Longwood University named Mike Gillian as the seventh head coach in the history of men's basketball at the institution on May 2, 2003. Coach Gillian, in his fourth year during 2006-07, is charged with building an NCAA Division I program, and has been doing so from the ground up during his first three seasons while compiling a record of 16-72. The program finished 10-20 during 2005-06 while tying for the seventh-best turnaround season in Division I (plus 9.5), year three of the school s four-year Division I Reclassification.

Longwood begins this season with 11 scholarship players (same as last year) and all five returning starters among 10 letterwinners, including the top six scorers overall who combined for 79 percent (1,740 of 2,194 points) of the team s offense a year ago. The Lancers finished 1-30 during 2004-05, their first year playing a full Division I schedule while competing with just nine scholarship players and no seniors. Longwood was 5-22 during 2003-04, the first year of the DI transition while competing with only seven scholarship players and just four returning letterwinners a team depleted even further at mid-season with the loss of the squad s leading scorer.

"There was a very specific vision for Longwood University articulated to me by Dr. Patricia Cormier three years ago when she offered me the opportunity to be Longwood's first Division I men s basketball coach," said Gillian. "It is a very exciting time to be directing the Longwood Basketball Program. Over the last three years we have made significant strides forward, have begun to experience some success at the Division I level, and are in position to continue along that same path. The internal competition within our program is continually getting tougher. The external competition is now familiar to all of our players. These two main factors are what lead us to believe we are ready to put the Longwood Basketball stamp on the world of college basketball."

Prior to his arrival at Longwood, Coach Gillian had been an assistant coach at George Mason University under head coach Jim Larranaga from 1997-2003. He had also worked under Larranaga for one season at Bowling Green State (Ohio) University (1996-97) before going to George Mason with Larranaga. Gillian played a role in the recruitment of several members of the Mason team that shocked the world of college basketball last spring while advancing to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

During Gillian's six seasons as an assistant coach at Mason, the Patriots went 100-74 overall with a 66-34 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record, winning two CAA Tournament championships (1999, 2001) and two CAA regular season titles (1999, 2000). He counts George Evans, currently playing overseas, among the many standout players he helped coach at GMU. George Mason also earned two NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2001) and made one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance (2002). The Patriots were 57-18 overall at home in the Patriot Center, posting a 41-8 CAA homecourt record.

At Bowling Green, the Falcons finished 22-10 while winning the 1997 Mid-American Conference regular season title (13-5) and earning an NIT appearance. MAC Player of the Year Antonio Daniels, currently a member of the NBA s Washington Wizards, led that BGSU team.

Prior to joining Larranaga at BGSU, Gillian was an assistant coach at Division II American International (Mass.) from 1989-95. During that six-year stint working for current Indiana Pacers advance scout Jim Powell, the Yellow Jackets went 117-58 overall with a 75-33 Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) record, winning both the NE-10 regular season and tournament championships in 1994 (26-6). American International also advanced to the second-round of the Division II Tournament that year.

Gillian has been a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) since 1989. He was a YES Clinic speaker at the Division I Men s Final Four from 1998-2000, and has extensive public speaking experience through his involvement with numerous booster, local business and civic organizations, and charity events.

Gillian was a four-year letterwinner as an undergraduate at Division III North Adams State (now the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts), and served as a team captain during his final two years. He received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from North Adams State, and earned a master of business administration degree from American International.

A native of Ayer, Massachusetts, Gillian (42) and his wife, Janet, have a five-year-old daughter, Emma.