“The thing about Loudon that’s impressive to me is his hands,” Brown said. “Anything close, he gets his hands on it.”
Thanks to his steady production, Love is close to getting his hands on a coveted school record that has stood for 28 years: Bill Edwards’ mark for total rebounds.
The 6-foot-8 center from Geneva, Ill. — who had a career-high of 20 rebounds against Detroit last season and has topped 15 in a game five times — needs just four against Bowling Green on Sunday to move into first on the all-time list at 908, doing it in 98 games, 16 fewer than Edwards.
The Middletown legend, though, still holds the program scoring record with 2,303 points, an achievement that may never be duplicated.
“Bill Edwards was a totally different player than Loudon,” said Brown, who assisted Ralph Underhill while Edwards was leading the Raiders to the 1993 Mid-Continent Conference tournament title and their first trip to the NCAA tourney.
“He played out on the floor a lot. He was such a unique player because he could shoot the 3, and he could go inside, and we’d post him up.”
The Raiders beat Eastern Illinois, Valparaiso and UIC on successive days to win the MCC tourney. Edwards had 38 points in the finals and was named MVP.
They lost to Indiana handily in the NCAA tourney. Edwards had 18 points and eight rebounds, but Calbert Cheaney took over with 29 points for the Hoosiers, who reached the Elite Eight.
The athletic Edwards, who had a brief stint in the NBA before a 12-year pro career overseas, averaged 8.0 rebounds from 1989-93, while Love currently has the best career average at 9.3.
“Rebounds weren’t necessarily Bill Edwards’ forte. His forte was scoring,” said Brown, who was inducted into the Wright State Hall of Fame in 2009.
The 255-pound Love, who is averaging 14.5 points for his career, plays more like Rondey Robinson, who averaged 10.7 rebounds in 1988-89 before his career was cut short because of a knee injury.
Like Love, Robinson was known for his toughness and tenacity.
“Early in the preseason that year, Rondey hurt his knee. We had it examined, and I don’t know if they did an MRI, but he wanted to play with it. He got a knee brace and wore it,” Brown said.
“When the season ended, Dr. (Frank) Mannarino went in to do the surgery, and Rondey had torn his ACL completely. Dr. Mannarino was shocked he had the kind of season he had.”
The single-season Wright State record of 10.9 is held by Bill Fogt, a Piqua product who was part of the program’s first recruiting class along with Centerville’s Greg McCurdy, Carroll’s Jimmy Minch and Belmont’s Dave Magill.
The record has stood for five decades, but Love, who is averaging 11.0 through two games, could topple it this season.
“Bill was, like, 6-2. He wasn’t any taller than that,” Brown said. “He strictly played inside, didn’t have an outside game at all. But my goodness, in his own little way, he was sort of like Dennis Rodman. He just went after everything.
“But I used to tease him: He’d miss a layup, get the rebound, shoot it, miss again, get the rebound and then finally make it. I said, ‘You’re doing that on purpose.’”
No one would have thought Love was destined to become one of the Raiders all-time greats when he arrived on campus at more than 300 pounds.
But after sitting out his first year and getting in shape, he established himself as a future star during his redshirt freshman season when he averaged 12.9 points and 9.7 rebounds.
He set goals then of reaching 2,000 points and 1,000 boards for his career, both of which are attainable.
“I’m really happy for him because he’s really been a consistent player for Wright State and had a phenomenal career,” Brown said. “And he’s such a great guy. He’s funny. You get to know him, and you love him. He’s got a great sense of humor.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Bowling Green, Noon, ESPN3, ESPN+, 106.5
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