A Lovell was coaching the freshman boys' basketball team at Wilson Memorial High School last night when the Hornets opened their season.
It just wasn't the same Lovell that accepted the job in August.
Seth Lovell took the job as head coach for the freshman squad. It was the first step toward accomplishing one of the dreams of the 19-year-old Fishersville man.
"He always had it in his head he was going to be a basketball coach," said Seth's twin brother, Eli, last week.
But when Stuarts Draft came to town last night, it was Eli, not Seth, calling out the plays and huddling his players during timeouts.
And while Eli was trying to figure out how to defend the Cougars, Seth was busy defending something a little more important - his country.
Seth is a member of the Virginia Army National Guard. In May, 2003, as a high-school senior, he signed up. So did Eli. The brothers looked at their decision as a way to help pay for college.
But Seth had another reason. In September he was asked why he enlisted in the National Guard.
"I was a mediocre student. Mediocre athlete. I wanted to challenge myself at least a little bit. Do something worthwhile," said Seth, who is a member of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry based in Lexington.
Following a semester in college - Seth at James Madison, Eli at Bridgewater - the two headed for basic training in early 2004. This past summer, Seth got word he was being deployed to the Middle East. In early September, he boarded a bus at Staunton's Thomas D. Howie National Guard Armory and was off to Fort Bragg, N.C.
A month later he was on a plane to Germany and, from there, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where he's currently stationed. He'll be there for a year.
One of his first jobs after arriving in Afghanistan was to help secure election sites in the country. Recently, Seth's family received an American flag that the soldier carried with him during one of those missions.
That caused a few tears to flow in the Lovell household. As did the absence of Seth at the Lovells' Thanksgiving dinner and the annual cutting of the Christmas tree last week.
Said Eli, "The holidays are always tough."
And that goes both ways.
"He has his ups and downs," Eli said of his twin. "But he keeps a real positive attitude."
Before college, the two hadn't been apart for longer than two nights. Even that first semester, they made sure to see each other at least once a week. And they talked on the telephone every day.
While Eli misses Seth, he knows that it could just as easily be him in the Middle East. Eli is a member of a medical unit based in Charlottesville. Gov. Mark Warner has declared that the unit, as a whole, can't be deployed overseas. They're needed stateside to assist with emergencies, like hurricanes or other natural disasters.
Still, individual members of the unit can be drawn out for deployment. While Eli doesn't think he’ll find himself in the Middle East, he knows it could happen.
For the time being, Eli remains in the Valley. After all, he has a job to do.
Seth's deployment created an opening for a freshman basketball coach. Even though he was taking 18 credit hours at Bridgewater College, Eli asked for, and got, the job.
"I kind of thought this would be a way to keep me connected to my brother," said Eli, who spends his spare time watching his girlfriend, Katy Herr, play basketball at Bridgewater and sitting in for Seth when his brother's girlfriend, Brittany Campbell, takes the court for her senior season at Wilson Memorial.
Eli knows his coaching gig is temporary, calling himself a long-term substitute. He's merely holding a spot for his brother. When Seth gets back to the United States next fall, he will be in charge of the Xs and Os for the Hornets' freshman team.
While Eli can't wait for that day, for now, he's enjoying the role of coach.
Said Eli, "I'm having a ball."
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