Showcasing a new-look staff and added talent, Longwood is set to unveil a new era of men’s basketball.
On Nov. 6, Head Coach Griff Aldrich and his staff will make their season debut in front of their home crowd after a long offseason of recruiting and training. A graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, Aldrich was a part of UMBC’s historic victory over top-seeded Virginia last March, becoming the first 16-seed to knock off a 1-seeded team.
Two weeks later, he made his return to Farmville in style, as it was announced he was named the next Lancers head coach.
Aldrich takes the reigns of a Longwood team who finished 7-26 last season with only three conference wins. In being hired, he was aware of the lack of success, and used the offseason to bolster their roster and implement new styles of play. With the season right around the corner, the team has shown promising signs in the weeks leading up to tip-off.
“They’re hungry for success and they’re hungry to improve,” Aldrich said. “We’ve got some habits that we need to break and improve upon, but the attitude and the effort has generally been very encouraging.”
In taking charge of a team who has seen only 13 wins in the past two years, Aldrich noted a process involved in building the program into a championship-caliber team. Though it may not result in being immediate contenders, he is excited about the direction the team is headed.
“From a process standpoint, that’s what excites me about Longwood and it's something we talked to our guys about continuously,” Aldrich said. “We’re not going to be focused on the results, we’re going to be focused on the route and if we put great effort, focus, and maintain into our standards, then the branch will bear positive.”
This positivity and eagerness Aldrich has shown since joining the staff has given the team a willingness to compete in which redshirt senior guard Isaiah Walton hasn’t seen before.
“I just see a lot of optimistic attitudes; I see a lot of buying-in from the team that I haven’t seen in the past,” Walton said. “It’s a brand new staff and brand new teammates too, so all we can do is really be positive about the future and what the future is going to hold for us.”
Walton served as a key asset to the Lancers offense last season, leading the team in scoring with 15.6 points per game, and finished with a field goal percentage of 42.8 percent, landing him a spot in the Big South top ten. Despite missing six games, Walton scored in double figures a team-leading 22 times.
The Oberlin, Ohio native’s high-percentage shooting is exactly what Aldrich wanted to focus on from the start, as well as working on their three-point shot. He’s worked with the team in practice to look for better, more open shots, as their up-tempo style of play has become a “staple” of their offense.
Forward Damarion Geter, who returns as a graduate student to play out his final year of eligibility, remains a dangerous threat in the paint after a breakout 2017-18 season. He’s joined by senior forward Spencer Franklin, a Texas native, who made the most of his 20.6 minutes per game, being a threat on both the offensive and defensive glass.
In his final season, Franklin has his sights set on reaching new heights. From their work this offseason, he’s seen improvement both mentally and physically, giving him hope for upcoming season.
“We’re more focused on learning new things, so it just brings excitement to this year,” Franklin said. “We’ve been trying to stay level-headed and not get too big and not too low on each other.”
Franklin has been nursing an arm injury he sustained late last season, but says it’s “getting better every day” and has high hopes he’ll be ready for the start of the season.
There’s been a new-found hope entering the season with a brand new staff and talented athletes, in which Walton believes will instill a competitiveness and willingness to reach levels not seen with the Lancers in the past. In less than two weeks, the team will officially tip-off a new era in Willett Hall.
One of three players in their final season, redshirt senior guard Isaiah Walton prepares to lead the Lancers in a redemption year after a 7-26 record last season.
