City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The most captivating story of the 2018 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament has been a 98-year old nun who’s become the face of one the tournament’s most surprising Cinderellas.

Loyola Chicago’s Sister Jean has turned into an international sensation through the first two weekends of the tournament as the No. 11 seed has shocked the nation with a run to the Final Four.

Though lacking the same type of celebrity,  the other Catholic school in the Final Four has had its own chaplain on the sidelines during its tournament run: Rev. Rob Hagan, a Villanova alumnus more commonly known around campus as Father Rob.

“I think they have their rock,” Villanova redshirt-junior guard Donte DiVincenzo said, “and we have our rock.”

The slender, grey-haired Hagan, an Associate Athletic Director at the suburban Main Line school whose basketball program has risen to the top of the polls in recent years, is heavily involved in the Villanova Athletic Department. Hired in 2003 as the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, he currently oversees the the areas of Sports Medicine and Strength and Conditioning and also serving as the administrator for the golf and tennis teams.

He may not have captured America’s hearts quite like Sister Jean, but the Wildcats consider “Father Rob” a vital part of their program. He climbed up the ladder in his black clerical attire and cut down one of the nets after Sunday’s Elite Eight win against Texas Tech.

“Father Rob does a lot for us, just finds ways to make sure we’re always thinking about each other, day in and day out,” junior guard Jalen Brunson said. “It does go unnoticed to the outside, but for us, he means a lot.”

Hagan grew up in Drexel Hill and went to Cardinal O’Hara before attending college at Villanova. The 1987 graduate was on the Main Line as a student when the No. 8 seed Wildcats went on a magical run to the national championship in 1985.

He’s well aware of how an underdog story can catapult a school onto the national stage at this time of year. Watching from the outside this time, Hagan has enjoyed following the Sister Jean story as much as everyone else.

“It’s very cool,” Hagan said. “I couldn’t be happier for their success. I was a student at Villanova when we were Cinderella years ago and saw the attention and the enthusiasm that it brings to the campus, the exposure it gives the University.

“As a BVM [Blessed Virgin Mary] Sister, I’m sure Sister Jean’s order is very proud not just of Sister Jean, but the work they’ve done for generations that people are beginning to see a little bit maybe more who they are and the work that they do and the people that they serve.”

Hagan has been on the Villanova campus for four of the program’s five Final Four trips. Along with watching the 1985 team as a student, he was around the program for the 2009 and 2016 teams as well.

This one is perhaps the least surprising of the four, given the fact that the Wildcats are just two years removed from a national title and have spent significant portions of the last few seasons at No. 1 in the AP and Coaches’ Polls.

Brunson, DiVincenzo and Mikal Bridges -- plus Eric Paschall, Omari Spellman and others -- have Villanova right there for the school’s third championship, if they can get past first Kansas on Saturday and then either Michigan or Sister’s Jean’s Loyola-Chicago squad in next Monday’s national championship.

And Father Rob will be right there along for the ride, enjoying his special access to a group that’s already won more games in the last four years (134) than any other in Division I history.

“It never gets old,” Hagan said. “We don’t take it for granted. It’s just as hard to come climb that mountain together, but you usually do that with a real special group. They’re extremely talented, but in addition to the talent, they have great character, they’re really, really smart and they have a certain brotherhood, so they really do play for each other and they have a collective strength that always show out there.”