07.31.07
We wanted a schedule that will challenge
us, as we continue to make strides as a
program. There is no question that we
accomplished that and more. In addition to
taking on some tough opponents we were
also able to maintain some rivalry games,
as well as put together a nice home
schedule. Our first three games of the
season will be at home. We will open with
Navy (Nov. 9), followed by games against
Norfolk State (Nov. 13) and Virginia-Wise
(Nov. 15).
We have three home games in December,
beginning with High Point (Dec. 1), which
will be among the top teams in the Big
South Conference this season. We will also
play host to Virginia Intermont (Dec. 17)
and Stetson (Dec. 29). We will open the
New Year with three home games in January.
Yale, which figures to be among the top
teams in the Ivy League, visits Farmville
on Jan. 8. A week later the high-powered
offense of Campbell (Jan. 15) comes to
town. And we will close the month at home
against Southern Virginia.
In February, three of our six games will
be played at home. We host Savannah State
(Feb. 9), NJIT (Feb. 18) and conclude the
regular season against Liberty (Feb. 22).
Like High Point, the Liberty Flames will
compete for the Big South Conference
crown.
Scheduling is never easy so it should be
no surprise that we will have a very
challenging road schedule this season.
That will begin with our participation in
Bloomington, IN against the Hoosiers (Nov.
18). Our road opponents will include
Boston College, Campbell, Florida
Atlantic, George Washington, High Point,
Hofstra, James Madison, Kent State,
Liberty, Morgan State, Navy, NJIT,
Savannah State, Stetson, VCU and Virginia.
We will also be participating in the 2007
Chicago Invitational Challenge (Nov.
23-24). We will open with UNC-Wilmington
and then face either Coppin State or
Southeast Missouri State.
There is a lot of excitement surrounding
the program, as we embark on our first
official season as a Division I
Independent. We have made great strides
over the past three seasons and we look
forward to taking another step forward in
2007-08.
02.13.07
It's a big week coming up for us here in
South Central Virginia. We travel up to
Charlottesville tonight for what is
becoming an annual match up with Virginia,
and one that I'm hoping we turn into a
game here at Longwood somewhere down the
road. We then have our final two home
games of the season with Liberty coming
here on Thursday night and NJIT coming in
next Monday.
The game with Virginia is an important one
for us in many ways. We will go out and
test ourselves every year against some
very high profile programs (who happen to
have very good teams) to gauge where we
are in our development as a Division I
program. These types of games also give
our players and fans (especially at UVA)
an experience that they will never forget.
You also don't ever know exactly what will
happen when you take the court against
someone who is perceived to be at a level
way above you. We have proven to be able
to compete against some very good teams
(look back to the second half leads at GW
and New Mexico for evidence) and one day
here we are going to beat somebody we're
not expected to. There is no way of
predicting when that will be but with the
commitment that has been made here at
Longwood, it's going to happen.
The Liberty game at home here on Thursday
is the closest thing we have to a rivalry
game at this point in time. Our motivation
will be high for the Flames. We split two
games with them last year and came out on
the short end of the score against them
earlier this year over in Lynchburg. We
are currently 2-2 on the season in games
against teams in The Big South Conference.
It would be big for us to finish the year
with a winning record against that league.
Like all teams, we want to play well at
home, which we have done again this
season. Right now, we are 5-5 at home with
two to play. Having a winning home record
is something that is very important to
everyone in our program and something we
need to be ready to protect on Thursday
night.
When NJIT gets to town on Monday it will
be a special night for Longwood
Basketball. It will be the first time
since I arrived on campus here that guys
who have spent 4 years at Longwood as
Division I players will be playing their
last home game in a Longwood uniform. Two
years ago we had no seniors. Last year we
recognized Chad Kosmo, who in two years
helped us through the transition to the
Divison I level.
This year we have 5 seniors who are
departing the program and all are
extremely important in their own way. Joel
Rowe and Darren Holmes have been important
members of our team for 4 years and have
hung in there through some difficult
times. These two guys have earned a
special respect from me for everything
they have done while they have been here.
