During one of Reggie Love's many college visits, the football coach told him he would need to maintain a 2.0 GPA to stay on the team. His mother stunned by what she just heard turned around and exclaimed, "What?!"
She proceeded to tell the coach that if her son didn't maintain a 3.0, she'd come up to school and "whup him good." That's ok. Other than his mother, not too many people are whupping Reggie these days.
A senior in high school, Love is a standout football and basketball player at Providence Day in Charlotte, while still maintaining a 3.2 GPA. North Carolina Home Team Sports ranks Love the state's fifth best football player and the seventh best basketball player.
On August 19, Love committed to Carl Franks and the football team, choosing Duke over North Carolina and Virginia. Along with football, he will also be welcomed as a walk on for the basketball team.
"I wanted to get rid of the pressure," Love said in a phone interview from his Charlotte home. "I didn't want to have to worry about getting injured or worry about what school I was going to all season long. I want to enjoy the season."
That's typical with Love, who his coach described as "a peach to talk to." Love comes from a strong family that always stressed academics, and to hear his football coach John Patterson talk, Love seems almost too good to be true.
"Reggie's just a glow about him as a person," Patterson said. "He's always got a smile on his face, he's a really nice kid, polite. He walks into a room and he just lights the place up. He's just got this glow about him."
At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Love plays wide receiver and defensive end/outside linebacker for Providence Day. His size could allow him to play a variety of positions in college but most experts project he'll become a tight end-and a good one at that. According to SuperPrep magazine, he's the nation's 16th best, even though he doesn't play the position.
"His biggest asset is his body type," Patterson said. "He can play in five or six different positions. If he stays the size he is now, he can play wide receiver, possibly outside linebacker. If he gains some weight, he can play tight end, possibly inside linebacker or even defensive end. That's five positions right there."
Love spent all summer debating among schools and narrowed his list to three ACC schools before making his final decision.
"I spent all summer weighing all my options and trying to figure it out. I thought about it, checked everything out, even set up spreadsheets.
"It was a pretty tough decision. I wanted to be close to home where my parents can come and watch me play. I also wanted to be able to walk on to the basketball team. My girlfriend goes to Chapel Hill, so yeah, it was pretty tough to decide."
In the end, it may have been Franks' promise of a new passing attack that convinced Love to don Duke blue.
"[The new offense] had a really big influence on me," Love said. "As a receiver, to go where they play four or five receivers at a time, I can come in and play and have a big impact right away."
There's no denying his impact at Providence Day. As a wide receiver, he averaged 22.3 yards per catch last season and made the N.C. Independent Schools all-state team.
And that's just in the fall. Once winter comes around, he laces up his sneakers and is an athletic slasher on the basketball team. His junior year he averaged 15 points and eight rebounds a game while leading his team to its second straight state championship.
"He's a great basketball player," Love's football coach John Patterson said. "Right now he's probably a better basketball player than a football player.... But he's gotten better offers from better schools and larger schools for football. All the way around, football just took him to a better situation, but he wants to try to do both."
That won't be easy, but his coach will never doubt Reggie Love.
"I think if he puts his mind to it he can, I really do," Patterson said. "It's a romantic idea, you're in love with the idea of doing both, but when you get there, it's a heckuva lot of work.
"But he's a smart kid. He's not going to skip class. He'll be in class everyday, sitting in the front with a smile on his face and he'll turn his work in. If he doesn't, his momma will come in and whup him."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.