2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Schedule | Big South Weekly Report (PDF)
FARMVILLE, Va. -- It's an old and often-used sports cliché … but it really is true to the Longwood University men's basketball team and 10th-year head coach Mike Gillian this year: 'It's a whole new game.' After five years playing as an NCAA Division I Independent, in its first five years as a Division I program nonetheless, the Lancers will play this season as the newest member of the Big South Conference. In addition, Longwood must replace four starters, including the school's career scoring leader in
Antwan Carter (1,886 points), while returning only seven lettermen. Excluding returning junior starter
Tristan Carey, only two others have ever made starts for the Lancers, as Coach Gillian must find a way to blend his other six returners and the six newcomers into productive roles this season.
“It's tough to avoid stating the obvious in this case, but we are all beyond ecstatic to be joining the Big South at this time,” said Gillian. “Along the journey we have done all of the things necessary to build a program that deserves to be in a league that would represent itself well in that league when the time came and that will be able to succeed in league play. Now we have the opportunity to do just that, and we couldn't be more pleased to call the Big South our home.”
Longwood finished 10-21 last season, including 7-5 at home in Willett Hall where the program is 46-19 over the last five years. The Lancers are 60-95 overall during that same five-year span, for an average of 12 wins per season, including a Division I-best 17-14 record during 2008-09 when also a DI-best 13-2 at home. Those teams had no post-season opportunity to play for each year, and played 90 games away from Farmville for an average of 18 road or neutral-site contests annually. That all changes this season with a 16-game Big South schedule, including eight conference home games during January and February, and all league members will participate in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Basketball Championships March 5-10, 2013 in Conway, South Carolina.
“It will be kind of unique for us to be on a 'normal' schedule once we move into January and February,” said Gillian. “In the past, we've tried to put the schedule together to accomplish a wide variety of things, a main one being what conference play inherently brings, playing your league opponents every Wednesday and Saturday. One thing we are counting on being no different is the home court advantage we have built here in Willett Hall over the past five years or so. This is a tremendous atmosphere for college basketball … our fans, especially our students, who turn out in force for the games are awesome. Teams around the Big South are going to learn pretty quickly that this is a tough place to play.”
The lone returning starter is Carey, a 6-4, 185-pound guard. He started 27 of 31 games a year ago, averaging 13.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 44% (161-367) from the field, 35% (55-156) on three-point field goals and 66% (39-59) at the free throw line. Carey scored a team-best and season-high 30 points against VMI (12.12), had season highs of 11 rebounds and nine assists against Virginia-Wise (2.22), a team-best and season-high five steals against Seattle (2.11) and season highs of six three-pointers against both VMI (12.12) and Vanderbilt (12.19). He posted 20 double-figure scoring games, including one 30-point game and five 20-point games, with three double-doubles.
“We feel like we have quality depth on this year's roster, but we are certainly going to rely on our returning players for leadership, as they are the ones who understand what competing at this level of college basketball is all about,” said Gillian. “The primary two players we'll look to in this capacity are
Tristan Carey and
David Robinson. Both of these guys are multi-dimensional, talented players, and have proven to be dedicated to how we want the Longwood basketball program to operate. It certainly will be important for them to perform at a high level, but more important to the long term success of our team will be just how they go about doing it.”
The other two returners with experience starting include
David Robinson, a 6-4, 190-pound junior guard and
Anthony Taylor, a 6-2, 210-pound redshirt-sophomore guard.
Robinson started two of 24 games, averaging 7.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 41% (53-131) from the field, 40% (28-72) on three-pointers and 81% (50-62) at the line. He scored a career-high 20 points against Southern Virginia (2.2), had a career-high five assists against Seattle (2.11) and tied a career high with four three-pointers against NJIT (1.7).
Taylor started seven of 22 games, averaging 3.3 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 36% (25-70) from the field, 33% (3-9) on three-pointers and 66% (19-29) at the line. He had season highs of 10 points, five rebounds and seven assists against Washington Adventist (2.15).
The other returning lettermen include:
Mark Parker, a 6-7, 214-pound junior guard/forward;
Jeff Havenstein, a 6-8, 225-pound junior forward;
Jeylani Dublin, a 6-6, 225-pound redshirt-sophomore; and
Stephen Shockley, a 6-0, 185-pound senior guard.
Parker played in 13 games, averaging 4.0 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists while shooting 46% (17-37) from the field, 48% (14-29) on three-pointers and 67% (4-6) at the line. He had season highs of 10 points against Nevada (11.22) and three three-pointers against Prairie View A&M (11.25) in Chicago, though he missed the final 17 games of the season with an injury.
Havenstein played in 28 games, averaging 1.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists while shooting 34% (11-32) from the field and 47% (7-15) at the line. He had career highs of eight points and eight rebounds against Virginia-Wise (2.22), and also grabbed eight rebounds against UMKC (11.26) in Chicago.
