Signing Day: Richmond-Burton senior Max Loveall lands preferred walk-on spot at Eastern Illinois

Max Loveall entered Richmond-Burton High School in the fall of 2020 as a skinny 6-foot freshman who barely cracked 100 pounds on a scale and had never played football.

“I was not an athlete. I was slow, I ran goofy,” Loveall said. “I never really loved a sport before, but being in a helmet and pads and being part of a team like that, I knew I loved it and wanted more of it.”

Loveall threw everything he had into becoming a better athlete. After the spring 2021 football season he pounded the weights, ate like each meal was his last and became one of the fastest sprinters at his school.

On Wednesday, Loveall, 4 inches taller and about 100 pounds heavier than the scrawny freshman kid three years ago, will sign his National Letter of Intent with Eastern Illinois University. Loveall (6-4, 198 pounds) will be a preferred walk-on with the Panthers NCAA Division I program, which guarantees a roster spot and will allow him a shot at earning an athletic scholarship later on.

Many of the local McHenry County players signed in the early period in December with scholarship schools. Loveall recently committed to EIU, with which he had been in contact since last summer.

“I sent them a highlight film. I had gone to North Central’s camp and Northwestern’s camp over the summer and was able to perform pretty well in front of them,” Loveall said. “I had some top times and did very well in 1-on-1′s. They knew of me and I was waiting for the offer to come, and it did.

“It means a lot,” Loveall said. “I couldn’t see myself stopping after senior year, I’d just gotten started. I wanted to keep playing and (R-B) coach (Mike) Noll let me know it was a possibility if I put in the work. My parents (Jim and Karen) supported me the whole way, so it means a lot to make them proud.”

The Rockets did not throw a lot, but when they did, Loveall was a dangerous target, grabbing 22 passes for 364 yards and five touchdowns. His size and speed caught the eyes of college coaches. He had offers from NCAA Division II schools Upper Iowa and Northern (S.D.) State but liked Eastern.

Loveall had been to the Charleston school the past two years for the IHSA Boys Track and Field State Meet. He was a relay alternate in 2022 and led off R-B’s Class 2A fifth-place 4x200 relay with Jack Martens, Dan Kalinowski and Sean Rockwell, all of whom are back this spring.

Loveall played in 7-on-7 tournaments with Hersey coach Tom Nelson, who runs TNT, a speed and agility training facility in Mount Prospect.

“He has a very high ceiling, high potential,” Noll said. “He’s created a great opportunity for himself at Eastern. We’ll see how that goes. He had a very good season, especially offensively. I feel like he’ll get better and better as he focuses on football and being a wide receiver only.”

Loveall may have been overly critical of his attributes as a freshman. Noll said the coaches saw him as a tall, skinny kid who was a good athlete, although he lacked football experience.

“The sophomore year he played (on the freshman-sophomore) team on both sides of the ball,” Noll said. “When we brought him up for the playoffs, we played Joliet Catholic in the (Class 4A) semis, and he was already good enough to get reps on the varsity at the end of the season. He was coming along.

“We’re proud of him. He’s worked hard to create that opportunity. He’s a good story.”

Loveall remembers when he became totally immersed in football before his sophomore year.

“It was coming out of COVID, so I knew I had to start lifting and put on speed,” he said. “I went on YouTube and researched how to lift like an athlete and how to run. I’d lift at school, I’d get home and lift, and then I’d go out and run and hit a recovery lift. I ate 6,000 calories a day for a month to try and cram on a bunch of weight before my sophomore season started. I just stuck to that.”