FRISCO, Texas – Tavin Lovan’s parents instilled a message in him when he was younger – take your own path to where you’ll be happy.

His mother, Veronica Cook-Lovan, and his father, Tony Lovan, were both standout basketball players at Western Kentucky, but Lovan’s path led him to Birmingham, Ala., to play for UAB.

It’s a path that’s now taken him to a championship.

Lovan and the Blazers beat Louisiana Tech 82-73 on Saturday at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco to claim the Conference USA tournament title.

“That was something they put into me when I was in high school – take my own path,” Tavin Lovan said. “They both told me about their journey, ending up at Western, but my journey didn’t take me there. They just wanted me to be happy and write my own story. I guess it came full circle tonight.”

His mother played in 132 games at WKU from 1992-95 – still the eighth-most all-time – and was part of a historic stretch of Lady Topper basketball. She was on the 1992 NCAA Tournament national runner-up team and teams that made the Sweet 16 in 1993 and 1995. The Lady Toppers won three Sun Belt Conference tournament championships during her playing days and had two championship game victories over Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La. She scored 1,164 points with WKU and was first team all-Sun Belt her last two seasons.

For the former Lady Toppers star, watching her son forge his own path has been special.

“I love it. I love it,” Veronica Cook-Lovan said. “ … He don’t have to follow where we went. I’m just going to follow him wherever. I want him to be happy, so I’m glad I’m watching him play somewhere.”

The feeling is the same for his father, who played his final two seasons at WKU after transferring from St. Catharine College. Tony Lovan was the second-leading scorer and leading rebounder for the Hilltoppers in the 1995-96 season with 13.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and led the team with 15 points and 5.8 rebounds per game the following season.

“I’m grateful with him going to UAB. He didn’t have to live up to his parents playing at Western Kentucky, which is great for him,” Tony Lovan said. “I think he went to UAB, has done a good job, has had a great career, and to make it to the big dance, it’s great. He made a great decision and he stuck it out through two coaches. I’m just so happy for him. I’m proud of him, man. This is what hard work does.”

Tavin Lovan had been a solid contributor over his first three seasons, averaging 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds over 94 games with 67 starts. He was a C-USA second team selection in the 2020-21 season.

He’s dealt with turnover in his time with the program, including a coaching change from Rob Ehsan to current coach Andy Kennedy before the 2020-21 season and eight newcomers joining the roster ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Lovan appeared in 31 games with 20 starts, averaging 7.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game leading into Saturday’s championship, where he finished with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds, three steals and a block.

Kennedy credits Lovan’s play down the stretch Saturday for helping the Blazers close out the win. He had two rebounds, four points, a steal and a block in the final six minutes after Louisiana Tech cut the deficit to six.

“Tell me if I’m wrong because I’m not right all the time, but Tavin’s maybe the greatest teammate on our team,” Kennedy said at the postgame news conference next to tournament MVP Jordan “Jelly” Walker and all-tournament team selection Michael Ertel, who agreed. “Incredible pleaser. He’s got a bulldog-type game, but he doesn’t have a bulldog-type personality, so we’re constantly trying to pull it out of him. I thought he was awesome tonight.

“ … We went small a lot and that puts Tavin at that four, so we really challenged him to rebound that ball and he goes for 11 and seven and had some huge ones down the stretch. We were bleeding a little bit against that pressure – uncharacteristic, I don’t really understand it, but it’s been a problem for us – and we were turning it over. To La. Tech’s credit, they’re tenacious. Eric Konkol’s done a tremendous job. They’ve got a really good team and we were bleeding a little bit. We were challenging them, ‘Hey man, one stop, one big ball, one rebound, one basket’ – well Tav did a lot of those things for us down the stretch.”

After celebrating briefly with the C-USA championship trophy on the court, Lovan’s next stop was to the stands at Ford Center to hug his parents.

“It’s indescribable. Unreal, really,” Tavin Lovan said. “They’ve been in this position – my mom’s been in this position. To actually get a ring and knowing that she has a ring, I can’t describe it. It’s just a great feeling.”

While his parents were great players at WKU, Tavin Lovan has carved his own path – he’s now a conference champion and will get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament with UAB.

“I’m just so proud of him,” Tony Lovan said. “I can’t wait to see what happens and where they go in the big dance because I never got a chance to play in the big dance – his momma did – and now I’m so happy that he gets to experience playing on the national stage like that.”{&end}