Husein Pistoljevic has had some
unbelievable moments as a Lancer. He is
the all time leading three point shooter
in Longwood Basketball history and truly
epitomizes everything that our program
does, and should, stand for. Clayton
Morgan came in last year and has been an
important piece to the basketball puzzle
for us. Clayton has had some phenomenal
moments and games for us and has truly
helped us become established as a Division
I program that is capable of succeeding.
Lastly is Maurice Sumter. Accolades aside,
if people around the country want to look
at a shining example of how a college
basketball players should play, and act,
and represent himself and his team and his
school; look no further than Mo - enough
said.
All of these guys will be sorely missed.
All have made an indelible mark on the
Longwood Basketball Program. All have been
an important part of laying the foundation
for Longwood as a viable Division I
program. I'm sure they do and they can't
hear it enough, but I want them to know
that.
02.08.07
What a start to the new year for the
Longwood Basketball Program. Coming off 3
consecutive wins to close out 2006 we were
very excited getting started on 2007.
We kicked off 2007 by embarking on one of
our trademark road trips, that are more
like what NBA teams have. We got it
started by flying out of Richmond on New
Year's Day to take on the Providence
College Friars on January 2nd. Decent
performance for us in the first 22 minutes
against Providence as we trailed by 10 at
the half and hit an early 3 in the second
half to cut the deficit to 7. The rest of
the night was not so good for us.
From Providence it was on to New Haven, CT
where we tipped it off against Yale on
Saturday (6th) afternoon. The Yale game
was a tale of two halves for us, neither of
which was what we would prefer. Let me
explain.
There are two very specific things we need
to do as a team in order to put ourselves
in position to be successful. Those two
things are take care of the ball (limit
turnovers) and don't give up too many
second chance opportunities (offensive
rebounds). In the first half of the Yale
game we turned the ball over a bunch of
times, which led to a few to many easy
buckets for them and a 12 point deficit
for us. In the second half we cleaned that
up, played very good defense, and gave up
15 offensive rebounds which led to a bunch
of second chance points for them.
The combination of these things led us to
a 74-62 loss and dropped us to 6-12 on the
season. To make matters a little more
difficult, Kirk Williams went out with
what turned out to be a severely sprained
left ankle a few minutes into the second
half. His injury would affect us
significantly for about the next 3 weeks,
as it turned out.
12.31.06
For us, the 2006 calendar year is over.
The Lancers will not play again until
2007, when we travel to Providence on Jan.
2. Our win over American was our third
straight. After dropping the first two
games of the Las Vegas Classic, at New
Mexico and USC, we responded with
Charleston Southern and Kennesaw State.
Our seniors led the way against Charleston
Southern, as Clayton Morgan and Maurice
Sumter combined for 39 points and down the
stretch we were able to hold off the
Buccaneers by converting from the
free-throw line. One night later Clayton
had a career-best 32 points in the
overtime win over Kennesaw State.
The wins gave us a fifth-place finish and
a really good feeling heading into the
Christmas holiday and we came out of the
break with another hard-fought win in
overtime. There were eight ties and four
lead changes, with last coming with just
over a minute remaining in OT.
We are playing very good basketball right
now and we will need to continue playing
well, as we open 2007 with four straight
on the road. We travel to Providence,
Yale, New Jersey Tech and Utah Valley
State before returning to Farmville, VA
for three straight at home, beginning with
Savannah State on Jan. 20.
12.15.06
To say that the past couple of seasons
were challenging is understating the
point. But while many viewed our early
stages, of transitioning to Division I, as
somewhat disastrous, but I viewed it as
progress.
There are a lot of great things about this
institution, which was why I left George
Mason to become the next head coach of the
Lancers. Still, I knew it would take a
little time, but we everyday we have
continued to move forward.
Part of the process is playing a very
competitive schedule and this season was
no exception. While we lost 8-of-11, we
have been very competitive in through
November and the early part of December.
There is no column in the standings for
close losses or games in which you
competed, but it’s that type of effort
that eventually gets you into the column
headline by “W.”
In our very first loss of the season,
against VCU, we continue to battle despite
facing a large deficit. Sure it was only
the second game of the season, but it was
an indication of things to come. There
will be no quit in this team.
Now we head to Albuquerque to take on New
Mexico in the opening round of the Las
Vegas Classic. First round and second
games are played on campus and the final
two games are played in Vegas. This
four-game stretch will take us into the
Christmas break.
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