NAMPA, Idaho – Jake Levine walked into his classes for the first time this semester and his fellow students wondered who the new guy was.

The Northwest Nazarene senior was wearing a mask and had cut his hair for the first time in nearly two years.

Gone were the long flowing red locks that helped identify him easily from a distance on the soccer field and had opposing defenders calling him Fabio.

"I had just posted some family photos where my hair was very long," he said. "There were friends I had met last year in class that didn't say anything to me until the third day. People did not recognize me."



What started out as a bit of a joke about whether or not he could grow long hair, turned into a two-year odyssey that ended with him having a two-foot hairdo.

"I think it was great," teammate Daniel Brendel said. "It fit his personality perfectly. It was luscious, shiny and everyone noticed it. I think he made an impression to everyone."

Levine comes from a conservative hair family.

His dad is balding, his mom and sister don't go crazy with their styles and he grew up getting a haircut once a month.

So, when friends said there was no way he could grow his hair long and have it look good, he took it as a personal challenge.

"Once I got past the horrible afro stage, I really liked it," he said. "It became kind of a signature thing of mine the last two years."



His junior season, he started wearing it in a man bun style but the hair was so heavy it would slowly fall out during games and get in his face.

His friend Jaidyn Kinneeveauk told him one day that she could style it before games to help control it a bit better.

"I was just joking around and said I could braid your hair and he said let's go for it," she said. "I challenged myself to see how different I could make it for every game. I tried not to repeat the 'do."



Levine showed up to games last season sporting French braids, corn rows and everything in between.

"It was wild, crazy and looks electric," NNU soccer coach Adam Pearce said. "It was pretty fitting of the personality and the head that sits underneath it."

Levine enjoyed a fantastic season on the field, but isn't worried about his haircut having a Samson-like effect on his goal-scoring abilities.

"I think I'm going to be even better this year," he said. "I think people recognized me and identified me by my hair last year.

"Going into my senior year, I don't think the players are going to have trouble identifying who I am."



While Levine was a bit ahead of the times with growing out pandemic hair, his plan for a new-look-Levine senior year isn't playing out exactly as planned with the team's season being postponed to spring.

"It sounded like it was supposed to be the new sleek Jake," Pearce said. "Really polished and refined. Of course, with the really unique experience that we are all going through, I actually think the old hair is more fitting of the chaos that is college athletics right now."

No matter what Levine's plans for this season were, one thing is certain: his long hair is hair-story.