Archives For Big South

Weekend Round-Up: March 24

March 24, 2013 — Leave a comment

Baseball (11-12,3-3): It was a rough week on the diamond for Buddy Bolding’s squad losing on the road at William & Mary and then winning just one game in a three game set against VMI. Things won’t get any easier in conference play for the Lancers next week. Longwood heads up 460 to take on their rival Liberty who is currently 15-9 and 4-2 in the Big South.
Next Week: 3/26 at NC Central (DH), 3/29-30 at Liberty (3 games)

Softball (22-10,8-4): Softball got their first taste of adversity in the conference this week getting swept by preseason favorite Coastal Carolina at home. Kathy Riley’s squad responded nicely though, sweeping Gardner-Webb to move to 8-4 in conference play. It’ll be a slow week on the softball field as their only game is in-state rival Radford coming to Wednesday for a Big South clash.
Next Week: 3/27 vs Radford

Lacrosse (6-3,2-1): It was an up and down week on the Lacrosse field. Longwood took down in-state rival ODU on the road 17-11. The Lancers then dropped their first Big South game of the year at Davidson 17-7 to move to 2-1 in conference play. Things get tough this week as LU heads to play preseason Big South favorite High Point.
Next Week: 3/27 at High Point, 3/30 vs William & Mary

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Stony Brook Leaves Big South Football

August 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

Stony Brook University has decided to leave it’s affiliation with the Big South in football to join the Colonial Athletic Association. Commissioner Kyle Kallander has just issued a statement:

“When the Big South brought in Stony Brook as an associate member in football, it was understood that it was not a permanent relationship.  It makes sense that they are interested in a better geographic conference fit.  Stony Brook has been a terrific football member and we valued their competitive contributions and the friendships that have developed.  We also believe the Big South has been very good for Stony Brook.

“The Big South is confident about its football future and will continue to actively work to enhance our current programs and expand our membership.”

So what does this have to do with Longwood? Well this move leaves the Big South with six football teams in on the edge of losing their FCS Playoffs automatic qualifier. Liberty is waving their wallet in hopes of a WAC or Sun Belt bid, and if they are finally successful it could mean expansion for the Big South. There is also the chance that Coastal Carolina could receive a Southern Conference or CAA bid.

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What VCU’s Move Means for the Big South

May 17, 2012 — Leave a comment

VCU is moving on to greener pastures in the Atlantic 10 Conference (or at least they like to think they are) and with that movement other dominoes will continue to fall throughout the college landscape. VCU is not the only school to be leaving the Colonial Athletic Association, Georgia State is set to join the Sun Belt Conference and play FBS football and Old Dominion will announce today that they are also moving to a FBS conference by transitioning into a member of Conference USA. These moves leave the CAA with nine all-sport members and eight football members (Rhode Island will move to the NEC in 2013 for football).

So how will the CAA replace its losses at this point? The first calls will likely be to Coastal Carolina and Stony Brook (a Big South football member). Getting both of those schools will help the CAA to sustain its football product that is the best on the FCS level. Both schools are also improving their athletics across the board and Coastal is set to open a 3,600 seat basketball facility this year. On Monday Liberty officially announced their aspirations to play FBS football but they are having trouble finding a home in the Sun Belt, Conference USA, or MAC conferences. If all three schools bolt the Big South then the league is left with only four football members and ten all-sport members. The CAA can also look to the Southern Conference and bring in non-football schools Davidson and Charleston (Davidson does play non-scholarship football in the Pioneer League).

Seemingly the Southern Conference has been immune to conference realignment at this point, but what happens when it comes knocking on their door? Would the four Big South football schools be content in playing in a extremely small, non-auto bid conference or would they look to the Southern Conference or Patriot League? How will the Big South fight back? Will they try to replace their losses and continue football with schools like Kennesaw State, Delaware State, or even North Alabama? Or do they reach beyond football and re-stabilize by poaching an Atlantic Sun school like East Tennessee State or USC Upstate?

The future is not clear right now, but it will be interesting to see how things shake out. Commissioner Kallendar has his work cut out for him and hopefully basketball is stabilized in the Big South to a point where the SoCon will not steal teams away.

