High school was a difficult time for Ernest Lover, who after struggling with family financial distress, depression, and weight gain made the difficult transition from linebacker to defensive end in junior year. When college recruiting rolled around, Lover had less than a full season starting as a defensive end, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of stats and highlight reels compared to top prospects. Without much attention from the scouts and still unsure whether he would be able to make football his career, Lover made the decision to follow his high school sweetheart, Goode, to college.
Goode received a scholarship to study Mining and Minerals Engineering at Virginia Tech, which was out of reach for Lover in terms of his grades and football record. So he concentrated his outreach to division II schools in Virginia to try to stay as close to Goode as possible. Top contenders were the Virginia State University Trojans of the CIAA and the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers of the South Atlantic Conference. That is, until Lover’s high school coach stepped in and convinced Lover to aim higher. Coach Cares used his connections to get Lover a tryout at Longwood University, a division I school that had recently added a football team to the Big South. Lover’s willingness to learn and hard work impressed the Longwood coaches, who offered him a slot if he were willing to develop behind a starting senior in his first year. With Longwood only a 2 hour drive from Virginia Tech along US-460E in his beat-up Nissan Rogue, Lover jumped at the chance to play division I football with an up-and-coming team not far from his sweetheart.
Goode received a scholarship to study Mining and Minerals Engineering at Virginia Tech, which was out of reach for Lover in terms of his grades and football record. So he concentrated his outreach to division II schools in Virginia to try to stay as close to Goode as possible. Top contenders were the Virginia State University Trojans of the CIAA and the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers of the South Atlantic Conference. That is, until Lover’s high school coach stepped in and convinced Lover to aim higher. Coach Cares used his connections to get Lover a tryout at Longwood University, a division I school that had recently added a football team to the Big South. Lover’s willingness to learn and hard work impressed the Longwood coaches, who offered him a slot if he were willing to develop behind a starting senior in his first year. With Longwood only a 2 hour drive from Virginia Tech along US-460E in his beat-up Nissan Rogue, Lover jumped at the chance to play division I football with an up-and-coming team not far from his sweetheart.
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