After 10 seasons at the helm with the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers, Porter Moser is heading to the Big 12. Multiple reports Friday, including one from CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone and Matt Norlander, had Moser signing on with the Oklahoma Sooners, replacing Lon Kruger (who retired at 68 following a loss to top-seeded Gonzaga in this year’s NCAA Tournament).
Moser, 52, had been one of the most talked-about mid-major coaches in recent years, as he led the Ramblers on a run to the Final Four in 2018 and on a run to the Sweet Sixteen (where they lost to Oregon State in the game seen above) this year. Overall, he went 188-141 in 10 seasons with Loyola, leading them to three Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles (2017-18, 2018-19, and this season) and those aforementioned NCAA Tournament runs.
Before that, Moser went 54–34 as a head coach at Arkansas-Little Rock (2000-03) and 51-67 at Illinois State (2003-07). He spent 2007-2011 as an assistant to Rick Majerus at Saint Louis, then took the Loyola job, and while he wasn’t immediately successful there (the Ramblers went 7–23 in the 2011–12 season and 15–16 in 2012-13, both in the Horizon League), he certainly produced great results in the end. He’s now one of quite a crop of new coaches in the Big 12, with Texas Tech’s Chris Beard moving to Texas (Texas Tech hasn’t announced a successor yet). We’ll see how Moser does with Oklahoma.
Update: Here are some of those contract details from Norlander, who also added that Loyola-Chicago made quite the offer to try and keep him:
Sources also told CBS Sports that Loyola Chicago’s offer to Moser to get him to stay was for 10 years and escalating from $2.2 million going forward. Perks, like season tickets to Cubs games, etc., in the package.
Huge offer for a mid-major, really. He’ll fly to Norman shortly.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 2, 2021
[CBS Sports; photo from Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports]
