How should success be measured in 2019?
July 1 marks a turning of the fiscal year calendar for college athletic departments across the country and for Longwood it means a reset on a year that was likely one to forget for most Lancer fans.
Recapping 2018
Probably the most memorable thing that will come out of the 2018 athletics year is the changes in leadership for both the men’s and women’s basketball season.
On the positive side, Women’s Soccer, Field Hockey, and Men’s Tennis had really solid seasons. Softball once again had a great year, but have feel burden to their own high standard.
In a recent newsletter to Longwood fans Troy Austin highlighted the following highlights on the previous year:
- ESPNU airs home Longwood-Liberty Softball game
- LongwoodLancers.com sets traffic records
Side note: One of the two traffic surges was for the Coach Aldrich hire, which could be correlated to a negative result on the court. - Licensing growth with a Barnes & Nobles agreement
- Lancer Giving Madness success
- Corporate Partnership Growth
- Scholarship Creation
You can view the full email here.
Despite the positive results of 2018, on and off the field, losing still loomed large on a beleaguered fan base. Both basketball programs combined for just 14 wins, Men’s Soccer won one game, and Baseball is coming off of back-to-back historically bad seasons. While Basketball will earn some sort of patience and hope, the lack of results from the other programs will still loom large in the upcoming year.
The Athletic’s Scorecard
We’ve touched on the Athletic’s Scorecard before and 2018 represented the middle year of a five-year plan for the department. Here are the measures for success of that scorecard and where we are at when we “score” it.
National Marketing
Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Appearances: 0
NCAA Postseason Appearances: 2 (Softball)
Big South Sasser Cup Finish: This is a combined sports competition. Longwood has never finished higher than 9th in the 10 team conference.
Big South Men’s Basketball Financial Units: Lack of success/postseason would assume this hasn’t increased.
Revenue Return on Loyalty: Unknown, although recent partnerships point to the positive.
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LongwoodLancers.com Monthy Visitors: Unknown, but Troy Austin outlined some success in his recent newsletter.
Foot Traffic by Alumni & Friends
Event Attendance: Unknown, men’s basketball attendance has been on a five-year decline though via the public numbers posted with the box scores.
Lancer Club Members: Unknown
Facility Revitalization Projects: There have been some facelifts across campus, but still no major projects. A feasibility study has begun though for a new convocation center.
Community Prosperity
Sponsorship Support: Via Austin’s email and recent partnership announcement, there is positive growth in this segment.
An environment of diversity awareness and respect: Hard thing to measure, but Austin did highlight some programming in this area.
Community Outreach Events: It does seem like athletes/the department are more involved in the community.
Academic Success
Cumulative Department GPA: No idea here, Austin touched on some individual achievements but the cumulative rate is unknown.
NCAA APR: Longwood actually dropped very slightly in the APR last academic year (this year’s numbers are not public yet). It was so minuscule that’s it’s not a big deal, but if your goal is growth then we went the wrong way.
Big South Scholar-Athlete Recipients: There a positive individual success stories in this area.
What to look for in the year ahead…
On the field
Women’s Sport: The health of the women’s programs at Longwood is pretty strong and the departure of Liberty should open the door for some of the programs as well. The Soccer and Field Hockey programs are in great hands with Todd Dyer and Iain Byers, and the Rebecca Tillett hire is certainly an intriguing one when it comes to basketball.
No one is expecting, either, basketball program to instantly become a contender but the biggest thing Lancer fans want to see is competitiveness.
At this point you kind of gloss over the success of Kathy Riley and the softball program. Obviously that program is in tremendous hands and will also be helped by Liberty’s departure from the Big South.
Men’s Soccer: After a one-win season, the men’s soccer program will have a bigger microscope on it than normal. Jon Atkinson will be in his 16th season at Longwood and will look to recapture some of the success he’s found in the past.
Baseball: Ryan Mau might have the most pressure on him of any coach next season. As we said before, the program is coming off of historically bad back-to-back seasons and one of Longwood’s most historic programs is in need of resuscitation.
Men’s Basketball: Like the women’s program, competitiveness is the name of the game for Coach Griff in his first year. Longwood has put together an interesting roster and a solid schedule.
What’s the plan?
The biggest way in which the next year will be measured is by the emergence, or lack thereof, of a strategic direction for the program in the next decade. Winning isn’t a plan, it’s a result.
When the campus master plan was released a few years back it featured downtown baseball and softball stadiums, a new Willett Hall, enhanced tennis facilities, and field sports returning to main campus. Since then those ambitions have seemingly disappeared and there hasn’t been any sort of news with any of those projects.
While Longwood can luck out on a transcendent coach like Kathy Riley and Todd Dyer, the number one thing this program needs is new facilities. How can the community, the department, and alumni come together to make that happen and what’s Troy Austin’s vision? That’s how the next year will be judged and how we begin to embark on a new decade.
The Division I transition is over and it can no longer be a crutch. The entering class going through orientation this summer was four years old when Longwood started playing a Division I schedule. How do we take the next leap?
