Vederian Lowe was one of the two pillars - Donterrio Hannah was the other - on the offensive and defensive lines that helped turn Auburn from an also-ran into NIC-10 champions.Lowe was a three-year starter and two-time first team All-Conference lineman for the Knights. Auburn had long struggled to compete in football and had won just one of its last 36 games when coach Dan Appino left Boylan to invigorate the Auburn program in 2012.
The Knights went 9-10 in Appino's first two years. Lowe and Hannah - who was a three-time all-conference offensive and defensive lineuman - moved into the starting lineup in 2014.
The Knights would go 6-4 their sophomore years and then 10-2 in the junior and senior years, winning back-to-back NIC-10 football titles. Those were the first NIC-10 football titles for Auburn since 1962 and the first for any Rockford Public School since 1985.
Hannah chose to go to Arizona Western Community College, a junior college power, where he eventually drifted away from football. Lowe signed to play at the University Illinois, where he broke another streak.
Lowe made his first appearance and first start in week five of the 2017 season against Iowa. He would end up playing starting seven games, playing in eight and being named honorable mention All-Freshman by the Big Ten Network.
Beginning in 2018, Lowe has started every single game for the Illini. Of course, the coronavirus turned the sports world upside down in 2020 and the NCAA ruled that players could participate last year without it counting against their eligibility. Lowe was named honorable mention All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media and had the size (6-6, 320 pounds) to play in the NFL. Still, Lowe chose to return to Illinois for a fifth season.
Of course, this hasn't been a golden era for Illinois football. The Illini went 14-31 in Lowe's first four years and won't have a winning season in 2021 either. Still, Lowe will get a shot at the NFL. Earlier this season, NFL Draft Analyst Tony Pauline gave Lowe a fourth-round grade, Walterfootball.com projects him as a seventh rounder and profootballnetwork.com sees him as a sixth round pick.
| No. 34 - Vederian Lowe, Auburn | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 2015 | High School | Auburn | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Conference Champion | 1 | |||
| Playoff Team | 1 | |||
| 2016 | High School | Auburn | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Conference Champion | 1 | |||
| Playoff Team | 1 | |||
| 2017 | College | Illinois | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| 2018 | College | Illinois | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| 2019 | College | Illinois | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| 2020 | College | Illinois | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Honorable Mention All-Big 10 | 0.5 | |||
| Total | 28.5 | |||
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