WSU vs. Urbana Mens Basketball | Photo by Daniel Delgado | The Wright State Guardian
Loudon Love is going into his redshirt senior season on the Wright State University (WSU) basketball team as the only senior on the team.
Love was Horizon League Freshman of the Year (2018), second-team All-Horizon League (2018), two time first-team All-Horizon League (2019,2020) and Horizon League Player of the Year (2020).
He is eager for his last season to get underway with the Raiders, and expects to have a great year whenever the NCAA decides to move forward with the college basketball season.
“The ideal finish would be going out the way I came in, on an NCAA tournament run and a record setting season for the Raiders, but I’m not sure if that will be allowed. The only thing I can say for certain that would be ideal is helping lead these guys being the only senior, staying positive everyday with the uncertainty, keeping people encouraged every day and being present every day,” said Love.
The NCAA has not made a decision yet on when the college basketball season will start, but there have been ongoing discussions and it seems like it will start before the end of 2020.
What Brought Love to WSU
Love played football in high school, and in his senior season he tore his ACL on the last play of his last football game on a trick play.
This impacted his recruiting somewhat, but he still had offers and decided to play for South Dakota State under Head Coach Scott Nagy. Nagy then received an offer from WSU and became the Head Coach in 2016.
“I wasn’t really planning on going to Wright State, I was planning on being with Coach Nagy over at South Dakota State. He got an offer to come here and I followed him over here, and I’m glad I did, obviously,” said Love.
Thankfully Coach Nagy and his coaching staff stood by their offer to Love after his surgery. This gave Love confidence in the coaching staff, and he was ready to work and develop his game once he arrived at WSU.
“When I first came in off that ACL surgery I came in weighing in at 320, that first year I got down to 280 before going into my redshirt year. From there I have refined my post-game with the coaches, and worked on my skillset on basketball, taking a lot of steps forward since being here,” said Love.
Unprecedented Offseason
Throughout the summer, practice facilities and gyms were closed for months due to the coronavirus. This made it challenging to prepare for the season and train effectively.
“The hardest part was just finding a gym, it was a lot of hunting for hoops this offseason, but it was good,” said Love.
Regardless of the circumstances, Love was still determined to improve his game this offseason.
“I worked a lot on form shots and free throws, and trying to get that percentage up. A lot of conditioning along the way as well,” said Love.
Love continued to work on his leadership skills, and learned a lot from numerous different players at WSU. For his last season, being the only senior on the team, he is excited to get the opportunity to lead this team once more.
