It is always exciting to see Longwood athletes continue their sports careers after graduation, especially when three players from our men’s and women’s basketball teams continue on in the same year. After their final seasons as Lancers in the 2015-16 academic year, Lotanna Nwogbo, Daeisha Brown and Shaquille Johnson have all continued on with their athletic careers, playing internationally.
Longwood has produced multiple athletes throughout the years who have gone on to play professionally. A few of these athletes include Tristan Carey, who traveled to Switzerland to play for the Lugano Tigers and Quincy Taylor who moved to the United Kingdom and currently plays with the Surrey Scorchers. Also players such as Antwan Carter and Jan Van Der Kooij who are currently unsigned, went to places including Finland and The Netherlands to play on professional teams.
The three most recent players from Longwood to go play professionally were Nwogbo, Brown and Johnson. Nwogbo was a fifth-year senior on the men’s basketball team last year and emerged as one of the best big men in the Big South conference. Nwogbo went to Argentina and is currently playing with Gimnasia-Indalo as a center.
“My favorite part about being overseas is getting to travel and see the world while doing what I love most, play basketball,” said Nwogbo. “Playing overseas has also been a learning experience; I am a rookie so it has been different than playing in college but I have done pretty well so far.”
Johnson, also a senior last year on the men’s team, was ranked the No. 4 dunker in college basketball and made the Big South all-tournament team his junior year. Johnson went to Canada this past year to play for the Halifax Hurricanes. He is no longer on the Hurricanes and is currently continuing his career in Iraq.
Head men’s basketball coach Jayson Gee tries to instill a good work ethic in his players for them to carry into their professional careers and helps them network following graduation.
“It is a tremendous testimony to how we develop them as players, obviously a testimony to their talent level, and it is just exciting to have guys that have a dream and you’ve been a part of helping them reach their dream of playing professional basketball,” said Gee.
Brown played on the women’s basketball team and was selected for the Preseason All-Big South Second Team in the 2014-15 season. Brown was also named All-State Rookie of the Year and to the Big South All-Freshman team in her 2012-13 season at Longwood. Brown recently left for a tryout with a professional team in Barcelona, and while results are not known yet, hopefully she can join the ranks of Lancers on the professional scene.