Multiple sources at Longwood have told me that Mike Gillian is out as the head basketball coach for the Lancers. If official, it would end a 10 year tenure at Longwood for Gillian.

We will keep you updated with any official news.

Update 9:10 AM

HOT RUMOR: Gillian out at Longwood hoopdirt.com/blog/3b974ee9/…

— HoopDirt.com (@HoopDirt) March 14, 2013

Update 10:06- Gillian Officially Out

Longwood Statement:

“Longwood University men’s basketball head coach Mike Gillian resigned Wednesday, March 13, 2013, after 10 years with the Lancers.

“Mike has played an important role in the history of Longwood Athletics,” said Director of Athletics Troy Austin. “I want to thank him for his service to the university, the effort he invested in the men’s basketball program and his active involvement with community initiatives. I wish the best to Mike and his family in their future endeavors.”

Gillian, who came to Longwood in 2003, was the longest-tenured head coach in the 37-year history of the Longwood men’s basketball program. The team compiled an overall record of 93-214 during Gillian’s tenure, which included six years in Division I. His best season was in 2008-09, when the Lancers finished 17-14, including wins against George Washington University of the Atlantic 10 Conference and James Madison University of the Colonial Athletic Association.

In 2012-13, their first season in the Big South Conference, the Lancers compiled an 8-25 overall record and a conference tally of 4-12. The team advanced to the Big South Tournament Quarterfinals with an 87-72 win against two-time defending Big South Champion UNC Asheville before falling to VMI, 90-86.

Austin said the university will soon begin a national search for a new head coach.”

We documented Mike Gillian’s career record of 93-214 (.303) earlier this week. Often you hear our former Independent status used as a crutch or excuse when it comes to putting together a winning program. But how do those schools who joined Division I in similar time frame as Longwood compare? And what types of performance based decisions did their athletic directors make?

As you can see, in general a winning percentage below .350 was not generally tolerated among peer institutions. Also in 77% of the firings of a coach who had a winning percentage under .350 the team improved and they improved by 108%.

Why hasn’t Longwood taken the same action that results in improvement of a flagship program that so many other schools and administrators have already taken over the years?

Last year we released a piece looking at the career of Mike Gillian and how those numbers stack up. We thought we’d reconvene with those numbers now that the year is over and after the Lancers’ 8-25 season.

Overall Record (10 Years): 93-214 (.303)
Against Division I Opponents (2004-2013): 64-192 (.250)
Against In-State DI Opponents: 12-43 (.218)
Against Peer Opponents (Independent/Big South): 23-40 (.365)

The season is over. Longwood finished 8-25, but ended the season with a lot of fight. What changed? Did the players decide to start playing for themselves or were there coaching changes that contributed to the late season success?

The end of the season was certainly exciting, but lets not forget about the larger picture. Why did it take so long to get the team going and did they capture momentum that will carry on to the 2013-14 campaign?

There are certainly facets of the team to be excited about. Tristan Carey should be one of the league’s best players next year, Lucas Woodhouse and Michael Kessens had incredible freshman campaigns, and Karl Ziegler, Jeylani Dublin, and David Robinson comprise a solid core.

How much of that success can go to the individuals or the coaching staff or both? Anthony Banks was supposed to come to Longwood but was not able to get through the transfer process thus Michael Kessens arrives in Farmville in his place.In terms of Woodhouse, Mike Gillian backed into that successful avenue due to injury to Nik Brown.

While most of the fanbase called for Woodhouse, Brown continued to start at point guard. Should we expect that decision to change on opening day next year? Can Brown be a productive member of this team? Absolutely. Who runs the offense better at the point? It’s pretty clear. While Woodhouse can flourish at the point, Brown can grow at the two or spell Woodhouse when necessary as Lucas played 38 or more minutes in the final seven games of the season.

All in all, Longwood finished the season playing better but they still rank 334th in the country out of 347 teams. On defense the team ranks 341st and offensively we finished the year ranked 297th. This team has promising individuals, but do we have everything it takes to parlay this individual success and talent into sustained team success?

We’re likely at a crossroads before the actual crossroads at the end of next year. Mike Gillian will enter 2013-14 as a “lame duck”, as he’ll be in the last year of his contract. From accounts his buyout is $90,000. He’ll likely bring in two new players next year (Chris Shields, Chris Brady), but the positions of Carey, Robinson, Parker, Havenstein, and possibly others will open up in 2014-15. So does it make more sense to make a decision now with four or more critical signings hanging in  the balance?

So what would you do?

UPDATE: Robbie Laing was just let go at Campbell. He was 114-185 in 10 years at CU. Mike Gillian is 93-214 over that same span.

It’s no secret that one of Longwood’s biggest deficiencies is the play on the defensive end of the court. Mike Gillian recently touched on the Lancers defense in the latest installment of the Longwood Insider.

“We’ve also played better defensively. Down at Winthrop, the Radford game, for the most part the Liberty game. Although they scored 101 points, there was a lot of shots made that were incredibly difficult for the last 4 or 5 minutes of that game. The points are not always a factor in the type of defense that you play.”

