David Loville plays guard for the Tigers basketball team. GSU Athletics/Courtesy photo
Grambling State is a public historically black college and gets the bulk of their student body from the surrounding areas such as Bossier, Shreveport, Ruston and Grambling.
David Loville is an exception.
Loville is a sophomore from the bay area of California, where he spent his entire life growing up in the projects up until coming to Grambling to play on the basketball team.
Loville discussed his transition from beautiful, sunny California to the slow country town life offered by Grambling.
He is used to great weather and days at the beach. Loville is used to fresh air, friendly people. At Grambling he said he has struggled to adapt.
“I am not in my element at all,” Loville said.
Loville is on the basketball team this season and feels like beung the sports program is the only thing that is going to keep him sane here.
Basketball has always been a big part of his life since he was a kid.
“Growing up in the Bay and in my neck of the woods kids by the age of 13 were either doing and selling drugs, you had those kids that did their work and went to good colleges, then you had your athletes who were focused on making it out,” Loville said.
Loville’s apartment complex as a kid was not in the safest part of the bay but he had to focus on what he wanted to be able to follow his dream of becoming a professional basketball player.
“Basketball here is way different than California, Cali ball is more team oriented when it comes to playing but down here it is just isolation (and) basketball,” Loville said.
This is just one more thing that makes it hard for him to adjust to being away from home.
Loville said there is a huge difference in food from California to Grambling.
“California has the best Mexican, seafood anything you can ask for; there is definitely a good restaurant in California,” he said.
To him, food plays a major part when you are moving out of your element and you have to venture out and find different types of food you aren’t accustomed too.
“That’s probably one of the biggest problems for me here is that the food is mediocre and they have all the fast food that we have at home,” Loville stated. “Grambling is a great place to come and find who you are and go to school and have fun but as far as it goes living here, this will never be an option for me.”
However, Loville said his experiences at Grambling will always hold a place in his heart.
“I will always thank Grambling for the lessons it has taught me and will continue to teach me as a take my journey to graduation,” Loville said.