The turning of the leaves and shift in weather are sure signs of fall. Along with those signs of autumn comes another Longwood men's basketball season. Last year, the Lancers were ranked 13th in the nation for assists per game and 25th for points per game, ahead of all Final Four teams, including the eventual national champions Connecticut. Ninth-year head coach Mike Gillian said, "I really think we can [stay high in those categories]… Averaging that number of assists per game means you're sharing the ball, guys are willing to throw the ball to each other and you have to make those high quality shots. I think we'll be up there in both those categories again."
The 2011-2012 schedule features top opponents like Vanderbilt, Virginia and Seton Hall. Gillian also commented on the schedule and its importance. "In scheduling for us, there are certain things that we want to accomplish. We've done that every year and that remains the case. You want to play against high-profile opponents and put yourself out there on a national stage… What I want us to do is select teams that are going to be the best; those games are always going to be on there.
"And then we want to have a significant number of games where we feel as if we are competitive equals to, which are all the home games. Anyone that comes here to Longwood, we feel like we're going to [beat]. Whether it's Seton Hall, George Washington, James Madison, or William and Mary. And there are a lot of road games this year where we feel as if we will be competitive—games like Farleigh Dickinson, South Carolina State, Norfolk State, and many more give us chances to be successful".
Practice began a couple of weeks ago, but with a slightly different feel from years past. For the 345 schools across the nation playing basketball at the Division I level, it is usually safe to say that almost all will have freshmen or other newcomers to the program, be they transfers or otherwise. This is not the case for the 2011-2012 edition of the Lancers. Although they have two players that did not play last year but were part of the program, there are no true "newbies" in Farmville for the men's team. Now, to the outsider, that can be viewed as a school that is not recruiting very well, which is possible in the case of Longwood, a school still searching for a home in a conference after four years in Division I.
However, to senior center Antwan Carter, who was the Independent Player of the Year last season, the team's lack of youth is seen as a positive. "We don't have any newcomers, so we get to start off right were we left off last year. We get to move on faster."
Gillian also acknowledged the status of the team as far as age. "These guys [Carter, Durann Neil, Martiz Washington, Jeremiah Bowman, Jan van der Koojj] have done a great job of improving and continuing to improve. The guys behind them are pushing them because they're playing well too, and it makes us feel good about where we are, and we expect everybody to do well."
Neil said of the team's progress, "Everyone's experienced and everyone's been through it before. We've got five or six of us who are juniors and seniors, and we're ready to go. Last season we had a mix of players, including younger guys who didn't understand how playing on the road can affect you. This season, we should be better."
Gillian also mentioned the relative disparity between Longwood's recent home record versus its away record. In the past three years, they are 32-9 in Willett Hall, but 7-39 in true road games. "First of all, road games are hard… When you look at our road games, it's very rare for us to get the Seton Halls of the world to come here. There are six or seven games on there every year, like Kansas, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Villanova, Maryland, whomever, that are really high-level. That makes it tough, but at some point in time we're going to get one of those teams.
"We've already established some credibility, respectability, and some success and raised our profile… You control what you do, how you do it, and represent Longwood in what you do. We care about representing the University in a proper way.
"The anticipation is heightened right now. The environment that we have when we play in Willett Hall, the way the students come out and support us, and the atmosphere are incredible."
The Lancers open up against Navy on Friday night in Willett Hall at 7 p.m. After that, Longwood hosts Virginia Intermont on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. and Canisius on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. For the Canisius game, all supporters are asked to wear white in support of Longwood.