Other Articles

Charleston Post & Courier

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Where should the 2013 Big South Tournament be?

February 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

The Big South has opened up a bidding process for the 2013 basketball conference tournament until April 15. But the real question is, where should the tournament be? Both schools and neutral sites are allowed to bid and it’ll be interesting see who wins.  Here is a list of some potential candidates.

Roanoke/Salem Area: The Roanoke Civic was last neutral site to hold the tournament in 2002. Roanoke is obviously in close proximity to VMI, Liberty, Longwood, and Radford but the facility is a dump. Built in 1969 the Civic Center can hold about 9,000 basketball fans. The Salem Civic Center is also dated but is a little nicer, and can hold about 6,000-7,000 fans. The facility currently host the ODAC tournament and the NCAA D3 Championship.

Raleigh/Durham Area: The “research triangle” region of North Carolina would be ideal for the tournament. The event could take place at an ACC venue like the RBC Center or Lawrence Joel Veterans Coliseum. Both hold over 10,000 people. The only downside is due to ACC play the tournament would have to be pushed back a week, which is not ideal for several reason.

Myrtle Beach Convention Center: The last time the CAA put their tournament up for bid Myrtle Beach was heavily involved. The location is really only convenient for Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern, but hey… are you really going to complain about a March trip to Myrtle Beach? The Convention Center can hold 8,000 fans, which is the ideal size for this tournament. More fans from across the conference may be willing to travel to an area like Myrtle Beach also.

North Charleston Coliseum: The 11,500 seat arena hosted the tournament in the early 90s. Its a decent facility and could be another “vacation” draw, but Charleston is obviously at the end of the Big South geographic spectrum.

Charlotte Area: Either the Time Warner Center or the old Coliseum could be nice venues for the tournament.

Asheville: Asheville is hosting the Southern Conference tournament this year with both the 7,500 seat Civic Center and the brand new 3,400 seat Kimmel Center on the campus of UNCA.

BI-LO Center: The 15,000 seat facility in Greenville, SC could be a hidden gem to host the Big South tourney. The arena is probably more updated than some of the alternative locations.

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Getting to Know the Big South: Liberty

February 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

Location: Lynchburg, VA
Distance from Farmville: 50 miles, 1 hour
Established: 1971
Students: 13,400 (65,000+ online)
Type: Private/Baptist
Nickname: Flames
Big South Member Since: 1991
Athletics Website: www.libertyflames.com
Fan Website: www.flamefans.com

Just down 460 from Farmville is Liberty University. The Flames sponsor 18 NCAA sports hand have been a member of the Big South for over twenty years now. Liberty sports the largest budget out of any Big South school and has success in various sports. They have had two NCAA national champions in individual cross-country the past couple of years. The men’s basketball program has been to the NCAA tournament twice, most recently in 2004 losing to Saint Joseph’s. The women’s team has also found success going to the Sweet 16 in 2005. The baseball team has also appeared in the NCAA tournament twice (’98, ’00). Currently they have found success with an improving baseball program and in men’s golf.

The Liberty-Longwood Big South rivalry may be very short lived though. The school has their sights set on FBS football and will look to join the Sun Belt Conference, Conference USA, or maybe find a home somewhere else.

Facilities

Vines Center: By far the largest arena in the Big South the 22 year old arena hold just over 8,000 people. The building is a bit dated but added new seating a couple years ago and recently just added a center hung scoreboard.

Worthington Stadium: The stadium has been renovated substantially in recent years and is among one of the finest in the Big South. It holds over 3,000 people for baseball games.

Softball Facility: The Softball field is pretty standard and has room for 500 spectators.

Osborne Stadium: A unique stadium where a concourse is essentially shared with the beautiful football facility, Williams Stadium. Osborne is a really nice stadium with a capacity of 1,000 for Flames softball and lacrosse.

History with Longwood

The Lancers and Flames have been going at it since the days of Jerome Kersey. The men’s basketball team has a 17-8 advantage over the Flames and Liberty is 0-8 all-time at Willett Hall. Since turning D1 Longwood is 15-12-4 across all sports.

