Game Notes (PDF) | 2012-13 Season Outlook | Online Team Guide
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University will open its 2012-13 men's basketball campaign at Marshall University of Conference USA Friday night, November 9, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Huntington, West Virginia. The Lancers are coached by 10th-year mentor Mike Gillian, and led by junior captains
Tristan Carey|Colonial Beach (13.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists) and
David Robinson|Chesterfield (7.7 points). The Thundering Herd are coached by Tom Herrion, and led by junior DeAndre Kane (16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds) and senior Dennis Tinnon (10.2 points, 10.0 rebounds). The game can be heard locally on WVHL Radio, Kickin' Country 92.9 FM, as well as via the Internet at
wvhl.net.
Series History
Longwood and Marshall are meeting for only the third time in the sport of men's basketball, and for the first time since the two programs played in Huntington during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. The Thundering Herd won the first game by a score of 101-86 played on December 7, 1992, and MU won the second game by a score of 74-60 played on Dec. 6, 1993. The Lancers were competing as a Division II program during those years.
Head Coach Mike Gillian
Mike Gillian (North Adams State '86) was named the seventh head coach for men's basketball at Longwood on May 2, 2003. The Ayer, Massachusetts native is now 85-189 through nine seasons with the Lancers, including a career-best record of 17-14 during 2008-09 when he earned 2009 Independent Coach of the Year honors from CollegeInsider.com. Gillian previously had been an assistant coach for current Miami (Fla.) head coach Jim Larranaga while at George Mason for six years (1997-2003) after a year with Coach Larranaga at Bowling Green State (1996-97). Enjoying his 10th year as the head coach during 2012-13, Gillian becomes the longest-tenured head coach in the 36-year history of the program. Longwood is 3-6 in season-opening games under Gillian.
Looking At Longwood
Longwood finished 10-21 last season while competing as a Division I Independent, and returns one starter among seven letterwinners. The Lancers have added six newcomers to the team. Longwood is expected to start juniors
Tristan Carey, the lone returning starter from last season, and
David Robinson, sophomore
Frank Holloway, along with freshmen
Nik Brown and
Michael Kessens. The Lancers were picked to finish sixth in the six-team North Division in the 2012-13 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll.
Looking At Marshall
Marshall finished 21-14 overall last season, including 9-7 in Conference USA while advancing to the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Thundering Herd are led by third-year head coach Tom Herrion (43-24), and return three starters among nine letterwinners. Marshall has five newcomers on the team, and is expected to start seniors Robert Goff, Nigel Spikes and Dennis Tinnon, junior DeAndre Kane and sophomore Chris Martin. Goff, Tinnon and?Kane are the returning starters on a team that most preseason magazines have picked to finish among the top three in Conference USA.
Proud New Member Of The Big South Conference
In case you missed it … Longwood University became the newest member of the Big South Conference on July 1, 2012. Conference officials had announced on January 23 that Longwood would become the League's 12th member following a unanimous vote by the Big South Council of Chief Executive Officers. The announcement was made on campus by Big South President and Radford University President Penelope W. Kyle, along with Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander, former Longwood President Patrick Finnegan and Director of Athletics
Troy Austin. The addition of Longwood increases Big South membership to 12 institutions for the first time in League history, and the conference now has four members based in Virginia (Liberty, Longwood, Radford, VMI), as well as four each in North Carolina (Campbell, Gardner-Webb, High Point, UNC Asheville) and South Carolina (Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian, Winthrop). The Lancers had competed as a Division I Independent since 2007.
