Etch March 24, 2018, into the lore of Loyola basketball.

But two other dates mean almost as much as the one that will mark the school making its first Final Four in 55 years.

Without the milestones that preceded Loyola’s historic Elite Eight victory over Kansas State, Porter Moser might be flying commercial to San Antonio this week to attend a coaches convention rather than coach an NCAA semifinal.

The first is April 5, 2011, the day Loyola named Moser as its basketball coach.

The second is July 1, 2013, the moment Loyola officially joined the Missouri Valley Conference.

Both moves qualified as quantum leaps of faith, decisions that required vision not every athletic director possesses when plotting a program’s future.

When DePaul and Illinois fans, for instance, lament how Loyola has surpassed them in the state of Illinois, they can trace their respective problems back to strategic mistakes the Ramblers simply didn’t make at similarly critical junctures.

Loyola’s hunches paid off while the guesses made by administrators at DePaul and Illinois have looked anything but educated.

Former Loyola athletic director Grace Calhoun presided over both big decisions that positioned the Ramblers for long-term success.

At the 2011 press conference introducing Moser, Calhoun vowed the energetic new Loyola coach would “bring unparalleled integrity, passion and energy to the men’s basketball program.” Cynics in the audience could have been forgiven for rolling their eyes: Moser, then a St. Louis assistant, had gone 51-67 over four seasons at his previous head-coaching stop at Illinois State. Yet Calhoun was sold by the same sincerity, passion and meticulousness that makes Moser the most compelling Final Four coach this season. The risk was rewarded.

Two years after Moser’s hiring, in 2013, Calhoun announced a partnership with the Missouri Valley Conference that “will enhance our visibility and have a positive impact on the experience of our student-athletes.” The way Loyola has shot from relative obscurity to prosperity since winning the MVC tournament earlier this month fulfilled Calhoun’s pledge. The step up from the Horizon League improved the caliber of recruit interested in Loyola, especially in Chicago and in state, as well as access to the NCAA tournament given the national respect shown the MVC.

Wichita State leaving the league this year indeed created a clearer path to the NCAA tournament — as critics have pointed out, as if to diminish the achievement — but Loyola winning four March Madness games disproved any doubts about their legitimacy. Conference realignment happens often in college sports but seldom do teams take advantage to the extent Loyola has.

Calhoun, now the athletic director at Penn, declined a Tribune request for an interview about her role in Loyola’s rise because “she wants to keep the focus on the Loyola student-athletes, coaches, administrators and community instead of her,” a spokesman said. “But she is really excited for Loyola, Porter and the entire university community on making the Final Four.”

Meanwhile, DePaul and Illinois whiffed when faced with similar chances to hit administrative home runs.

So much about DePaul basketball warrants scrutiny since the school joined the Big East before the 2005-06 season. The steady demise of the Blue Demons raises questions whether that was the right move for the men’s basketball program, which once enjoyed a tradition that appealed to the Big East. Since joining the conference, DePaul has won just 35 percent of its games (143-265) and finished 10th or lower in the league standings 10 times, never higher than seventh.

Does DePaul know what it is? Or what it isn’t? You wonder how many folks on the Lincoln Park campus long for the Conference USA days when DePaul posted two straight 20-win seasons from 2003-2005 in a league more compatible for its talent level. DePaul plays in a first-class facility at Wintrust Arena but the product fails to compare to what’s on display at Gentile Arena.

Athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto had a chance to make her own bold hire in 2015 after firing Oliver Purnell — like Calhoun did with Moser — but settled for the familiarity of nice guy Dave Leitao, who has been unable to turn things around in three seasons. If Loyola’s Final Four run doesn’t force the DePaul hierarchy to hold Lenti Ponsetto more accountable immediately — Leitao is her third unsuccessful coaching hire since joining the Big East — nothing will.

Illinois believes it found the right man in coach Brad Underwood, who showed promise in his first season. Problem is, organizational missteps hiring Underwood’s predecessor, John Groce, put Illinois in position for Loyola to pass it. Groce accepted former Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas’ job offer in late March 2012 only after at least five other candidates passed on pursuing it. It was the corporate definition of settling.

At the time, Groce was a 40-year-old head coach with a 34-30 record in the Mid-American Conference. In five seasons at Illinois, Groce maintained mediocrity, going 95-75 with a 39-53 Big Ten record and only one NCAA appearance. Illinois never showed the patience with Groce that Loyola did with Moser, who struggled early, but it was much less apparent why the Illini should. Nothing special ever stood out about Groce’s program.

The right man for the job makesit more immediately obvious he is. The way Moser did with Calhoun and Steve Watson, Loyola’s current athletic director. The way Chris Collins did with Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips. Execution at any level of sports begins with inspiration, winning starts with dreaming. Loyola’s inspired choices made so many dreams come true.

dhaugh@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @DavidHaugh