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From the opening of Longwood College’s Lancer Hall in 1980, Jim Gussett and his wife Ann, have been game day fixtures.  From 1966 to 1998, Jim was known as a student advocate at Longwood, first as the assistant dean and later as a math professor.   As a high school catcher in Cincinnati, he played with future MLB managers Don Zimmer and Jim Frey before attending the U.S. Naval Academy.  This episode is the second in a series celebrating Lancer, later known as Willett Hall.  The new Joan Perry Brock Center will be the Lancers’ new home in the fall of 2023. 

In Mike Testa’s two years at Longwood, his GPA was higher than his scoring average.  As a senior guard, he came off the bench to beat visiting Randolph Macon 41-39 in February of 1983.  It may be the most dramatic and unlikely game winning shot in Longwood men’s basketball history.   This episode is the first of a series celebrating Willett Hall that opened in 1980.  The new Joan Perry Brock Center replaces Willett as the Lancers home in the fall of 2023. 

Hunter Gilliam received his B.S. from Longwood University in May and promptly committed to the University of Kentucky to play baseball as a graduate student.  The Lancer walk-on from the Fuqua School in Farmville earned LU freshman student-athlete of the year and capped his career as first team All-Big South Conference.  Hunter is spending his second summer in Colonial Heights at first base with the Tri-City Chili Peppers of the Coastal Plain League.                                                    

With a determined attitude and superior athletic ability, John Stukes racked up a career record of 70 wins, eight losses and two ties in three years.  At the 134-pound weight class, John was Longwood’s first NCAA Division II Regional Champion and the second Lancer wrestler to compete in the nationals. John is now a veteran high school wrestling coach and math teacher at Hayfield High in Fairfax County.  

At five years old, Phil's goal was to hear his name called at the MLB draft.  Since then, he has been on a mission to learn, improve and prove he belonged.   As a starting third baseman at Longwood, he batted .386 and set school records for career hits (256) and sacrifice flies (22) among other hitting accolades.  After two years in the St. Louis Cardinals chain, Cerreto earned his Doctor of Pharmacy and now practices while managing store operations with Walgreens in the Richmond area. 

Dana Smith knows resilience.  After two season ending injuries at Longwood, the basketball standout from Woodbridge racked up 1,540 points and 708 rebounds.  For his grit and resilience, Smith was a two-time finalist for the V Foundation Comeback Award.  He took full advantage of his 6-year stay in Farmville and earned two bachelor’s degrees. 

Danny Sterling came to Longwood in 2006 as the Head Athletic Trainer and left in 2009 as the Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations.  He applied lessons learned from Longwood’s transition to Division I as the Athletic Director at UVA-Wise and Presbyterian College.  After a two-year stint as VCU’s Executive Associate Athletic Director, Sterling is the Vice President of Sales for A Better Way Athletics. 

Mitch Walker is featured in the third and final tribute to Longwood basketball legend Jerome Kersey.   Walker, who bonded with Jerome as a freshman on and off the basketball court, reflects on the traits and characteristics that made Kersey special.  Walker is a Financial Advisor for the Equitable Advisors Group and the First Deputy Director of Administration for Children’s Services with the City of New York.   

It’s not official, but chances are that Aaron Mitchell holds the Longwood men’s basketball record for the longest professional basketball career in the Division I era.  Nine and counting.  The 32-year-old guard from Matoaca Virginia just completed a year in Iraq and is looking forward to returning to the Middle East, perhaps in Kuwait for number 10.  Listen to Longwood’s veteran basketball globetrotter describe how he has worked hard to reinvent and sharpen his game.  

Autumn Childress, Longwood University Class of 2018, talks about bouncing back from injuries to finish strong with the women's basketball team.  She also shares her journey and new opportunity as a multi-media journalist.