Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

What sets the standard for Longwood basketball? Is it a 20-win season? Is it a spot in the Big South Championship each year? Longwood men’s basketball coach Griff Aldrich was asked that question during the conference’s media day session, with reporters trying to get him to define what people should expect from the team. Instead of talking wins and losses, Aldrich said the program’s success and core focus comes from transformation. 

“I think the standard for us is really being the best we can be,” Aldrich said. “I think the standard that has really started to evolve for us at Longwood is the transformation of our guys. And the growth and development that we get to see.”

It’s about seeing progression, Aldrich said. Longwood wants to be known as a school where players develop, where they get better at their craft throughout the season. And that improvement, in turn, helps drive the team to achieve those other things, the 20+ wins, the spot in the Big South Championship and eventually, the ticket to the NCAA tournament.

All of those are things Longwood has done repeatedly during Aldrich’s tenure with the group. Currently picked third in the Big South preseason poll, this is the fourth straight season the team has been picked to finish in the top five in the league. The defending Big South champs have won two titles in the past three seasons, while also racking up back-to-back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time in school history. But none of that happens without the growth and development. The Longwood team suiting up for that Big South conference tournament is a different one, a stronger one, than the one stepping out on day one of the season. 

“I truly believe this, hand on heart, last year’s development of Wayln Napper and his transformation, I’m going to remember that a lot more than I’m going to remember winning the Big South championship,” Aldrich said of the now graduated point guard, who helped spark this latest title run with his play late last season. 

“I truly believe that as our guys grow and develop, the success will follow,” Aldrich said. “At the core, we want to be about transformation. And I think the success in all honesty, is a byproduct of that.”  

Longwood: Growth through competition 

For Michael Christmas, a love of basketball goes all the way back to early childhood, when his dad set up the family’s first Little Tykes Easy Score. Christmas developed his style of play almost out of necessity, learning to compete with his brother. As the youngest on the court, they would elbow him and give him a hard time, but it was that competition that helped him become the player he is today. 

That’s why the 6’6” graduate forward is looking forward to the coming season. There’s plenty of opportunities to grow and compete against other quality programs, both in conference and before. Longwood, for example, will take part in this season’s Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands this November. 

“I’m really excited for that trip, especially to get to play against that kind of competition,” Christmas said on Tuesday. “I think it’s going to be a great test for our team and just getting the experience playing against that level of competition.” 

Longwood, UAB and McNeese State all made the NCAA Tournament last season, while Kansas State made it to the NIT. That means 50% of the field for this year’s Paradise Jam played in a postseason tournament last year. Looking beyond that to the conference schedule, Christmas sees a group of teams all with their own styles, their own challenges. 

“That’s a sign this conference is really (building) up to be something big,” Christmas said, pointing out that be it transfers or high school recruits, the Big South is going through a transformation of its own, becoming known for good players coming into the conference and being successful. 

“It makes it fun for me to play in this conference,” Christmas said. 

The Lancers will open the 2024-25 season with a four-game homestand. On opening night, the team takes on Randolph at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4. The run is part of a 15-game non-conference slate that leads into a challenging Big South schedule to open 2025.