Lancers Need a Home

"That would be a big deal for us," he said. "Not only would it show progress, but it would definitely be something we could talk about in recruiting."

Not surprisingly, recruiting is difficult for an independent. Realistically, until Longwood gets into a league, there is no chance to play in the NCAA tournament, the ultimate basketball reward for most college players.

"Every basketball player's dream is 'The Dance,' " said Smith, who scored 19 points before fouling out in the final minute of the Navy game. "If we ever got to the dance we'd probably play a team like Florida or Virginia Tech or West Virginia. Well, we play those teams now just in the regular season. Those games against the big teams are our version of 'The Dance.' "

That's what Gillian sells: a chance to play and a chance to play quality teams. His hope is that the day will come when his team can be competitive against those teams, even on the road.

"I tell the kids they shouldn't choose a place to play based on the possibility of playing one game, maybe two over four years in March," he said. "They should choose a place where they can have a good experience for 120 games over four years."

That's a good pitch, but everyone at Longwood knows that the future depends on finding a conference to call home. That job falls on the shoulders of Athletic Director Troy Austin, whose "interim" status was removed from his title last April. Austin has talked to the Big South and the Atlantic Sun about expansion but has found the going tough.

"Everyone wants to take a wait-and-see approach right now," he said. "There's been so much movement and expansion the last few years that I don't think anyone is looking to do anything right at this moment. We just have to keep working and talking and hope something opens up."

The best bet might be the Atlantic Sun, which has an odd number of teams (11) and a natural travel partner for Longwood in Campbell. Until that happens, Gillian and his players will have to keep grinding, hoping that the next game-winning shot rolls in rather than off. This year's team has only one senior starter, Ryan Bogan, and has genuine scoring threats in Smith (Hylton) and Kevin Swecker, both juniors.

Smith is a fifth-year junior, having been granted two medical redshirt years after knee surgeries. He has had two ACL operations and one for a MCL. He already has one undergraduate degree and is pursuing another one.

"If you sit around and think about how tough things can be in a program like this, you could probably lose your mind," he said, smiling. "It's like going through knee surgery and rehab. You can't think about why you can't do it, you have to think about what you need to do to get where you want to go."

For now, Longwood's coaches and players would like to win more games than they lose this season.

"That would definitely be something to hang our hat on," Gillian said, walking out after the Navy loss. "This would have helped. Still, I couldn't be more proud of them for getting to this point."

There are still many miles to travel before they get close to where they want to go. But they've already come a long way down the road.