Clayton Custer gives Loyola a chance in the Final Four

Loyola-Chicago will continue its Cinderella run in the NCAA tournament with a Final Four matchup against Michigan on Saturday night. One of the key pieces to the Ramblers’ run and overall success this season has been senior guard Clayton Custer.

In late February, he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year while averaging averaging 13 points, four assists, and shooting 52 percent from the floor. What’s even more impressive is he won the award while missing four games due to injury. But there’s a lot more than just spot-on shooting and running the Ramblers’ offense that makes him so special.

Custer, from Overland, Kansas, played his freshman season in Aimes in 2014-15. He didn’t play that much, and opted to transfer to Loyola-Chicago after the lone season. One of the biggest reasonings for that decision? His high school teammate and fellow Rambler Ben Richardson, who is also from Kansas.

The two combined to lead Blue Valley Northwest High School to back-to-back Kansas state titles in 2013 and 2014.

“He (Richardson) obviously tried to get more to come on a visit here, and I did and had a great time,” Custer said. “I spent a lot of time with Coach (Porter) Moser, and I just bought into everything he was saying. I thought it was a perfect fit to come play for Coach Moser and Ben.”

Custer is one of the main reasons why Loyola is so hard to defend. To facilitate the pace and space scheme, which he runs with ease, you have to be unselfish. Custer has this trait, but he also isn’t afraid to take shots himself, which at times, can be clutch. Back in the Second Round, Custer hit the buzzer-beater three-pointer to upset Miami:

“I don’t how to say this, but I’ve got to give glory to God on that one,” Custer told CBS’s Ros Gold-Onwude. “The ball hit the front of the rim and popped up in the air. I think that’s just all the years of hard work coming into one play. I’ve given my whole heart and soul into this game, and I’ve worked so hard since I was so little and to get that bounce on that shot, It makes all those hours in the gym worth it. I cannot believe that that just happened.”

He also shot 45 percent from beyond the arc this season.

Custer has five steals this tournament so far, and part of what makes Loyola-Chicago such a tough opponent is its offense paired with a stifling defense.

“The first focus is defense for us,” Custer said after the Kansas State victory last week. “Yeah, people talk about our spacing and the way we move the ball and how unselfish we are, which I think that that’s expected because we do do a good job of that. But I think maybe — yeah, our defense is definitely the key to us winning these games.”

Loyola-Chicago may not be the favorite to win it all from this year’s Final Four teams, but with a guy like Custer leading the Ramblers, it’s hard to bet against them.