Longwood University Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood basketball reached new heights in 2018-19. Now thanks to the largest gift in Longwood University's 180-year history, the Lancers will continue to climb for years to come.
 
With a $15 million gift from philanthropist Joan Brock '64, Longwood announced Wednesday plans to build a new university convocation center that includes the new home of Longwood men's and women's basketball. The Joan Perry Brock Center will be located along Brock Commons near Willett Hall, the current home of the Lancers, with a projected opening by the spring of 2022.
  Brock's $15 million gift is the largest in history for Longwood University and ushers both Longwood basketball programs into the next phase of their Division I growth while also spearheading the construction of a venue with immeasurable potential for the university and Farmville community. The facility will be designed in Longwood's traditional architectural style and will serve as a host for speakers, concerts and shows in addition to Longwood basketball games.
 
Planning is only just underway, but early design schemes for the Joan Perry Brock Center show a planned basketball capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 seats, increasing the Lancers' current capacity of 1,807 in Willett Hall but purposefully maintaining the intimate feel and energy of Longwood's current home.
 
"The Joan Perry Brock Center will be a jewel in the crown of Brock Commons, and it means the world that Longwood students will walking to these great university events, concerts and basketball games right in the very heart of campus," said President W. Taylor Reveley IV.  "This building will have real character, inside and out."
 
At its planned opening in 2022, the Joan Perry Brock Center will elevate Longwood into the top tier of its peer basketball venues in the Big South, joining 2019 Big South regular season Campbell and 2018 champion UNC Asheville with the newest arenas in the conference. The Brock Center will be the Big South's first newly constructed arena since UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena opened in 2011 and High Point's Quebein Arena, which is scheduled to open in 2021.

"We could not be more excited about the Joan Perry Brock Center and the new future home of Longwood basketball," men's basketball head coach Griff Aldrich said. "The 'JPB' is certainly a game-changer for our program as it will provide Longwood with a state-of- the-art venue in which to play basketball games. This new facility significantly elevates our program as it allows us to provide our student-athletes and fans with a premier arena in which to compete. We are so grateful to Mrs. Brock for her generosity, which will impact not only our basketball program and Longwood University, but also our broader community."

"So many people are drawn to Longwood because of both the sense of community and the steadfast commitment to grow this university," women's basketball head coach Rebecca Tillett said. "Joan Brock's generous gift will impact generations of students. In addition it will elevate every aspect of our women's basketball program, including immediately aiding our efforts to attract high-quality student-athletes. It will also positively influence and empower every woman who chooses this program."

"Joan Brock once said, 'You just give back. It's the American way,'" Tillett continued. "Generously giving to Longwood is certainly the 'Brock Way,' and our program will be forever grateful."
 
The news follows a breakthrough 2018-19 season for the Longwood men's program under Aldrich, during which the Lancers won the second most games of the Division I era and earned a bid to the College Basketball Invitational, the first postseason tournament in the school's D-I history. Meanwhile, the Longwood women also turned the page to a new chapter under Tillett, who this year turned junior Dayna Rouse into an All-Big South forward and has assembled a foundation-building recruiting class in her first full recruiting cycle.
 
"This is truly a transformative day for Longwood University, Longwood athletics and the future of our men's and women's basketball programs," said Interim Athletics Director Michelle Meadows. "The Joan Perry Brock Center takes us to a championship level in our ability to recruit and compete, while providing our students, fans and community a venue they can be proud of and a place to share and display their collective Longwood spirit for years to come. We wish to extend our deepest thanks to Mrs. Brock for her belief and investment in Longwood's future."
 
The Brock Center will take the mantle of Longwood's home court from Willett Hall, which has played host to nearly 1,000 Longwood basketball games since it first opened in 1980. The historic arena is in its fourth decade as Longwood's home, during which it has been the backdrop for eight NCAA Tournament teams, nearly 600 wins and the 2016 Vice Presidential Debate. Willett Hall's historic resume continued into the 2018-19 season as well when the men's team's defeated Southern Miss 90-68 in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational, securing the program's first postseason win of the Division I era in the final home game of the year.
 
The name of the Jerome Kersey Court, dedicated in December of 2016 in honor of the late NBA star and Longwood's most accomplished basketball alumnus, will transfer to the Brock Center.
 
"Willett Hall has been a fantastic home to our basketball programs for four decades now, and there is a palpable history within its walls," Meadows said. "It will continue to serve as our basketball home for the next several years while the Brock Center is constructed, and it will undoubtedly play host to many more historic moments.
 
"However, what has made Willett Hall such a special place over the years is the energy created by our teams and the environment sustained by our students, fans and the Longwood and Farmville communities. We have long been fortunate to have such a dedicated local fanbase, and the Joan Perry Brock Center will be just as much a boon to our fans and gameday atmosphere as it will be to our student-athletes, athletics programs and Longwood as a whole."
 
Along with Longwood's home court, the convocation center will also be designed as a future site to host major events in the Central Virginia region, including a possible future opportunity to host another national general election debate. Also part of the project will be the migration of the Longwood tennis courts to a new facility that will be constructed on the south end of campus.
 
Brock's $15 million gift toward the convocation center is the latest act in a decades-long philanthropic relationship that dates back to before the opening of Willett Hall. She and her late husband Macon are the namesakes and benefactors of numerous hallmarks of Longwood University, including Brock Commons and The Brock Experience.

That unifying potential of the Joan Perry Brock Center, to which Longwood basketball will contribute significantly, was the impetus of Brock's gift and will be at the heart of the project as it enters the design phase.
 
Now within the next half decade, the Joan Brock Center will proudly overlook Brock Commons, bringing Longwood students and faculty, fans and members of the Farmville community and beyond together to share in a common bond of Longwood spirit.
 
 
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