Lovell and Basketball
2/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The place was Pontiac, Mich., and all the young hoopsters in town were gearing up for a big city-wide basketball tournament. The players divided into teams named after NBA franchises. Seven-year old Lovell Cabbil was ready. A member of the 76ers, he embraced his role as the team's Allen Iverson, complete with the all the accessories, including the trademark arm sleeve.
"It was probably a sock," Cabbil recalled with a chuckle. "I probably cut a sock, but it looked like an arm sleeve."
Cabbil's team won the tournament. Eventually, he ditched the make-shift arm sleeve and headband, moving to Arlington, Texas with his family when he was in seventh grade. Although there was a little bit of an adjustment period, Cabbil was well acclimated to the Lone Star State by the time he began his high school basketball career at Mansfield Summit.
A four-year letter winner with the Jaguars, Cabbil concluded his tenure as the program's all-time leading scorer. An All-Dallas selection, the 6-3, 155-pound combo guard even held a local McDonald's All-American to eight points during a game, while dropping 20 tallies on the opposite end.
Despite interest from programs such as Nebraska, San Diego, LIU Brooklyn, Saint Louis, UT Arlington, Louisiana, Lamar and Southern, Cabbil was not inked by any school following the early fall 2014 signing period. One possible deterrent to snatching up a player of Cabbil's ability right away was his lack of size.
When Ritchie McKay returned to the helm of the Liberty men's basketball program on April 1, 2015, he knew he needed to get on the recruiting trail right away. Fortunately, he and assistant coach Omar Mance received some valuable information.
"A good friend of ours mentioned a skinny kid who scores at a really high level that was still available in Dallas," Mance recounted. "So I went out to go see him."
Mance quickly hopped on a flight to Dallas. The player he saw upon arriving at Mansfield Summit in nearby Arlington lived up to the billing. Sure, he appeared to be undersized, but Mance saw past the physical frame.
"I called Coach McKay and said, ‘Hey, Coach you've got to come out and see this kid,'" Mance added. "He flew out the very next week."
McKay was not disappointed in what he witnessed when watching Cabbil play – a high-scoring guard with a strong character and great respect for his teammates. In his senior season, Cabbil led Mansfield Summit to a district championship, defeating the No. 1 ranked team in Texas during the process. By April 23, just over three weeks after McKay was hired at Liberty, Cabbil became the head coach's first signee.
"I feel like a main key in the rebuilding process," Cabbil said. "I wouldn't say I am responsible for helping us win more, but I feel responsible for the growth of the team."
Cabbil certainly accepted the responsibility right away. Now 26 games into the 2015-16 campaign, Cabbil leads the Flames in steals (39) and assists (72) and is second on the team in total points (254) and blocked shots (7). In addition, he is just one of two players on the Flames' roster to start every contest this season. The other player to do so is Liberty's largest – 6-10 sophomore center Evan Maxwell.
Even in his early years of playing basketball, Cabbil relished the opportunity to collect blocks and steals. Picking the pocket of an opposing player or swatting a shot always brought a smile to his face. With the elephant in the room being Cabbil's smaller frame, he knew needed to depend on other qualities, such as speed and toughness.
"Growing up, my dad always taught me that since I was smaller I have to be tougher," Cabbil said. "I just try to be as tough as I can. Because I lack in size, I have to be."
Cabbil added, "Most defenders that are bigger, they use their body to knock you off your path. I just try to use my speed to go by them. I kind of lean on that more."
A tell-tale sign of Cabbil's size is found in the way he wears his shorts. Fans inside the Vines Center on game days will see No. 13 with his shorts rolled up at the waistline about four inches or more. While manufacturers aren't making basketball shorts any smaller, Cabbil says that if he had it his way, there would be a uniform change.
"I like the way the old NBA shorts used to look when they were really small," Cabbil commented with a smirk. "I don't know why. I just like them."
Old school basketball shorts aside, another quality Cabbil relies on is his defensive ability. Before arriving at Liberty, he was not well versed in the pack-line defense. However, Mance says after spending the bulk of the last eight months learning the complex system, Cabbil developed a greater appreciation for good defense.
"He's really taken on the role as one of our top defenders," Mance noted. "I think John Dawson helped that in practice when he wasn't eligible, because John would really get in his grill and defend him hard. So Lovell took on that role while John was out."
Since becoming eligible on Dec. 17, Dawson has become the Flames' top scorer in the 15-game stretch, averaging 13.7 ppg. While he takes credit for helping Cabbil improve his defense, Dawson believes there is no denying his teammate's natural ability as a defender.
"He is the best defender we have," Dawson said defiantly. "He has the best feet and the best judgment. If I went at him [in practice] and he stopped me from scoring, it was more of a confidence and reassurance that he is the best defender on our team."
"Early on, it wasn't too fun," Cabbil said of learning the defensive scheme. "It's hard working on the pack-line defense, just trying to put it into a game system. Later on, when you realize how much it works and you start buying into it, it is actually pretty fun."
It's that buy-in that has now transformed Liberty's 12-game losing skid into a six-game win streak. After starting the season 3-13, the Flames, who were tabbed 11th in the Big South preseason poll, are now fourth in the conference standings with an 8-5 record. In the midst of its run, Liberty defeated No. 1 pick High Point in both meetings.
"A lot of people would say we were too young or didn't have that much size and lacked experience," Cabbil stated. "It's always fun to prove someone wrong, because I really had to prove a lot of people wrong my whole life. I love being the underdog."
Mance understands why others may underestimate Cabbil in particular because of his size, but there is at least one immeasurable the doubters should always take into account.
"You can't measure the size of someone's heart," Mance said. "It doesn't matter how big or skinny you are. When you have a big heart you can do some amazing things."
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By Eric Brown, Assistant Athletics Communications Director for Liberty University
