Russell Westbrook to Loyola-Chicago: 'Go Ahead and Win It'

The 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago Ramblers have shocked the world by making a run to the 2018 Final Four, and Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook wants to see Cinderella keep on dancing.

Why not?

Loyola-Chicago and Oklahoma City happen to be sharing a hotel in San Antonio for the time being, as the Ramblers prepare to face the Michigan Wolverines in the national semifinals Saturday and the Thunder are visiting the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. The college squad ran into the reigning NBA MVP as he was getting out of a black Escalade at the hotel Wednesday night.

"Everyone's jaws dropped," sophomore transfer Aher Uguak said, per ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf. "It's crazy to see one of your idols in front of you and just to see he's a really cool dude and just a regular guy also."

The Ramblers may be the talk of the college basketball world at the moment, but they were like any other starstruck fans when they crossed paths with Westbrook.

"When we saw Russell Westbrook, a few of us took pictures with him," Loyola-Chicago forward Aundre Jackson added.

Pictures will last a lifetime, but the kind words Westbrook dished out likely meant the most to the team.

"He just said, 'What's up?'" Jackson explained, per Medcalf. "He was like, 'Good luck, go ahead and win it.'"

Loyola-Chicago is two-thirds of the way toward cutting down the nets and has already made the trip to San Antonio. At this point, why not win it all?