As a historic 2012-13 year for the
Longwood athletics winds down,
Troy Austin lamented on the year in
Longwood sports on Tuesday.
The traditional G.A.M.E. (Greatest
Athletics March Ever) was held on Aug.
19, as the Lancer women’s soccer team
fell 3-0 to Virginia Commonwealth. In
the pregame festivities in Willett Hall,
a record crowd was on hand to receive
the 2012 argyle-patterned scarf and
listen to the first live playing of “Hail to
Longwood U.”
Austin said, “It was fantastic. We
upped the ante a little bit; I like how
each year we’ve introduced new things.
The first year actually introduced the
scarves and the march itself. The second
year we had the mascot, and this year
we had the fight song. It makes it
tougher and tougher to top each year,
but that’s a good thing.”
Austin said that they have “been
kicking around a few different ideas” for
this year, but with no games currently
scheduled for Sunday of New Lancer
Days, it’s all up in the air. “I think we
still want to maintain the continuity of
the march, and the Office of First Year
Experience is working through some
ideas that I think will be good for us.” It
is important to note that while there are
no games slated for that time period, no
schedules have been finalized prior to
their anticipated June release.
The women’s soccer team went on a
magical run in their first season in the
Big South, taking a penalty-kick win
in the quarterfinal of the conference
tournament over Liberty on Oct. 27 in
Farmville before falling to Radford in
the semifinal Nov. 2.
“I think it set the tone for the year
and those teams who were in a
better position to make runs in their
tournaments and it inspired those
teams who may be younger … I’m
happy for the seniors, particularly, in
those situations. Women’s soccer had a
great group of seniors.”
Around that time, longtime baseball
coach Buddy Bolding announced
his retirement, effective at the end of
this season. Austin came on board as
interim Athletics Director in 2006 after
a year as director of development for
intercollegiate athletics at Longwood.
He says that Bolding’s numbers “are
self-evident. What I keep coming back
to is what he’s done for me as a person
and the type of support he’s shown
me as a person and what I’ve done in
my maturation as a collegiate athletic
director. He’s been extremely loyal from
day one and been … a great mentor to
me.
“I’m going to miss seeing him around
here regularly and miss hearing him
bellow through the halls, as everybody
else will. On the other hand, I’m excited
for him, Andrea, his wife, [and] his kids.
They sacrifice a lot so he can spend
time with Longwood.” Austin also
remarked that Bolding assisted him in
his transition to Director of Athletics,
considering that the coach himself
served as interim AD from 1989-90.
In March, the men’s and women’s
basketball teams traveled to Coastal
Carolina University to play in the Big
South Tournament. Few could have
imagined what would transpire over
those six days.
In the first round, the men shocked the
Big South world by beating two-time
defending champions UNC-Asheville,
87-72.
Two days later, the Lancers were
unable to make the magic happen in
the season’s third try against VMI,
losing 90-86 in the quarterfinal. The
women, however, beat Charleston
Southern, Winthrop and Radford in
succession before falling 10 points short
of a title, losing to Liberty 54-45 in the
championship game.
“[We made a statement] with women’s
basketball making that run and some
of the singular performances of men’s
basketball. Those are our two highestprofile sports. A part of the reason
we went Division I was to gain more
positive awareness about Longwood.
[Monday], Bill Reinson was honored
by the Richmond Times-Dispatch along
with Shaka Smart, the most high-profile
coach in the state. It’s those types
of moments that help build positive
awareness of Longwood. That’s what
those types of achievements can do.
“The flip side of that is we can’t get
too excited because what it’s also done
for Longwood athletics is it’s put us in
the cross-hairs of our opponents. I don’t
know what every school thought of us
going in, but I imagine they weren’t too
concerned with us being competitive in
a number of sports. That will no longer
happen.”
On the morning of March 14, it was
formally announced that Mike Gillian
was no longer with the men’s basketball
team after 10 years as head coach and
an 8-25 record in 2012-13.
Austin continues to not comment
on whether Gillian was actually fired,
saying, “I know there’s been some time
to think about it and how it may have
developed, but my response hasn’t
changed much because it is a personnel
thing. I have monthly discussions with
the head coaches, so we continually talk
… I don’t go into that publicly.”
Gillian’s replacement, Jayson Gee,
has been warmly welcomed by the
Longwood community, with Austin
saying, “He’s excited the Lancer Nation.
I’m happy to see, but still taken aback
by, the amount of energy he approaches
this thing with.
“He was sitting in my office [Monday],
and it was 9:30 at night and we were
talking about some things. Now, I was
worn out. This is just after the awards
banquet, and he lifted my spirits … that
positive energy he brings is uplifting for
our department.”
With spring sports wrapping up, the
softball, baseball and lacrosse teams are
poised to begin runs of their own in the
Big South Tournament, and “we have
some girls who are playing well, as well
as some guys.” Austin said.
In summary, Austin said, “Truth be
told, this was the most physically and
mentally exhausting year I’ve had, and
I think for our staff as well. There was so
much built up for this year and so much
in learning how to play in this league
… you really get your wheels spinning
early and then you’ve got a long year to
go. We did a lot.
“I’m really proud of the staff and the
coaches because we did a lot of good
things.”