Dublin played in four games, averaging 1.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.0 assists while shooting 43% (3-7) from the field and 50% (1-2) at the line. He tied his career high with four points against UMKC (11.26) in Chicago, but missed the final 22 games of the season with an injury and received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA.
Shockley played in 20 games, averaging 1.3 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists while shooting 33% (6-18) from the field, 43% (6-14) on three-pointers and 70% (7-10) at the line. He had a season-high seven points against Seattle (2.29), tied his career highs with three rebounds against Virginia-Wise (2.22), three assists against both North Dakota (2.18) and Gonzaga (2.27), and two steals against Gonzaga, along with a season-high two three-pointers against Virginia-Wise (2.22).
“We are very excited about the group of new players that are joining the program this year,” said Gillian. “They are coming to Longwood at a great time, and with an unbelievable opportunity right in front of them, as we join the Big South. The things we like most about the group are that they all come from successful playing backgrounds, they are all hard working and love the game and they have proven in a short period of time to be selfless about their approach to the game. These guys are fun to watch, and we expect them to be fun to coach, too.
The newcomers to the program include:
Frank Holloway, a 6-6, 250-pound sophomore forward;
Nik Brown, a 6-3, 200-pound freshman guard;
Michael Kessens, a 6-9, 205-pound freshman forward;
Kirk Staine, a 6-6, 175-pound freshman forward;
Lucas Woodhouse, a 6-1, 155-pound freshman guard; and
Karl Ziegler, a 6-6, 205-pound freshman forward.
Holloway is a transfer from Garrett (Md.) College where he missed last season with an injury. Two years ago, he played in 16 games and averaged 13.8 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 57% (92-162) from the field and 72% (34-47) at the line. Holloway was an All-Region, All-District and Team MVP selection as a senior at Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, averaging 25.1 points and 15.2 rebounds. He played in the Capital Classic All-Star Game and was a Reebok All-American.
Brown enrolled at Longwood for the spring semester 2012 and practiced with the team from mid-season a year ago. He was named Virginia Independent Schools (VIS) Division II All-State First Team as a senior at Middleburg Academy in Middleburg, averaging 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 3.2 steals. Brown led his team to a 26-5 record and a runner-up finish in the VIS Division II State Championship, averaging 22.3 points in the state tournament while earning All-Tournament Team honors.
Kessens led Lycee Europe Robert Schumann in Cholet, France to a French High School Championship as a senior, and was a team member of the French U21 Champions in both 2009 and 2010.
Staine was named All-Long Island as a senior at Baldwin High School in New York, averaging 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. He helped his team to a 19-3 record and the Long Island Class AA Championship while advancing to the New York Class AA State Semifinals, earning All-Tournament Team honors.
Woodhouse was named All-State First Team, All-Long Island, All-County, All-Conference and All-League as a senior at Harborfields High School in New York, averaging 16.0 points and 13.0 assists (best on Long Island). He led his team to a 23-3 record and the Long Island Class A Championship, as well as the New York Class A State Championship, earning State Tournament MVP honors, MSG Varsity All-Metro Team, Newsday Long Island Player of the Year and Suffolk County (N.Y.) Player of the Year accolades.
Ziegler played a post-graduate season at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro last season after being named to the Virginia Group AAA All-State Second Team and the Patriot District Player of the Year as a senior at Annandale High School in Annandale, averaging 18.9 points and 8.7 rebounds. He played in the 2011 Virginia High School Coaches Association All-Star Game after leading Annandale to a 20-9 record while advancing to the State Tournament, earning Washington, D.C. All-Metropolitan Honorable Mention and Northern Virginia All-Region First Team honors.
Coach Gillian is enjoying his 10th year at Longwood during 2012-13, and in doing so, becomes the longest-tenured head coach in the 36-year history of the men's basketball program. Former head coaches Cal Luther (1981-90) and Ron Carr (1990-99) each coached the Lancers for nine years. Doug Thibault (10th year), Tim Fudd (sixth year) and Ricky Yahn (second year) will again assist Coach Gillian this year.
It's the dream of every college student-athlete and coach to participate in the NCAA Tournament. Until this year, that has not been a truly realistic dream for Longwood student-athletes and coaches to experience. With Big South Conference membership, the opportunity to participate in the NCAA Tournament is a reality and all Lancers can now dream that dream.
“The fantastic opportunity that is college basketball is right here in front of us now,” said Gillian. “We have worked to be ready. We have a group of talented players, who are high character people. We're looking forward to all the challenges of playing in the Big South, and especially the Big South Tournament. Here at Longwood, we are going to 'Honor the Privilege' of having these opportunities by showing pride, dignity, sportsmanship and competitive spirit in our pursuit of building a championship basketball program.”
It really is … a whole new game.
Longwood will open 2012-13 on the road at Marshall University of Conference USA on Friday night, November 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Huntington, West Virginia. The Lancers return to Farmville for their home opener against Norfolk State University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Thursday night, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. in Willett Hall. It will be a 'White-Out' promotion for the game against the Spartans who advanced to the third round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
