of the White House. It also was announced that the entire team would be inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in a ceremony scheduled for November 2013.
| Name | Position | Height | Year | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Connaughton | 34 | Sophomore | Hamilton, Ohio | ||
| Jack Egan | 11 | Guard | 5–10 | Junior | Chicago, Ill. |
| Jerry Harkness | 15 | Forward | 6–3 | Senior | Bronx, N.Y. |
| Les Hunter | 41 | Center | 6–7 | Junior | Nashville, Tenn. |
| Earl Johnson | 30 | Sophomore | |||
| Ron Miller | 42 | Guard | 6–2 | Junior | Bronx, N.Y. |
| Jim Reardon | 33 | Senior | |||
| Pablo Robertson | 14 | Guard | 5–7 | Sophomore | Bronx, N.Y. |
| Rich Rochelle | 10 | Center | 6–9 | Junior | |
| Vic Rouse | 40 | Forward | 6–6 | Junior | Nashville, Tenn. |
| Billy Smith | 24 | Forward | 6–5 | Sophomore | |
| Chuck Wood | 23 | Junior | |||
|-!colspan=8 style=| NCAA Tournament
See main article: 1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings.
Team:
Loyola's first-round Mideast Regional victory over Tennessee Tech, 111–42, continues to be the record margin of victory (69 points) in an NCAA men's basketball tournament game.
See main article: 1963 NBA draft.