Moser was offered a reported eight-year deal worth around $2.2 million annually to become the head coach of St. John's, and he had a decision to make -- one that he believed went beyond just dollars and prestige. So, Moser began writing out a letter thanking Loyola for his time as coach and announcing he would leave for St. John's, then he wrote another that said he would be staying in Chicago.
"I feel awesome writing the one that says I'm staying," Moser said. "I just felt awesome about it. I'm like, 'This is it. This is what I want to do. I feel awesome about saying I'm in. This is what matters most to me.' That was kind of the moment where I was coming back yesterday. There's too much here that I love to walk away."
Moser, 50, has been the head coach at Loyola for the last eight seasons and led the Ramblers to the Final Four as part of a 32-6 campaign in 2017-'18. He's 141-125 (.530) at Loyola in his career. A Naperville native, Moser has been a hot commodity in coaching searches given the success he has helped bring to Loyola.
The opportunity to coach at St. John's brought great appeal to Moser, but then he thought about what was being built at Loyola.
"Of course you look at different things," Moser said. "Any time something like that comes up, you look at it. It was more of not what St. John's didn't have. You can win there. You walk in, it's Madison Square Garden, the holy grail. But it was more of what we've built at Loyola and the people here.
"Everybody that's competitive and motivated looks for ambition, opportunity to keep grinding, keep moving up. Not moving up in job status but moving up in opportunity to win. You always look at that if you're ambitious, an opportunity.
"I just feel like I'm at a place where I can influence people. Whether it's my kids at my camp, whether it's the student body, whether it's the alumni base. I make no secret, I wear it on my shoulder how much I love Chicago.
"It wasn't as much what they didn't have. It was more of look at the blood, sweat and tears we've put in to where we're going at Loyola."
Loyola went 20-14 last season, losing to Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals. It ended the Ramblers' hopes of a return to the NCAA Tournament and instead sent them to the National Invitation Tournament.
Though the Ramblers will lose key players in guards Clayton Custer and Marques Townes, they've reloaded with more talent that has Moser encouraged about where the program is heading.
'The overlying things was the type of guys in our locker room and the type of guys we have coming in," Moser said. "That's hard to walk away from when you love walking into practice every day, when you love that. That's a big factor."