April 2, 2009
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University sixth-year men's basketball head coach Mike Gillian has been named the 2009 Independents Coach of the Year by
CollegeInsider.com. The Lancers recently completed the 2008-09 campaign with a final record of 17-14 overall, their highest win total since beginning Division I scheduling in 2004-05, and the most wins for the program overall since 2000-01. Longwood had a home record of 13-2 this year, its best since 1993-94, and is now 34-17 at home in Willett Hall over the past four seasons.
“It's great to win,” said Gillian. “Everyone knows that and enjoys the feelings that come along with success. Receiving recognition like this feels good, and it does so because I know where all the commitment and energy that went into making this season as special as it was came from. It came from the assistant coaches and players that believed in what we were doing, worked to make it possible, then performed at a very high level when game time rolled around every night. Those guys all decided to 'put the team first' before we ever played a game this year and they deserve the recognition for acknowledgments such as this.”
Gillian led Longwood to a +8 turnaround this year with the 17-14 record following last year's 9-22 mark. The Lancers played five teams ranked among the top third of the NCAA RPI (as of March 15), including West Virginia (21), Florida (54), Virginia Tech (61), Kentucky (79), and Virginia (114) -- the first four advancing to post-season tournaments along with James Madison (138). The 17 wins tie for the ninth-best overall in the 33-year history of the program, while four new school-records were set as well, including team assists (502).
Among the season's highlights, Longwood had home wins past George Washington (80-78), in-state school James Madison (79-76), Gardner-Webb (85-84), and Colgate (80-75), along with road wins at Maryland-Eastern Shore (61-49) and Savannah State (68-64). The Lancers enjoyed a seven-game winning streak, their longest since 2000-01, and finished the year with 10 wins in their final 14 games. Longwood was 6-3 in games decided by five points or less, and dropped three other games by 10 points or less while playing 16 games away from home. The Lancers ranked among the top five nationally in Division I steals (3rd, 10.0) and turnover margin (5th, 5.8), while also among the top 50 in assists (17th, 16.2), scoring offense (30th, 77.4), three-point field goal defense (36th, 31.4), and three-point field goals per game (37th, 7.9), while 60th in assist turnover ratio (1.11).
Longwood could return as many as 11 lettermen for 2009-10 as there was only one senior team member this past season.
