Ramble On by The Chicago Tribune

Author:The Chicago Tribune
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2018-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

Custer was the leading scorer for Loyola during the 2017-2018 season and was voted the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Custer won two state championships alongside Richardson, now a Loyola senior backcourt mate to Custer. Fritz raves about Custer’s passing, hand-eye coordination, ability to change speeds while dribbling, his ambidextrous shooting and his pull-up jumper. But mostly, he credits Custer’s work ethic.

“He had a lot of drive and a lot of determination you don’t see in someone that young,” Fritz said. “If he had a bad game, he worked twice as hard to make sure it didn’t happen again.”

He received offers from Big 12 schools such as Oklahoma State and Kansas State. He had grown up a Kansas fan, his father’s alma mater, and attended camps at Allen Fieldhouse. Jayhawks coach Bill Self — a potential national championship opponent for Loyola — approached him after one game at a camp.

“He came up and said, ‘Clay, you’re good enough to play at KU,’” Custer recalled. “We just are too loaded at guard right now. It wouldn’t make sense.’ I respect him 100 percent.”

At Iowa State, playing under current Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, Custer averaged only 5.8 minutes and 1.1 points per game as a freshman. After being a pivotal player in every program he played in since third grade, sitting on the bench seemed futile.

“It was a low point in his basketball life for sure,” Terri Custer said. “You spend all that time trying to find the right fit. It’s very hard.”

Custer called his decision to leave “emotional.”

Richardson convinced Custer to give Loyola a chance. And Moser was aggressive in his pursuit, telling the Custer family he halted all other recruiting until he got a “yes” from Custer. He devoted his final day of recruiting in that open period to chasing Custer.

“I pretty much knew I was in because Ben was like, ‘Game on,’” Moser said. “(I thought,) ‘All right. We’re getting him.’”

After punching a ticket to the Final Four with a victory against Kansas State, Moser saw Custer’s parents later that night at the team hotel in Atlanta.

“I had Galen and Terri (and Clayton), all three in a bear hug back at the hotel,” Moser said. “I said, ‘That was the best living room visit I ever did on a one-day (trip).’”

Reflecting on his journey that has met its destination in San Antonio, Custer can take comfort in his decisions that led him to Loyola.

“He’s in the Final Four,” Terri Custer said. “It looks like a pretty good thing.”

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