Reginald L. “Reggie” Love was born April 29, 1981, and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. At Providence Day School, one of Charlotte’s elite private schools, he was a two-sport star in football and basketball — the kind of athlete who filled up the room not because of his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame, but because of his smile. He won two state basketball championships. His athletic director, Barbara Fricke, remembered him as a great student who always came up with the right answers in class, a big guy with a real playful side.
Love was recruited to play football at several of the nation’s top programs. He chose Duke because it offered him something no other school would: a football scholarship and the chance to walk on to the basketball team. He wanted both. He valued the academics — he would major in political science and public policy. And he wanted to play for Mike Krzyzewski.
The decision was pure Reggie Love: ambitious, unconventional, and driven by a belief that you don’t have to pick just one thing.