Much has been accomplished both on and off the court by the Loyola basketball program in four years under the direction of head coach Jim Whitesell. The fifth-year Loyola bench boss has guided Loyola to a 21-win season, produced an Honorable Mention All-America selection and the Ramblers were recognized by the NCAA with a Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Report score in 2008.

During the 2007-08 campaign, the Ramblers improved to 4-0 in season openers under Whitesell when they topped LeMoyne on Nov. 10. That win also marked the first time since 1987-90 that Loyola had won four consecutive season lid-lifters. Last season, the team also improved to 4-0 in BracketBusters action in Whitesell's tenure, when it posted a road win over William & Mary. Furthermore, the 2008 senior class notched a total of 65 wins in its career, making it the winningest group since the Class of 1988 piled up 69 victories.

Guard J.R. Blount became the 37th player in Loyola history, and the third in as many seasons, to score his 1,000th career point, when he hit a game-winning basket at Valparaiso last winter. The gritty guard, who averaged a team-best 15.1 points per game in 2007-08, became the first Rambler since Eric Dolezal (1990-93) to average 10 or more points in each of his first three seasons on the Lake Shore Campus.

Turning programs around is Jim Whitesell's forte, but he has never turned around a program as quickly as Loyola's. In three short seasons, the veteran head coach converted a nine-win team into a 21-win outfit, a remarkable 12-game improvement in only 36 months. Whitesell's 53 victories in his first three seasons in Rogers Park were the most by a Loyola head coach since Tom Haggerty won 69 games from 1945-48.

In the process, Whitesell and his staff have brought new life and excitement to the campus and community. Whitesell and his staff guided the Ramblers to their first 20-win season since 1985 in 2006-07 and their most Horizon League wins (10) since that same 1985 campaign. The Iowa Falls, Iowa native is also the first bench boss in Loyola history to win eight or more Horizon League contests in each of his first three seasons on the job.

The 2006-07 season also featured several milestone victories for the Loyola program. Under Whitesell's watchful eye, the Ramblers won at Detroit for the first time since 1992 and at Butler for the first time since 1989. In addition, the 75-71 win at No. 15 Butler was Loyola's first victory over a ranked team since 1986. With 40 wins over the last two years, good for the first consecutive winning seasons in over 20 years, Loyola ranks second among Horizon League schools, behind only Butler.

A staple of most successful Whitesell teams is the ability to shut down opponents and the 2006-07 season turned out to be one of Loyola's best efforts in over half a century. The Ramblers yielded only 64.8 points per game, their best showing since 1950-51 and limited opponents to .415 shooting from the field, the best mark since 1965-66. Another trait of Whitesell-coached teams is developing a home-court advantage and over the last three seasons, the Ramblers have gone 33-13 at the Gentile Center.

Under Whitesell's tutelage, guard Blake Schilb became only the second player in Loyola history to earn first team all-league honors on three or more occasions and in 2006-07, Schilb earned National Association of Basketball Coaches First Team All-District 11 accolades in addition to Mid-Major All-America status from collegeinsider.com.

Along the way to a 19-11 season in 2005-06, Loyola knocked off Bradley, Purdue and Butler, and for the first time in school history, swept the regular-season series from city and Horizon League rival UIC. The Ramblers also established a new single-season school record by converting .754 (447 for 593) of their tries from the foul line.

That season, Whitesell led Loyola to its best start to a year (7-1) since 1965-66, and was instrumental in developing Schilb into Loyola's first All-America selection since Alfredrick Hughes in 1985. Schilb earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades in addition to First Team All-Horizon League and Third Team Mid-Major All-America honors. Majak Kou was selected to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team, while Leon Young was chosen to the All-Newcomer Team.

Recruiting is a major key to success, and Whitesell and his staff have brought in some highly talented players in their first three recruiting classes. Young became the first Loyola freshman in 10 years to lead the team in rebounding and guard J.R. Blount teamed with Young to give the Ramblers their first ever freshman duo to average in double figures in the same season. In 2006-07, Andy Polka, the 2006 Mr. Basketball in the state of Wisconsin, made an immediate impact, becoming the second straight true freshman to lead the team in rebounding, as he grabbed 230 boards, the second-highest, single-season total ever by a Rambler true freshman.

In 21 seasons as a head coach, Whitesell has accumulated a 343-252 (.576) record, helping six of his teams reach the NCAA Tournament. A proven winner, he has produced a winning record in 14 of those 21 campaigns, five times claiming at least 20 games.

During his first year at the Lake Shore Campus in 2004-05, Whitesell guided Loyola to a 13-win season, a four-game improvement from 2003-04, as the Ramblers earned the No. 4 seed and advanced to the semifinal round at the Horizon League Championship. Turning in arguably the finest coaching job in the conference, he captained Loyola to an 8-8 record in Horizon League action, equaling Gene Sullivan's school record for most league wins by a first-year coach, while his 13 overall victories were the most since Sullivan also won 13 in his inaugural campaign in Rogers Park in 1980-81. Making Whitesell's coaching job even more impressive was the fact that the Ramblers were picked to finish eighth in the annual preseason poll.

Loyola finished the season with a bang, winning nine of its final 13 contests, as it swept Green Bay, the second-place finisher in the Horizon League, and took two of three games from city foe UIC. Under Whitesell's tutelage, Schilb blossomed, earning First Team All-Horizon League accolades, while all six of the Ramblers' returning scholarship players established career highs in scoring average. Despite the sub-.500 record, Loyola was in nearly every contest as nine of its losses were by seven points or less.

Whitesell was introduced as Loyola's head coach on April 14, 2004. Whitesell, a 1982 graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, had served as the head coach at nearby Lewis University for the previous 12 seasons, compiling a 214-126 (.629) record there.

In 2003-04, Whitesell guided Lewis to a 24-7 record and helped the Flyers win the program's first Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in 16 years. For his efforts, Whitesell was lauded as the GLVC Coach of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year and, for the sixth time, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year. For the first time in school history, Lewis was the No. 1 seed in the region at the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

From 2001-04, Whitesell's charges racked up a 72-22 (.766) record, the most successful three-year stint in program history, advancing to the NCAA Tournament each season. The 2002 Flyers equaled the school record with 25 victories and advanced to the Division II Sweet Sixteen.

Lewis made five trips to the Division II NCAA Tournament under Whitesell's watchful eye and won at least 18 games on seven occasions. He produced 10 winning seasons in 12 years in Romeoville and his 2003-04 team was ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation.

Off the court, Whitesell's players have been true student-athletes as over 95 percent of his pupils have graduated in his 21 seasons as a collegiate head coach. During his tenure at Lewis, Whitesell implemented several community and on-campus programs to bring support and awareness to the basketball program. Some of those initiatives included Midnight Madness and a Sixth Man Club, a program to develop enthusiasm and support for the team among the student body.

A master at rebuilding programs, Whitesell revived Elmhurst College by guiding the Bluejays to a 19-9 record and the school's first-ever NCAA Division III Championship berth in 1991-92. In five seasons at Elmhurst (1987-92), he turned around a program that had not posted a winning campaign in 17 previous years.

Prior to his appointment at Elmhurst, Whitesell served as an assistant coach at Minnesota State University (formerly Mankato State) from 1985-87, at Wabash Valley Community College in 1984-85 and at Ellsworth Community College in 1983-84.

Whitesell graduated from Luther College in 1982 after attending Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. He earned a master's degree in education from the University of North Dakota in 1983.

Whitesell and his wife Connie, a partner with the human resources consulting firm PW Associates, reside in Chicago.