Jalen Rose's grandma is taking on Sister Jean, arguably the viral sensation of this year's March Madness, as Cinderella Loyola Chicago takes on Rose's former Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four on Saturday.
Sister Jean Delores Schmidt, 98, the beloved chaplain of Ramblers basketball team who leads the players in prayer from her wheelchair before games, has become an internet star as the most tweeted about person in the first two weeks of the NCAA basketball tournament, according to Twitter, per ESPN.
The sports network wrote that media tracking company Apex Marketing Group pointed out that there were 5,681 stories that involved Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, 9,727 stories on Kansas coach Bill Self, but 20,526 stories that mentioned Sister Jean.
"Sister Jean is the most famous religious licensing icon since the pope," Tom Sorboro, a senior associate athletic director at Loyola, told ESPN. "She's captured the attention of the entire nation."
How can Michigan even compete? Enter Mary Belle Hicks, the 100-year-old grandmother of Rose. Rose is a current basketball analyst for ESPN and a former NBA star who appeared in two Final Fours while playing at Michigan in 1992 and 1993.
Dressed in a Michigan hat and Michigan T-shirt, she called out Sister Jean ahead of the Final Four matchup between Loyola and Michigan on Instagram.
"Sister Jean, it's been a good ride, but it's over Saturday," Hicks said on her grandson's Instagram account. "Go Blue."
USA Today proclaimed "Let the world's nicest trash-talking battle begin," in a story on Sister Jean and Hicks Monday, while SB Nation declared, "It's On," between longtime basketball supporters on Twitter.
Social media users appear to be enjoying the challenge.
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