Is anyone familiar with this new D-1 program? It looks like the Coach is a no nonsence guy with the respect of his players.
Thank you very much in advance!
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Longwood has been recruiting the heck out of central VA since going D-I. They have snagged several high quality players from our area. I haven't seen their baseball facilities and don't know the coaches. I do know that much of the university itself is new, partly due to an expansion of the school in recent years and partly due to having to rebuild a major building that was gutted by fire just a couple years ago.
The big issue at Longwood is their inability thus far to get into a conference for baseball. The Big South would give them natural rivalries but is refusing to admit them due to their lack of a football program. What I've heard is not very encouraging on this front.
The big issue at Longwood is their inability thus far to get into a conference for baseball. The Big South would give them natural rivalries but is refusing to admit them due to their lack of a football program. What I've heard is not very encouraging on this front.
Thank you very much for the excellent insight! The deal about the conference is very interesting. I really had no idea how that works. I wondered why there were no Schools that jumped out at me when I looked at their schedule.
I know another asistant who is expected to be on staff very shortly---they are meaning to do business !!!!!
Head coach (Buddy Bolding) started the program and has been there for about 30 years. He's a "unique" guy with lots of memorable quotes. He is also very offensive minded. His assistant coach (Rick Blanc) is the pitching coach and I have heard he has really rebuilt their approach to developing pitchers. They seem to produce a lot of high school baseball coaches, whether or not that means anything. Farmville is a nice place, although I may be biased since I grew up there.
I keep up with Longwood Athletics on a daily basis and probably know way to much about the school. As an avid Longwood fan and alumnus I'm a little favoring to the Lancers, but here is the low down.
Longwood will be officially DI as of Sept. 1 2007. Coach Bolding has been there from day one. This program is his. He's from Milligan College (Tenn.), great family man (I went to college with his daughter) and one of the best baseball men you'll meet. He does produce a ton of high school coaches because he teaches the game and how to be a good baseball guy. As an umpire I have officiated several of his baseball line and they are all better because of him.
Coach Blanc has done wonders with the team pitching. This past season the team ERA was the best of all the DI independent schools in the country. Team ERA was below 3.00 for the season. Having the 2 best pitchers in DI indep. helps.
The facilities just got lights this past season. A full renovation is in place to add locker rooms, new grandstands, and press box area. The Lancer Lunatics (student group that attends athletic games) has been very supportive. Traveled to C'ville when the Lancers took on UVA (then ranked #5 in country) and created such a buzz the UVA paper had an article about them and their support of the Lancers. UVA actually had to come from behind late to take a one run victory.
The conference issue is a sore one. The Big South is the perfect fit. Longwood has faired well against most of the Big South schools in all athletics. The facilities are as good or better then the other Big South schools. People may say many things, like its the facilities or the academics (trust me, if it were academics Radford would have been booted years ago)but it is the football issue. Longwood does not have football and will not have football (way too many female students to conform with Title 9 issues).
Academics at longwood are great. Very personal professors, great campus with new tech advanced buildings, traditional classic buildings, and traditions like those found in New England schools. Farmville is a beautiful town, which has done some growing since I left and offers a lot more for the students.
Longwood gets a rap for some reason, mainly from people that have never been there or fill the need to pick on the new kid on the block. Give the Lancers time. Longwood is too good of a school to go un-noticed for all the great things it is capable of.
Longwood will be officially DI as of Sept. 1 2007. Coach Bolding has been there from day one. This program is his. He's from Milligan College (Tenn.), great family man (I went to college with his daughter) and one of the best baseball men you'll meet. He does produce a ton of high school coaches because he teaches the game and how to be a good baseball guy. As an umpire I have officiated several of his baseball line and they are all better because of him.
Coach Blanc has done wonders with the team pitching. This past season the team ERA was the best of all the DI independent schools in the country. Team ERA was below 3.00 for the season. Having the 2 best pitchers in DI indep. helps.
The facilities just got lights this past season. A full renovation is in place to add locker rooms, new grandstands, and press box area. The Lancer Lunatics (student group that attends athletic games) has been very supportive. Traveled to C'ville when the Lancers took on UVA (then ranked #5 in country) and created such a buzz the UVA paper had an article about them and their support of the Lancers. UVA actually had to come from behind late to take a one run victory.
The conference issue is a sore one. The Big South is the perfect fit. Longwood has faired well against most of the Big South schools in all athletics. The facilities are as good or better then the other Big South schools. People may say many things, like its the facilities or the academics (trust me, if it were academics Radford would have been booted years ago)but it is the football issue. Longwood does not have football and will not have football (way too many female students to conform with Title 9 issues).
Academics at longwood are great. Very personal professors, great campus with new tech advanced buildings, traditional classic buildings, and traditions like those found in New England schools. Farmville is a beautiful town, which has done some growing since I left and offers a lot more for the students.
