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Mike Gillian was named the seventh men's
basketball head coach in the history of
Longwood University on May 2, 2003. Coach
Gillian, in his sixth year during 2008-09,
has built an NCAA Division I program from
the ground up since his arrival as
Longwood experienced its four-year
Reclassification from Division II
(2003-07). The Lancers have won 28 games
over the past three seasons, including
identical 9-22 records each of the last
two campaigns (2007-08, 2006-07),
following a 10-win season during 2005-06
(10-20) that tied as the seventh-best
turnaround season in Division I (plus 9.5)
that year.
Coach Gillian's five-year overall record
at Longwood entering 2008-09 is 34-116,
including an overall homecourt record of
24-35 in Willett Hall; the program is
21-15 at home over the past three years.
The Lancers have played a total of 91
games outside of Farmville during the last
five seasons, including 76 true road games
(6-70) and 15 neutral-site games (4-11).
Longwood will compete this season 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. In
addition, 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, and has been
interviewed by numerous sportswriters,
radio personalities, and web-bloggers.
Gillian was a four-year letterwinner 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
(7). |
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