Longwood University Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. – After leading Longwood to one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I basketball in his first season as the helm, Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year award, which is presented annually to the top first-year head coach in the nation.
 
Aldrich is one of 12 finalists for the award, earning that distinction on the strength of a breakthrough first season with the Lancers (15-17). Longwood recorded the second-most wins of the program's 15-year Division I era, broke the school's single-season three-point record, and tied for the most Big South wins in school history.
 
Under Aldrich, Longwood won eight more games than a season ago, tying for the biggest turnaround of all first-year head coaches at the Division I level. The Lancers went 10-5 in non-conference play, becoming the fastest Longwood team to reach double-digit wins since 2000-01.
 
Aldrich engineered that turnaround in his first year as a head coach at the collegiate level following two seasons as the director of recruiting and program development at UMBC from 2016-18. With the Retrievers, Aldrich was instrumental in assisting his former college teammate and former Joe B. Hall Award winner Ryan Odom (2017) lead UMBC to back-to-back 20-win seasons, the 2018 America East Championship and a historic first-round upset of No. 1 seed Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
 
In his first season at Longwood, Aldrich recruited and developed All-Big South honorable mention point guard Shabooty Phillips. Phillips, who started every game and ranked among the league's top 10 in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and made three-pointers per game, was also named Big South Newcomer of the Year by Three-Man-Weave.com.
 
The Joe B. Hall Award is named in the honor of Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the University of Kentucky. In his first season with the Wildcats, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.
 
From 1972 to 1985 Hall won two-thirds of his games (297-100), received four SEC Coach of the Year honors and a National Championship (1978). Along with the 1978 title, Hall guided Kentucky to a runner-up finish to UCLA in the 1975 NCAA tournament, a Final Four appearance in the 1984 NCAA Tournament and an NIT championship in 1976. He won eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships and one Southeastern Conference tournament championship (1984).
 
Hall is one of only three men to win an NCAA championship as a player (1949, Kentucky) and coach (1978, Kentucky). The only others to achieve that feat are Bob Knight and Dean Smith.
 
The recipient of the 2019 Joe B. Hall award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event in Minneapolis, Minn., site of the 2019 NCAA Final Four.
 
2019 Joe B. Hall Award Finalists
Griff Aldrich, Longwood
Jeremy Ballard, FIU
David Cox, Rhode Island
Darian DeVries, Drake
Penny Hardaway, Memphis
Tavaras Hardy, Loyola
Justin Hutson, Fresno State
Dusty May, FAU
Chris Ogden, UT Arlington
Richie Riley, South Alabama
Sam Scholl, San Diego
Travis Steele, Xavier
 
Joe B. Hall Award Winners
2018: Ryan Ridder, Bethune-Cookman
2017: Ryan Odom, UMBC
2016: Eran Ganot, Hawaii
2015: Chris Jans, Bowling Green
2014: Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin
2013: Jack Perri, LIU Brooklyn
2012: Steve Prohm, Murray State
 
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