Senior Signing Spotlight: Lloyd Love

This is No. 18 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's a look at the full list (currently totaling 288) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.

SPOTLIGHT: 2/26/20

Many in Arizona are familiar with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. It consists of 10 schools with six of them in Colorado. There are a pair in South Dakota and one in New Mexico. The other school is Chadron State College in Nebraska and it may not be as well-known to players and fans in Arizona. CSC hasn't recruited the state much in the past and just two from Arizona will suit up for the Eagles this spring. Lloyd Love will make it a third from the state this fall.

The 6-4, 210-pound tight end from Flowing Wells HS in Tucson received his offer after a visit in January and committed a few days later. He was aware that Chadron State didn't recruit many athletes from Arizona.

"I first found out about the Eagles when I was doing some reading on Danny Woodhead and how he set these outstanding records for the school and for the NCAA as a whole," Love said in an e-mail interview. "I first got into contact with the school on Thanksgiving, when head coach Jay Long got in contact with me."

Woodhead won the Harlon Hill Trophy (best player in Division II) twice while at Chadron State. The running back went on to play for four teams in the NFL.

Chadron is located in the northern part of the Nebraska panhandle. The college comprises half of the 6,000 population of the town. Love had positive takeaways from his visit to the school.

"The way the coaching staff and everyone in the town and college connected around the school and its athletics," Love said of what stood out in his visit. "For me, seeing a school with a strong support staff and a supportive coaching staff that wants the students to succeed in not only their athletics, but more importantly, in their academics."

Love was recruited as a tight end from CSC. He played many different positions in his time at Flowing Wells, but was primarily an outside receiver in his senior year. He is looking forward to being back on the line.

"My favorite part about playing the tight end position is that I get the chance to be a hard down blocker," Love said. "I get to dig people into the ground while being able to release out and run routes and score touchdowns."

Love was a team captain for the Caballeros and made First Team All-5A Sonoran Region at receiver. Flowing Wells threw the ball less than a dozen times a game, but Love was still able to put up some numbers. He led the team with 21 catches and 489 yards scoring five touchdowns.

Love also played some running back and had 42 carries. On special teams, he averaged 26 yards per kick return.

He plans to study business while at CSC. He is looking forward to learning at the business school, which will help him after his college days are over.

It was a magical junior year for Love and his Flowing Wells teammates in 2018 as they went 8-3 and made the 5A playoffs. Unfortunately, that team graduated its quarterback, 1,300-yard running back, and top five tacklers. While the result in 2019 was a 2-8 season, Love still enjoyed playing one last year with his Cab brothers.

"There were definitely some challenges the team had to work around and figure out," Love said. "But, it was for sure a fun year between California camp and playing against some of the people I've grown up with."

Chadron State had a big signing class of 37 earlier this month (33 out of high schools). The Eagles finished 6-5 last year and will open up this season on Sept. 5 at home against Western Colorado.

Love looks forward to another challenge at the college level and gives some credit to his family as he gets ready to represent Arizona.

"I would just like to thank my family, friends, and school for everything they all have done for me," Love said. "If it wasn't for my family, I wouldn't be living out my dream of playing football after high school or even being as successful as I am today. I can't wait to represent my family, school, and state in college and show what a young Arizona kid can do."