Longwood Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University eighth-year men’s basketball head coach Mike Gillian has announced the Lancers’ participation in the 2010 iBN Sports|Las Vegas Classic during the upcoming 2010-11 campaign. Longwood will play four games in the exempt tournament, including road games at the University of New Mexico December 17 and the University of Colorado Dec. 19 before two neutral-site contests at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Dec. 22-23. The Lancers will play Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Dec. 22, and either The Citadel or South Carolina State University Dec. 23 in Las Vegas. It will be Longwood’s third appearance in the Las Vegas Classic (2004, 2006), and its fourth overall tournament appearance in Nevada, including the 2008 Las Vegas Invitational. Indiana University and the University of Northern Iowa are also in the Classic’s eight-team field.

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University announced its annual award winners at the 2009-10 Student-Athlete Awards Banquet Monday night in Farmville. The top award winners were redshirt-senior men’s basketball standout Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) and junior softball standout Briana Wells/Romoland, California (Paloma Valley), named the school’s male and female Athletes of the Year, respectively. Smith won the award for the second-straight year. Local junior softball team member Brittany Matthews/Farmville (Prince Edward County) was presented with the school’s Jimmy Yarbrough Inspiration Award.

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Radford University center Art Parakhouski has been selected as Player of the Year, the College of William and Mary head coach Tony Shaver is the Coach of the Year, and Liberty University guard Evan Gordon was picked as the Rookie of the Year in voting by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID) for the 2010 University Division All-State Men's Basketball Team.  Longwood University redshirt-senior Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) was named to the second-team after averaging a team-best 18.2 points along with 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals for the Lancers.

FARMVILLE, Va. -- For the sixth consecutive year, Longwood University men’s basketball head coach Mike Gillian is serving as Richmond Sports Radio 910 AM's NCAA Tournament Analyst on the station's “Mornings with McElroy” hosted by Wes McElroy. Coach Gillian, who has been a weekly guest on the station for the last six college basketball campaigns, begins his breakdown of this year’s Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on March 17, and is continuing March 24 between 7-9 a.m.. In years past, Coach Gillian has arranged for such guests as head coaches Jim Larranaga of George Mason and John Calipari of Kentucky, formerly of Memphis, as well as noted sports author and columnist for The Washington Post John Feinstein.

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University redshirt-senior men’s basketball standout Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) has been named as one of nine finalists nationwide for the prestigious V Foundation Comeback Award for 2010. Smith is a finalist for the second-straight year as he was one of 12 finalists for 2009. The V Foundation for Cancer Research announced the finalists today for the 10th annual award to be presented in conjunction with ESPN as the recipient will be announced March 30 during ESPN’s basketball coverage. He has overcome three serious knee injuries in four years (12.5.07 - left ACL; 11.15.06 - right - two menisci; 11.17.03 / high school - right ACL), while remaining healthy his final two seasons, including averages of 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds this year to lead the Lancers who finished 12-19 for their second-best record as a Division I program following last year’s winning mark of 17-14.