Longwood gets a rap for some reason, mainly from people that have never been there or fill the need to pick on the new kid on the block. Give the Lancers time. Longwood is too good of a school to go un-noticed for all the great things it is capable of.
As a professor at a Big South school (and former staff member in two Big South athletic departments), "Call it as you see it" nailed it on the head. It is all about football with the Big South, and Longwood would be a perfect fit in all sports, as well as a great natural rival for the REAL LU in Virginia.
It seems that Longwood would be a better fit in the CAA ... more natural rivalries, good travel. Has anyone heard if there were overtures in this direction???
The CAA would be a great conference to jump into, but there are several reasons the CAA and Longwood would not be the best choice.
1. The CAA begins their inaugural football season this year. The CAA should be a very good I-AA football conference. Longwood does not play football and if the CAA were to expand again it would be to bring in a full time football school (ie: Maine)
2. The CAA is not looking to expand unless a conf. school moves conference membership (like JMU jumping to the Big East in an effort to move to I-A football). The CAA is a huge conference right now and has no room to expand.
3. Travel would be a little better, bit not what Longwood is looking for. Trips to schools in NC, SC, GA, TN are more managable then making the yearly trips up to Northeastern.
4. Size. The CAA school (for the most part) are large schools (10,000 and over). Longwood will crack 5000 in the next couple of years.
I would rank the conferences by desirability (if thats a word) as such.
1. Big South
2. Southern
3. Atlantic Sun
4. CAA
5.America East
6. MEAC
7.Form a new Conference with Big South and Southern Conference members that don't play football.
1. The CAA begins their inaugural football season this year. The CAA should be a very good I-AA football conference. Longwood does not play football and if the CAA were to expand again it would be to bring in a full time football school (ie: Maine)
2. The CAA is not looking to expand unless a conf. school moves conference membership (like JMU jumping to the Big East in an effort to move to I-A football). The CAA is a huge conference right now and has no room to expand.
3. Travel would be a little better, bit not what Longwood is looking for. Trips to schools in NC, SC, GA, TN are more managable then making the yearly trips up to Northeastern.
4. Size. The CAA school (for the most part) are large schools (10,000 and over). Longwood will crack 5000 in the next couple of years.
I would rank the conferences by desirability (if thats a word) as such.
1. Big South
2. Southern
3. Atlantic Sun
4. CAA
5.America East
6. MEAC
7.Form a new Conference with Big South and Southern Conference members that don't play football.
quote:Originally posted by TRhit:
I know another asistant who is expected to be on staff very shortly---they are meaning to do business !!!!!
I assume this is the guy you're referencing, courtesy Longwood's athletics homepage:
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University 30th-year baseball head coach Buddy Bolding has announced the recent appointment of Lynchburg native Shawn Abell as a new Assistant Coach. He previously has served as both the head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York during 2006-07 after a year as a student assistant coach at Lynchburg College during 2005-06. Abell is a 2006 graduate of Lynchburg where he earned a bachelor of arts in sports management and was a three-year standout for the Hornets, coached by his father, Percy Abell.
“I am pleased to have Coach Abell join our Lancer coaching staff,” said Bolding. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and energy with him, and his connection to Longwood through his uncle (Scott Abell, see below), who is among my all-time greats, makes him a natural fit. Coach will be given the responsibility for coaching the infielders and assisting me in developing the offensive attack. Additionally, he will coach first base and share in making important coaching decisions within our staff. Our particular mutual interest in fielding a strong offensive machine to compliment a stalwart pitching staff and stingy defense is consistent with where I know we need to keep the Longwood program. I shall expect great thing from Coach Abell.”
At Vassar, Abell assisted in coaching infielders, outfielders, and hitting while also planning and running instructional camps. In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, he was involved in fundraising as well, and also served the school as its summer facilities manager; maintaining the athletics facilities and managing student workers along with administrative duties that included scheduling and organizing events for outside groups.
Abell was a three-year starter at Lynchburg after transferring from Radford University where he began his collegiate playing career. He was a two-time Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), All-South Region, and Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) College Division first-team shortstop selection (2004-05), as well as earning Division III All-America accolades in 2004. Abell was also the 2005 Lynchburg College Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
Following his collegiate playing career, Abell played with the Canadian American Independent League’s Brockton (Mass.) Rox during the summer of 2005. He also played in both the Mountain Atlantic (2004) and Clark Griffifth (2002) Collegiate Leagues. Abell has additional coaching experience as head coach of the 2007 USA Athletes International Holland Tournament, the 2007 Triple Crown Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, summer camps and college showcases, along with American Legion teams during 2003 and 2005, respectively.
Abell is the nephew of former Longwood baseball standout and current Amherst High School head football coach Scott Abell ‘92 who was selected in the 37th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals. Shawn is a 2001 graduate of Brookville High School.
http://www.longwoodlancers.com/News/bball/2007/8/20/sha...ell07.asp?path=bball
