Archives For Men’s Basketball

Longwood Lancers’ Men’s Basketball news and opinions

Tim Jones Commits to Longwood

May 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

Tim Jones is a winning point guard who can contribute at LU.

Via twitter Henrico’s Timmy Jones is expected to join Coach Gee’s squad. Jones is expected to be a preferred walk-on for the Lancers, but his full status is a bit up in the air.

The 5’10 point guard was named the Virginia State AAA Player of the Year this past year for his role leading the Henrico Warriors to a state championship.

Jones averaged 15 points per game for the Warriors this year and orchestrated one of the most up-tempo offenses in the state for the past two years. He has started the last two years for coach Vance Harmon and is a four year member and captain of the team.

He is an up-tempo, defensive guard who can help to add some minutes of pressure of Coach Gee’s defense.

PG SG SF PF C
Lucas Woodhouse TT Carey David Robinson Jeylani Dublin Jeff Havenstein
Leron Fisher Darrion Allen Karl Ziegler Damarion Geter  
Tim Jones   Mark Parker    
Mahlon Jones   Isaac Belton    

Italics = Offered

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Ibby Djimde Update: May 19

May 19, 2013 — 6 Comments

We wrote earlier about Illinois big man Ibby Djimde possibly coming to Longwood, now it seems its becoming more and more of a reality:

Djimde would have two year of eligibility left and would most likely not be able to play until the 2014-15 season.

May 19:

The Illinois Herald-Review has confirmed Djimde’s interest in Longwood:

Illinois has already seen three players transfer since the conclusion of the recent season. Mike Shaw will land at Bradley. Devin Langford will attend Division II Kentucky Wesleyan. Ibby Djimde could be headed to Longwood in Farmville, Va. And we’re still waiting to hear whether Myke Henry will follow them to another school.

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Tim Fudd to Coach Archbishop Carroll

May 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Tim Fudd has landed back in the high school ranks after his six year stint as an assistant at Longwood. Fudd will takeover the boy’s basketball team for Archbishop Carroll in Washington, DC, who plays in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

Carroll’s prior coach, Reggie Williams, resigned in February after disagreements with parents and administration. He inherits a team who loses their two best players and went 3-24 last year and just 1-17 in WCAC play. Before coming to Longwood, Fudd was the head coach at Notre Dame Academy (now Middleburg) for one year.

Fudd had this to say about his new landing spot:

“I look at coaching at Carroll as a unique opportunity in that you get to go up against some of the best competition in the country,” said Fudd who will also serve as the school’s coordinator of student activities. “I know last season was tough, so this program is one that has to be built from the ground up. One of things I see that we’ll immediately have to start doing is getting out in front of some families and convince them that Carroll is a great place to consider. The only way to change is to get the right players in, and those are guys with an academic focus and a strong desire to work hard.” (via Washington Post)

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Lancers Offer Isaac Belton

May 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Longwood has offered forward Isaac Belton today after he visiting campus the last week of April.

Belton is a 6’5 forward from Fork Union Military Academy who is originally from Salem, Virginia. Before coming to FUMA he average he averaged nearly 17 points per game, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in the 2011-12 season at Virginia Episcopal School. Coach Curtis Staples identified Belton as a Division I prospect during his junior year, in which he posted similar numbers.

Belton would be the fourth member to publicly commit to Jayson Gee’s team joining guards Leron Fisher and Darrion Allen, and forward Damarion Geter. He’d be the first in-state recruit for the new coach who has been busy on the recruiting trail after an exodus of players.

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Lancers Offer Mahlon Jones

May 14, 2013 — Leave a comment

Mahlon Jones would add another high energy guard to Jayson Gee’s arsenal.

Another offer has gone out to another guard this time to 6’0 point guard Mahlon Jones. Jones is currently a sophomore at Hesston College in Kansas, who plays among the junior college ranks.

This past year Jones appeared in 32 games for the Larks starting in 15. He averaged 19 points per game and over 4 assists this past year. Jones averaged over 26 points per game his freshman year on the junior college level.

James was named a third-team National Junior College Athletic Association Division II All-American for his efforts this past season.

Jones is originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and would be the second point guard nabbed by Jayson Gee this year, joining fellow junior college prospect Leron Fisher.

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Ricky Yahn Leaves Longwood

May 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

Ricky Yahn was the lone assistant retained by Jayson Gee when he took over as head coach of the Lancers, but it looks like now that the two will never get a chance to coach together. Yahn has accepted the head coaching position at Concordia College.

