Air Loll Has a Double Meaning

For all anyone knows, Chris Loll works by day determining how soon a human will dunk a basketball on Mars.

After hours and limited by that confounding gravity, he still makes his own dazzling dunks and sinks three-pointers with the smooth left-handed release that earned him Times Ventura County player of the year honors in 1991.

Loll, a 6-foot-5 former Thousand Oaks High record-setter, is both an Air Force lieutenant and a captain on the Armed Forces basketball team.

It’s hard to say which is more stimulating.

In the developmental planning department at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Loll works on a top-secret vision of the Air Force in 2025.

“We are integrating air and space, as we transition into a space and air force,” Loll said. Loll takes off about three months a year to play basketball. The pinnacle is the annual World Games, which bring together service teams from 35 countries.

With Loll averaging about 18 points a game, the U.S. won the gold medal at the seven-game tournament in Belgium in December, defeating France in the final. It was the third year in a row Loll made the Armed Forces team, which is composed of the best players from the four U.S. service teams.

“Most of the guys played college basketball and some have professional experience overseas,” Loll said. “I think we would finish in the top half of most Division I conferences.

“There is strong guard play, but we don’t have size. If a guy was real tall, he wouldn’t be in the military.”

Loll, 24, an All-Western Athletic Conference forward at Air Force in 1995, will spend one more season playing for service teams before pursuing a professional career in Australia or Europe. He plans to leave the military when his commitment is up in about 18 months.

“I’ve definitely improved since I left college,” he said. “I play in as many leagues as I can.”

A highlight this season came in the U.S. Interservices tournament at Ft. Hood, Texas. Loll scored the winning basket against Army as time expired in double overtime.

After weathering the inevitable misgivings during his first boot camp at 17, Loll flourished in the Air Force. He is a military officer, has a college degree, a steady (and intriguing) job, and still gets his fill of basketball.

His success story went over well earlier this week at Thousand Oaks High, where he spoke to a large group of Lancer athletes and their parents about how athletics enriched his life.

“I talked about how you can pull something out of athletic experiences that helps you become a well-rounded individual,” he said.