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Mike Gillian is in his ninth year at
Longwood University during 2011-12,
having been named the school's seventh
men's basketball head coach on May 2,
2003. He has built an NCAA Division I
program from the ground up since his
arrival, including the four-year
Reclassification from Division II
(2003-07). Coach Gillian's eight-year
overall record at Longwood is 75-168,
including an overall homecourt record of
56-44 in Willett Hall where the program
is an impressive 53-24 over the past six
years. The Lancers were 12-19 overall
during 2010-11 to equal their
second-best record during Gillian's
tenure.
Longwood finished 2010-11 with a final
record of 12-19 as well after the
Lancers completed 2008-09 with a record
of 17-14, their best record under
Gillian and highest win total since
beginning Division I scheduling in
2004-05, and the most wins for the
program overall since 2000-01. Longwood
had an impressive home record of 13-2,
their best since 1993-94, and the +8
turnaround tied for 18th-best in
Division I. For his efforts, CollegeInsider.com named Gillian the
2009 Independents Coach of the Year. The
17 wins also tie for the ninth-most in
the 33-year history of the program.
Longwood posted back-to-back identical
9-22 records during both 2006-07 and
2007-08, following a 10-win season
during 2005-06 (10-20) that tied as the
seventh-best turnaround season in
Division I (+9.5) that year. Since
receiving Division I certification for
2007-08, the program is 50-74 overall
with an outstanding home record of
39-14. The Lancers have played a total
of 143 games outside of Farmville during
the last eight seasons, including 122
true road games (13-109) and 21
neutral-site games (6-15).
Longwood is competing for the
fourth-straight year with its full
allotment of 13 scholarship
student-athletes after playing with 12
during 2007-08 following two years
(2005-06, 2006-07) with 11 scholarships.
The Lancers finished 1-30 during
2004-05, their first year competing
against a full Division I schedule with
nine scholarships. Longwood was 5-22
during 2003-04, the first year under
Coach Gillian as well as year one of the
transition to Division I with just seven
scholarships.
"We have gotten to the point where we
have established Longwood Basketball as
a respectable Division I program," says
Gillian. "On one side, the journey to
this point has been long, arduous and
gratifying. We have traveled the country
and played against some of college
basketball’s best teams. We have built
competitive rivalries with a lot of
programs in the state of Virginia. We
have made Willett Hall a difficult place
for opponents to play, and won a lot of
those home games. On the other side, the
journey that lies ahead is filled with
monumental challenges. We must now
utilize all of these past experiences to
vault the program forward from
respectability to success. No easy task.
It’s time to rise to the Occasion!"
Prior to his arrival at Longwood, Coach
Gillian had been an assistant coach at
George Mason University under head coach
Jim Larranaga from 1997-2003. He had
also worked under Larranaga for one
season at Bowling Green State (Ohio)
University (1996-97) before moving with
him to George Mason. Gillian played a
role in the recruitment of several
members of the Mason team that shocked
the world of college basketball during
the 2005-06 season while advancing to
the Final Four in Indianapolis.
During Gillian's six seasons as an
assistant coach at Mason, the Patriots
went 100-74 overall with a 66-34
Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
record, winning two CAA Tournament
championships (1999, 2001) and two CAA
regular season titles (1999, 2000). He
counts George Evans, currently playing
overseas, among the many standout
players he helped coach at GMU. George
Mason also earned two NCAA Tournament
appearances (1999, 2001) and made one
National Invitation Tournament (NIT)
appearance (2002). The Patriots were
57-18 overall at home in the Patriot
Center, posting a 41-8 CAA homecourt
record.
At Bowling Green, the Falcons finished
22-10 while winning the 1997
Mid-American Conference regular season
title (13-5) and earning an NIT
appearance. MAC Player of the Year
Antonio Daniels, currently a member of
the NBA's Washington Wizards, led that BGSU team.
Prior to joining Larranaga at BGSU,
Gillian was an assistant coach at
Division II American International
(Mass.) from 1989-95. During that
six-year stint working for current
Indiana Pacers assistant coach Jimmy
Powell, the Yellow Jackets went 117-58
overall with a 75-33 Northeast-10
Conference (NE-10) record, winning both
the NE-10 regular season and tournament
championships in 1994 (26-6). American
International also advanced to the
second-round of the Division II
Tournament that year.
Gillian has been a member of the
National Association of Basketball
Coaches (NABC) since 1989. He was a YES
Clinic speaker at the Division I Men's
Final Four from 1998-2000, and again in
2007 in Atlanta, and has extensive
public speaking experience through his
involvement with numerous booster, local
business and civic organizations, and
charity events. Since arriving at
Longwood, Gillian has appeared on
ESPN2's Cold Pizza, become a weekly
in-season guest on Richmond Sports Radio
910 (The Final Round With Wes McElroy,
The Mike Maniscalco Show), served as the
same station's NCAA Tournament Analyst,
co-hosted his own in-season Mike Gillian
Show on Farmville’s Kickin’ Country
92.9, served as that station’s NCAA
Tournament Analyst, co-hosted a monthly
morning sports talk radio show on
Farmville's WFLO AM 870, and has been
interviewed by numerous sportswriters,
radio personalities, as well as Internet
writers and bloggers.
Gillian was a four-year letterman as an
undergraduate at Division III North
Adams State (now the Massachusetts
College of Liberal Arts), and served as
a team captain during his final two
years. He received a Bachelor of Science
degree in business administration from
North Adams, and earned a Master of
Business Administration degree from
American International.
A native of Ayer, Massachusetts, Gillian
and his wife, Janet, have a daughter,
Emma (10). |
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