Concordia is in Ann Arbor Michigan and is a NAIA school. The 28 year old Yahn will be taking over a 14-17 team coached by Matt Distelrath. Distelrath is no longer the head coach after just one season.

Regarding Longwood’s staff, DePaul’s Andy Farrell is still thought to be a front runner for a position on Gee’s staff along with Virginia Tech legend Ace Custis.

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Nik Brown, Frank Holloway Leave Program

May 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

Nik Brown was supposed to be the gem of Mike Gillian’s 2012 class.

This should surprise no one but Nik Brown has left the program after one year at Longwood. As we reported before, Frank Holloway has also officially left the Lancers.  The 2013-14 returnee roster is now up on the official Longwood website and both Holloway and Brown are absent.

Nik Brown came in as Mike Gillian’s most highly touted recruit a year ago but had a tumultuous year to say the very least. After joying the squad midway through the 2011-12 season and red-shirting, Brown started 18 games in 2012-13. He averaged 9 points per game in 26 minutes, but had a 62 assists to 67 turnovers. In the midst of starting, Brown struggled to run the point leading the Big South Conference in turnovers. During the first match up with Radford in January Brown was injured and would not play the rest of the season. It was never announced what was wrong with Brown officially but it was on various outlets that he suffered from a concussion, then vertigo, then a leg injury.

Holloway leaves the program after only appearing in two games, as his season was riddled by a shoulder injury.

Here is the current, updated depth chart:

PG SG SF PF C
Lucas Woodhouse TT Carey David Robinson Jeylani Dublin Jeff Havenstein
Leron Fisher Darrion Allen Karl Ziegler Damarion Geter
  Mark Parker
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Lancers Interested in a Slew of Transfers

May 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

Tulsa’s Zeldric King would add some power in the paint for the Lancers.

We mentioned last month that Illinois big man Ibby Djimde was on campus for a visit. Djimde has still not made a decision in regards to where he will play next, but that has not kept Coach Gee from being interested in a couple of other transfer big men.

Longwood has expressed interest in Tulane transfer Lotanna Nwogbo and Tulsa transfer Zeldric King. Also, VCU big man Justin Tuoyo announced he was transferring yesterday and Longwood is expected to knock on his door.

Nwogbo is a 6’8 forward/center from Georgia who saw his playing time drop with the Green Wave this past year. In his freshman campaign he averaged 7.3 minutes and 2.6 points per game. This past year’s his minutes dropped to 4.2 per game and his points dropped to 1.1. He’s looking to spend his last two years of eligibility at a spot where he could garner more playing time.

Zeldric King has three years of eligibility left after finishing his freshman year at Tulsa. King is a bruiser at 6’7, 265 lbs and was recruited by Tulsa’s previous coach Doug Wojcik and didn’t fit in Danny Manning’s scheme. He appeared in 21 games averaging 16 minutes, 4 points, and 2 rebounds per game. He missed the final twelve games of the year with a leg injury. He could find his way to College of Charleston where Wojcik currently is.

Former VCU Ram Justin Tuoyo is a 6’9 athletic big who appeared in 26 games for the Rams, averaging over 7 minutes. He averaged just over one point and one rebound per game, but comes from an up-tempo system that will likely translate to Longwood well. He may look to move closer to home, Georgia, but if he’s looking for playing time then Longwood could be an appealing place for him.

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Lancers Offer Winston Grays

May 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

Winston Grays could become a perimeter threat for the Lancers.

The onslaught of guards continues for Longwood as Coach Gee has offered a scholarship to 6’3 shooting guard Winston Grays.

Grays spent the last year playing for Cincinnati State who plays in the NJCAA as a Junior College. At Cincinnati State Grays started 23 games (appeared in 29) averaging over 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. He also shot 42 percent from behind the arch and was noted as the best three point shooter in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference.

Although Grays is listed as a shooting guard, he is a bit of a combo guard and can play the point if need be. He is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and played for Benedictine High School where he earned the moniker “The Marksman”.

Grays would be an addition to the Class of 2014 and would have two years of eligibility.

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Kessens Headed to Alabama

May 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

Michael Kessens announced on Twitter earlier this week that he would be transferring away from Longwood after one year in Farmville. It didn’t take Kessens long to find a new home:

Alabama is coached by former VCU head coach Anthony Grant, so Kessens will be playing in an uptempo scheme featuring a press defense. The Swiss native will not be able to play for the Crimson Tide until the 2014-15 season.

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