CHICAGO (April 14, 2021) – First-year Loyola University Chicago head men's basketball coach Drew Valentine added three student-athletes to the Ramblers 2021-22 roster today. Joining the fold for next season are a pair of Ivy League graduate transfers – Chris Knight (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial/Dartmouth) and Ryan Schwieger (Matthews, N.C./Weddington/Princeton) – as well as true freshman Saint Thomas (Omaha, Neb./Millard North). 
 
"This is a big day for the future of Loyola Basketball," Valentine said. "These three young men are two feet in as we enter the next era. We felt like we needed to add some experience to our roster in addition to building toward our future. All three of these guys are high-character young men who are about the right things. They will fit in with our culture seamlessly and we are incredibly excited to officially welcome them and their families to our family."
 
A 6-foot-7 forward, Knight averaged double figures in scoring in each of his three seasons at Dartmouth College, earning Second Team All-Ivy League recognition in each of his last two years of action (2018-19 and 2019-20). Since Ivy League schools did not compete during the 2020-21 campaign because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Knight's last season of action was 2019-20, as a junior, when he garnered Second Team All-Ivy League accolades after putting up team highs of 14.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while also pitching in 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocks and connecting on 55.6 percent of his field goal attempts. 
 
Already a 1,000-point scorer in his collegiate career, Knight brings experience and versatility to the Loyola roster and as a junior, produced six double-doubles and scored in double digits in 25 of the Big Green's 29 outings in 2019-20. As a sophomore, he accounted for 15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.2 bpg en route to Second Team All-Ivy League status.
 
"Chris is a skilled, mismatch forward that will remind Rambler fans of Aundre Jackson," Valentine said. "Chris has an innate ability to put the ball in the basket. He is coming from a great coaching staff with Coach McLaughlin at Dartmouth, which plays a similar style, and Chris had a ton of success in that system. As a two-time all-league performer, we feel Chris has the ability to make a big impact from day one. He has stayed committed throughout this process and we couldn't be more excited to welcome him to the Loyola family."
 
A two-time Ivy League Player of the Week selection in his career, Schwieger scored in double figures 20 times in his final two seasons at Princeton University, shooting 46.3 percent (143-for-309) from the field, 37.1 percent (46-for-124) from three-point range and 87.2 percent (75-for-86) from the free throw stripe during that span.
 
Schwieger started 18 games as a junior in 2019-20, leading the team in assists (2.6), while ranking third in scoring (10.7). He scored a career-best 27 points in a victory over Penn that season in string of six consecutive games with double-digit points. During that six-game hot streak, he contributed 16.8 ppg, and shot 37-for-69 (.536) from the field, including 11-for-23 (.478) from beyond the arc.
 
He began to break out at the end of his junior campaign in 2018-19, scoring 20 or more points in three of the final four outings, including a string of three straight, during which he accounted for 23.0 ppg and drained an impressive 64.7 percent (22-for-34) of his field goal tries. 
 
"Ryan is a very skilled and physical guard with length," Valentine said. "He is a versatile athlete who can play multiple positions and he has the ability to knock down the three with range and quickness. Ryan has played for one of the best coaches in the country in Mitch Henderson and he and his staff have done a great job helping Ryan develop into one of the top players in the Ivy League. Ryan is about the right things, is all about our culture and we are thrilled to have him at Loyola."
 
Thomas made a huge jump during his prep career, hiking his scoring average to 21.2 points per game, while also contributing 7.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists per outing in 2020-21, in helping lead Millard North High School to a state championship. The 6-foot-7 forward, who has grown seven inches since entering high school, also improved his three-point shooting accuracy from 33 percent to 45 percent this winter. 
 
A late bloomer, all but 21 of Thomas' 1,094 career points were scored in the last two seasons and he routinely filled up the stat sheet, posting seven double-doubles as a senior, including a triple-double against Omaha South. He established a Millard North single-game scoring record by pouring in 48 points in a victory over Bellevue West for the Metro Conference tournament title. Thomas picked up All-Nebraska First Team honors and was also tabbed MaxPreps Nebraska High School Player of the Year in 2020-21. During his junior season, he recorded 15.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 4.2 apg and 1.8 spg as Millard North finished runner-up in Class A.
 
"Saint fits the prototype of what has made Loyola Basketball so successful," Valentine said. "He is a state champion and comes from a great culture created by Coach Cannon at Millard North High School. Saint is a skilled, long and competitive guard who has improved at an incredible rate since he started high school. He is a gym rat who has a very high basketball IQ and we feel like he can be a very good two-way player in the Missouri Valley Conference. We are very happy to welcome him to Loyola."

Knight, Schwieger and Thomas join Loyola's two signees from last fall, Ty Johnson and Ben Schwieger, as newcomers for the 2021-22 season.
 
Loyola is coming off a season win which it posted a 26-5 overall record, including a school-record 16 conference wins (16-2), while advancing to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and finishing with a No. 12 ranking in the final Ferris Mowers Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Ramblers have won three of the last four Missouri Valley Conference regular season championships and have earned a postseason berth in three of the last four years.