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Getting to Know the Big South: VMI

February 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

Location: Lexington, VA
Distance from Farmville: 90 miles, 1 hour 45 minute drive
Established: 1839
Students: 1,500
Type: Public
Nickname: Keydets
Big South Member Since: 2003
Athletics Website: http://www.vmikeydets.com/
Fan Website: http://vmisports.proboards.com/index.cgi?

If you head straight down route 60 then you’re going to run right into Virginia Military Institute, both Lancers’ fans and athletes are about to get very familiar with this drive. VMI joined the Big South in 2003 after leaving the Southern Conference, despite being a member for nearly 80 years. VMI’s most success has come in basketball, in the late seventies they made it to the “elite eight”, then made it to the “sweet sixteen” the following year. VMI has not since won a conference championship of any sort. There best chance came just a couple of years ago when the Keydets were lead by Reggie Williams, who is now a member of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Baseball has been around at VMI since 1866, but amazingly the Keydets have never won a conference championship of any sort. Beyond basketball, baseball, soccer, and cross-country the Keydets sponsor many sports that Longwood does not.

Facilities

Cameron Hall: Cameron Hall has been the home of the Keydets basketball team since 1981. The 5,800 seat facility is one of the most unique atmospheres for a big game in the Big South. It is the third largest arena in the Big South.

Gray-Minor Stadium: VMI has one of the nicest baseball facilities in the Big South. Gray-Minor Stadium was opened in 2007 and holds over 1,400 fans.

Patchin Field: The Keydet soccer complex is about as standard as it gets.

History with Longwood

The Keydets and Lancers faced off in men’s basketball in Willett Hall earlier this year. The Lancers took the game winning 110-89, behind 30 points from sophomore Tristan Carey. The all-time record in basketball is 302 in favor of the Keydets, thus far. The two schools have also squared off in baseball quite a bit, last year the Keydets took the season series winning in Farmville and in Lexington. This fall the men’s soccer team defeated VMI 4-0 in Lexington.

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Getting to Know the Big South: Radford

February 3, 2012 — Leave a comment

Location: Radford, VA
Distance from Farmville: 150 miles, 2 hours 25 minutes
Established: 1910
Students: 8,900
Type: Public
Nickname: Highlanders
Big South Member Since: 1983
Athletics Website:  http://www.ruhighlanders.com/
Fan Website: http://ruhoops.proboards.com/index.cgi

We’ve profiled all of the Big South schools south of Virginia, so today we turn to the home state. Out of the three other Big South schools in Virginia, Radford is the farthest away. Radford is also the only Big South school in Virginia who is a charter member of the conference. When it was announced a couple weeks ago that Longwood would joining the Big South the LancersBlog community voted that the Highlanders would be the Lancers’ top rival in the Big South Conference. Radford sponsor 19 NCAA sports but has yet to find sustained success in the Big South. The Highlanders have won two men’s basketball titles (’98, ’09), three men’s tennis titles (’07-09), and a softball championship in 2009. The men’s soccer team has also had some success, winning the Big South four times and going to the NCAA tournament six times. The Highlanders’ most famous athletic alumni is Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer.

Facilities

Dedmon Center: The 3,200 seat arena was built in 1981. It still has wooden bleachers on the visitors side, so bring a seat cushion Lancers fans.

Cupp Stadium: Built in 2003 the 5,000 seat stadium is one of the Big South’s finest.

Baseball/Softball Stadiums: Pretty standard facilities for both. The baseball stadium holds 700 people.

History with Longwood

For being so close the two schools actually haven’t met too often since the Lancers’ D1 transition. In basketball Radford visited for the home opener in 2004 and had a ten point win. The last time the two met in baseball was in 2010, a 9-6 win for the Lancers. Longwood owns the all-time baseball series lead at 11-7. In softball the both teams have split double-headers over the past two years. This season the men’s soccer team beat Radford, while the women’s team fell to the Highlanders. The two schools share membership in the NorPac Field Hockey Conference, where LU defeated Radford 3-1 on the road this year.

