Lovin embraces her opportunity at Prospect

Gabrielle Cottrell Lovin is coming back to the Jean Walker Field House to coach a new sport.

After serving as Prospect's girls volleyball coach last fall, Lovin will now switch over to direct the school's girls basketball program.

She will be in the same gym where she scored 1,305 points (third most in school history) in the early 2000s.

"I am just honored to be at the Jean Walker Field House," Lovin said. "She (Walker, an Illinois Girls Basketball Coaches Hall of Famer) started everything there, so it's fitting they named the field house after her. She had a huge impact on the program."

Now, Lovin hopes to make a major impact in the same arena where she made a huge impact as an all-area guard who went on to play Division I at Manhattan College.

In college, Lovin played all five positions on the floor.

In fact in one game, she spent time both playing the point guard position and center

"I think that helps out for coaching," said Lovin, who was Prospect's Female Athlete of the Year in 2004. "In practice, I'd spent half the time working with the posts and half with the guards.

That gave Lovin an excellent knowledge base for the frontcourt and backcourt.

"I was lucky to learn that in college, and now be able to transfer it over to high school coaching," she said.

As a high school player, Lovin helped lead the Knights to a sectional final under coach Mike Nocella.

After college, Lovin served as an assistant for Nocella at Hoffman Estates High School for three years.

"I always dreamed of being a high school basketball coach," she said. "But you never know if the option to do it would be there."

Let alone at your alma mater.

"You always bleed the colors of your high school team," said Lovin, who also lettered in volleyball and soccer at Prospect. "So I'm always bleeding the Prospect blue and supporting the school's endeavors and supporting their athletic successes. It's cool to be returning to the school that gave me so many incredible experiences."

Lovin will remain with the volleyball program as an assistant.

"The biggest thing is I want to try and make an impact on as many athletes as I can," she said. "I feel I can give them back things for the girls to use for the rest of their lives. Sports are so much more than winning and losing. I learned so much in high school - why not give it to the other girls who need it, too?"

Lovin believes success on the court begins with intensity on defense.

"And then that carries over to the offensive end," she said. "We will focus on strong passing on offense. Ball movement will be key to our success. You have to have good ball movement where everyone gets a chance to shine at some moment. That makes you hard to defend."

At Prospect, Lovin's team always emphasized defense under Nocella.

"I always loved playing defense and took pride in it," she said. "Then in college I played on one of the top defensive teams in our conference."

Lovin, who resides in Florida, said her husband Jason is being deployed in June and will spend eight to nine months in Africa.

"He is a huge support for what I do," Gabrielle said.

"I will stay (in Illinois) with my parents and daughter (Tessa) here, until they kick me out," she said with a laugh.

Lovin is grateful to District 214.

"The fact that 214 and Prospect High School support military spouses is a huge deal because we don't always get an opportunity to live our dreams," she said. "For the district to allow me to have this opportunity is more than I can ask for. I am very thankful."