After a seven-season absence, Lancer Madness has returned to Longwood University. The event, officially titled “Lancer Madness: The Woods After Dark,” serves as a kickoff to men’s and women’s basketball season at the school and will be held on Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. in Willett Hall. It begins with a free carnival in front of Willett on Brock Commons at 6 p.m.
The project was brought about by the Lancer Lunatics, the student spirit organization that supports Longwood Athletics. With an entirely new coaching staff in place for the men’s team, the Lunatics have worked to ensure the event is a success, according to Executive Board Member and Lancer Madness Co-Chair Nick Conigliaro. He said, “Working with the coaches has been great, too. They have been very helpful with making and planning the event, especially [Head Coach Jayson] Gee and [Assistant Coach Andy] Farrell.
“They just continuously help with the ideas for the event and with the running of the event. They also are going to be getting the basketball players to work with us.”
Posters promoting the event are all over campus already, featuring university mascot Elwood with a jack-o'-lantern for a head. Conigliaro designed the posters. “I had a lot of help from [Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing] Eric Stoller, he got me the Elwood picture to work with, and [Assistant Director of Marketing] Whitney Curtis, who continuously kept giving me tips and pointers on what to fix. Also, [Marketing Assistant] Rebecca Snead helped a lot with fixing the problems.”
Conigliaro went on to call the event the “Greatest Athletics March Ever (G.A.M.E.)” of the basketball season: “We believe that this will make everyone excited to actually be a Lancer and go out to support their basketball teams. It'll help with attendance at games and overall noise, as well.”
Club President Molly Monaghan said, “We are continuously raising the bar as an organization. [Executive Vice President] Matt Tregoning has worked endlessly to organize the event. Nick, who is the newest member of our executive board, has proven to be one of the biggest assets to the board with his work in designing the T-shirts and posters. Our dedication to Longwood pushes the boundaries and together our group and school will continue to thrive.
“As always, the Lancer Lunatics are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a small Division I school; regardless of our size, we have a passion that can match any school.”
The Lunatics last year won the Naismith Foundation’s award for the Big South Conference’s best student section, an award that the organization will seek to defend with events such as these. Events similar to this one took place in the autumns of 2003 and 2005 with a “Meet the Teams Night,” and public Blue/White scrimmage in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Lancer Madness itself was put on hiatus due to communication breakdowns, according to former Head Coach Mike Gillian. With that in mind, Tregoning said this is not the last time the event will be held: “One of the biggest events that we have ever planned will be one of the continuing events that Longwood will have. This will be a great event to showcase our men's and women's basketball teams, and show how crazy we can really get.
“We're pretty stoked especially with a whole new men's basketball team that should do big things. It has been an amazing experience with working with the players. Coach Andy Farrell has worked especially hard with promoting the event for us.”
Some of those promotions include the players and assistant coaches appearing on Beale Plaza on Monday talking to students and encouraging their attendance.
Tregoning said Farrell has been “emailing fraternities and sororities also emailing [other] organizations. Also, he has given insight about poster details and coming to events like Haunted House Late Night.”
The event kicks off one of the most anticipated seasons in program history, with a new staff and recruits in place, led by Gee and freshman guard Leron Fisher. The team went 8-25 in 2012-13 and returns four starters after losing one letter-winner to graduation and five to transfer after the March firing of Gillian.
“The passion that the new coaches bring is infectious,” Tregoning said. The night’s festivities will also involve the women’s team, coached by Bill Reinson, who finished 14-19 and lost in the Big South Championship game. The first 500 students in attendance will receive free T-shirts and there is also going to be a costume contest.
