The arrival of March Madness means Cinderella stories and mid-majors making lifetime memories. And this year, we have our first mid-major storyline of the tournament.
The Longwood Lancers beat the Winthrop Eagles 79–58 in the Big South Tournament Championship to reach their first ever Men’s NCAA Tournament.
Longwood has only been eligible for the NCAA Tournament since 2012. The Lancers spent their first four years as a Division III program, then was a Division II member until the 2004 season. Starting in 2004, Longwood was an independent while transitioning to a Division I program before becoming a full Division I member in 2007.
In 2012, Longwood joined the Big South for its first Division I conference. In their first nine seasons in the Big South, the Lancers had nine straight losing seasons with six straight 20-loss seasons. Finally, Longwood had its best season this year, finishing 25–6 overall, 15–1 in conference and first in the Big South standings.
Longwood continued that dominance into the Big South tournament, winning three games as the No. 1 seed to win the tournament also.
In his fourth year with the team, Griff Aldrich is Longwood’s head coach. This year’s team is led by Justin Hill, a sophomore guard averaging 14.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Longwood also has two other players averaging over 10 points per game, junior guard Isaiah Wilkins and senior guard Deshaun Wade.
Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney’s latest projections has Longwood as a No. 15 seed, playing No. 4 Duke in the first round.
