CHICAGO (March 5, 2021) – Loyola University Chicago head coach Porter Moser has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year. This season, the tenth-year Ramblers coach led his team to its third Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship in the last four years as well as a No. 20 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
 
Other semifinalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year award include Darian DeVries (Drake), Scott Drew (Baylor), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Chris Holtmann (Ohio State), Juwan Howard (Michigan), Bob Huggins (West Virginia), Eric Musselman (Arkansas) and Nate Oats (Alabama).
 
Moser has piloted Loyola to four consecutive campaigns of 20 or more wins, just the second time in program history and the first since the 1945-46 through 1948-49 seasons that the Ramblers have accomplished that feat. Prior to his arrival in Rogers Park in 2011, Loyola had produced just one 20-win season in the previous 26 years, but now owns five 20-win campaigns in the last seven years alone.
 
The Naperville, Ill., native, who steered Loyola to an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2018, ranks third in school history with 183 wins on the Loyola bench and has recruited and developed three of the last four MVC Player of the Year award winners – Clayton Custer (2018), Marques Townes (2019) and Cameron Krutwig (2021). 
 
Under Moser's tutelage this season, Loyola has successfully navigated the challenges of COVID-19 and enters today's MVC Championship quarterfinal round game with a 21-4 overall mark and a 16-2 ledger in Valley play. The 16 MVC wins established a single-season program record for conference victories.
 
Loyola, which is the top seed at the 2021 MVC Championship, faces No. 9 seed, Southern Illinois at 11 a.m. CT today.