Longwood currently ranks 342nd in defense in the country out of 347 teams. Longwood was dead last in defense in the country a year ago and second to last in 2011. The team has finished in the Top 300 in defense nationally once in nine years of Division I basketball under Mike Gillian.

Let’s mix it up a little tonight, here’s the brief synopsis on the game tonight. Longwood played great in the first half and there was a lot of fire from not only the players but the coaching staff. The Lancers trailed 24-23 at the half.

High Point came out in the second half and decided to notch up the full court pressure. Longwood did not adjust and the Lancers were outscored 58-30 in the second half to lose 82-53.  The end…same story as, basically, the fourteen games before the win at Winthrop.

Now the commentary…

After the game Mike Gillian went on the radio post game show and the consensus excuse tonight was Longwood being shorthanded and thus not being able to play their preferred up-tempo style of basketball.

Here are the facts when it comes to Longwood’s depth:

- Frank Holloway is out for the season after shoulder surgery about a month ago. Holloway was projected to be the starter at power forward but only played about a half of basketball this year. Holloway has been injury plagued in his collegiate career in Junior College and was an unknown coming in this season. Just because he was slated to be a starter doesn’t mean he’s an upgrade over Jeylani Dublin.

- Nik Brown has missed nine games this season. The eight most recent have been attributed to a mysterious ailment that some have speculated as a post concussion syndrome and others have claimed he’s suffering from vertigo. Brown was leading the Big South in turnovers when he was injured at Radford and was shooting just thirty-two percent from the field. Many would argue that Lucas Woodhouse should be your starter regardless.

Here’s the thing… INJURIES HAPPEN! High Point was missing, arguably, their best player tonight John Brown for the last 25 minutes of the game with a bicep injury. Winthrop’s Larry Brown is out for the year and they beat Charleston Southern tonight (o yea and they’re in a “rebuild”). Liberty’s most talented player, Antwan Burrus, has not played this year. Campbell’s Darren White, who is probably the most talented scorer in the conference, has been out most of the year. The list goes on and on…

If anyone should know the value of depth it should be Longwood and Mike Gillian, a team that was forced to play the last portion of last year with essentially six warm bodies. If there was a lesson to be learned, it was last year.

The notion that Longwood is currently shorthanded is a myth. NINE High Point players played double-digit minutes tonight while Mike Gillian has settled into a six man rotation. The six man rotation is not forced due to injury but rather a choice. Longwood has five players on their bench who simply are not used. These aren’t developmental freshman but rather scholarship players. One of those players is a senior, two more are juniors, then the last two are a sophomore and a freshman.

Mike Gillian chose these players. He recruited them, he gave them a scholarship, and he has them on his bench. How can you chalk this season up to injuries, when you have so many players that you believed in rotting on your bench? Can these guys not play? If not, why are they here? Why haven’t they been developed in the 13 years of combined experience that they have on campus?

Every Big South team has injuries and every team has a contingency plan. Why are we the only fan base that is force fed excuses preemptively before giving the notion of depth a chance? After the results and circumstances of last year that spawned from injury, suspension, and players simply quitting the team were quick fixes and band-aids thought to be the solution. Why does Longwood have the luxury of five “developmental” players who don’t see meaningful time or any time at all on the court?

Instead of finding solutions we are constantly fed excuses and problems. While other coaches are discussing their accountability in their teams performance, we are handed hurdles. Hurdles that are manufactured and we’d rather use as a crutch rather than finding away to jump over them.

This has nothing to do with those players on the bench. I’d love to see them play more and develop because of it. All five of those players are willing and able to give valuable minutes on the floor night in and night out.

You don’t lose eleven conference games by an average margin of 17 points because you’re shorthanded. Longwood isn’t shorthanded but their fans are being shortchanged. This team has talent and talent that can flourish, but they’re being out-coached week to week, game to game.

If an up-tempo style is your game then 1) establish depth, 2) PLAY IT. I’m sure many would agree that VCU is the blueprint for an up-tempo game. Has anyone ever noticed that the Rams have 11 players who play eight or more minutes per game? How can you start the season planning on playing an up-tempo style, not expecting any injury, and just moving forward with a core of eight players? It just doesn’t make sense.

I was exchanges texts with a former Longwood player, who played under Mike Gillian, in the second half. He was watching the game at home and I commented “in 9 years of watching this team have you ever seen Longwood come out and be the aggressor on defense?”. The answer? “Absolutely not”. If you watch basketball on a regular basis you’ll hear over and over the best way to play a pressing team is to press them right back.

Longwood isn’t losing because players are injured, they aren’t losing because they lack talent, they are losing because they are being out-coached and they are not matching the energy of opposing teams on the floor and on the sidelines. I couldn’t help but watch Scott Cherry continue to coach his team vocally with visual energy and encourage his players when the Panthers were up by 30 tonight. The same has been true for Duggar Baucom, Barclay Radebaugh, Gregg Nibbert, Robbie Laing, etc, etc… When your coaching staff can’t match the energy and excitement of that of the opposing team then you’ve already lost the battle no matter what your gameplan was.

This fan base deserves more than lame, manufactured excuses after every loss.