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Getting to Know the Big South: High Point

February 2, 2012 — 3 Comments

Location: High Point, NC
Distance from Farmville: 150 miles, 2 hours 45 minutes
Established: 1924
Students: 4,500
Type: Private/Methodist
Nickname: Panthers
Big South Member Since: 1999
Athletics Website: http://www.HighPointPanthers.com
Fan Website: http://hpupanthers.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Our final stop in North Carolina land us at High Point University, home of the Panthers. High Point joined the Big South when they became Division I in 1999. High Point sponsors seventeen NCAA sports since adding men’s lacrosse this year. High Point hasn’t had overwhelming success as a Big South member, but they did win the women’s soccer and volleyball title a year ago. The Panther’s most notable athletic alumni is current Minnesota basketball coach, Tubby Smith.

Facilities

Millis Center: Built in 1992 the Millis Center holds roughly 2,500 spectators. Its a pretty nice facility and I’ve frequently used it as an example of a facility Longwood should model after whenever we build a new arena.

Vert Stadium: The Soccer facility was renovated in 2007 and may be the finest in the Big South. It hold about 1,100 fans and features a turf field and a beautiful facility.

Willard Stadium: Opened in 2007 the softball facility is probably the best in the Big South. It shares the brick architecture with all the other outdoor facility.

History with Longwood

The Lancers and Panthers have actually crossed paths quite a bit. High Point leads the men’s basketball all-time series 13-5 and is 7-1 at home in North Carolina. In 2008 the two schools hooked up in baseball, the Lancers lost the first game 2-3 in extra innings in Farmville but won the second game 9-7 in North Carolina. Both schools are also members of the National Lacrosse Conference.

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2013 Big South Conference Tournament Changes

February 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

Chris Lang of Lynchburg’s News & Advance just posted an article about Longwood joining the Big South. In the article Lang pointed out that the Big South tournament will be held at one, “neutral” site:

One thing is certain. Longwood will be on the floor when the 2013 Big South Tournament tips off, wherever it may be. In December, the Big South presidents and CEOs approved a new combined tournament format for the men’s and women’s events to be held at a pre-determined site, either a true neutral location or a campus site.

It seems as if the opening round will be held at campus sites and will include the following matchups between seeds: #8 vs. #9, #12 vs. #5, #10 vs. #7, and #11 vs. #6.  The winners of those games will then go to the conference championship site to play in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the conference championship.

The conference is currently taking bids up to April 15 for the conference championship site. Individual universities can submit bids. Before moving to conference sites the Big South tournament had been played at the North Charleston Coliseum, the Roanoke Civic Center, the Asheville Civic Center, the Civic Center of Anderson (SC), the Winthrop Coliseum, and the Savannah Civic Center. The last time it was played off-campus was 2002 when the tournament was in Roanoke.

This is also beneficial to Longwood because there was some prior talk that the conference would not be able to adjust their basketball schedule for 2012-13 for the immediate addition of the Lancers.

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2012 Recruiting Class: Lucas Woodhouse, PG

January 31, 2012 — 2 Comments

We mentioned earlier that Mike Gillian will have a couple of big holes to fill in the backcourt next year with Jeremiah Bowman and Martiz Washington graduating. We also stated how 2012 recruit Nik Brown can step in immediately to help out the Lancers, but Brown isn’t the only point guard that can contribute right off the bat next season. Mike Gillian has been able to sign Long Island’s finest point guard in Lucas Woodhouse. Woodhouse lead his high school, Harborfield, all the way to the Class A State Championship last year averaging a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.

Woodhouse has even improved his numbers further in 2012, as noted by Bob Herzog of MSG:

He’s improved his scoring average to 16.2 points, adding a nice mid-range jumper to a game that already features dazzling dribbling and passing skills. Those have not been neglected, either; Woodhouse averages 12.2 assists for the 8-2 Tornadoes.

“I probably could shoot more, but I like to get everyone involved and make the right plays at the right time,” said Woodhouse, who has produced a double-double in every game, 10 in all. “At the next level, you’re not going to blow by someone all the time for layups. You have to have range on your jump shot.”

Quality point guards with tremendous basketball IQs are tough to find and can instantly transform a team into a winner on the college level. Woodhouse might just be a perfect fit for the Lancers. Woodhouse was also recruited heavily by Columbia, Navy, and Stony Brook.

 

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