Griff Aldrich, by far the most impactful and well-known Longwood men’s basketball head coach, recently accepted the role as associate head coach on Ryan Odom’s staff at Virginia. It didn’t take long for Longwood to fill the void. The Lancers promoted assistant coach Ronnie Thomas, a well-respected coach in his own right, to head coach. Thomas was a part of both NCAA Tournament appearances with Aldrich, as he joined the Longwood staff in 2020.
Thomas is 32 years old, making him one of the youngest Division I men’s basketball coaches. He graduated from Bridgewater College in 2014 and played semi-professionally in Ireland for one season. After a successful assistant coaching stint at the Division III level, he joined Longwood as director of player development and recruiting. He was promoted to assistant coach in 2021.
This makes Longwood one of the very few Division I programs that filled a coaching vacancy internally.
“If you see how these hires [around the country] are going, they’re all going pretty quick,” said Longwood athletics director Tim Hall. “When Griff [Aldrich] told me [about the job], it was simultaneously a surprise and not a surprise. He stated that he would not have left had it not been this [job], and I really believe that.”
Aldrich was under contract at Longwood until 2032, making him the longest-contracted coach in the Big South.
“He [left]…so we don’t have to pay him out,” Hall said. “Because he chose to leave, that contract is void. We’ll start over with a new contract with coach Thomas.”
After seven years with the steady hand of Aldrich in charge of the program, Hall and the Longwood athletics department landed on Thomas in a discussion that focused on the continuity of the Longwood men’s basketball culture.
“[Our players] have a relationship with Ronnie, our donors, our alumni and student body have a relationship with Ronnie. I think he’s an up-and-comer, and what better environment as a first-time head coach to walk into than one that has as many positive things in place as we have,” Hall concluded.
Thomas begins his head coaching tenure after a frustrating season in which the Lancers finished sixth in the Big South Conference and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament. Longwood is in the midst of a crucial offseason, with a staff determined to make it back to the top three of the conference.
“The [job] title is more important because it allows me to lead a program with my values and beliefs, which are very aligned with everything that Longwood basketball has been about,” said Thomas.
With that identity and belief that comes from inside the locker room, Longwood has eight months to turn it into quality basketball. Quality performances are what Lancer fans grew accustomed to under Aldrich’s leadership, as he led the Lancers to 127 wins in seven seasons.
“The system is not broken. We have a system in place. It’s a championship system, it has delivered championships,” said Thomas. “The difference is [that there is] obviously a change of leadership on the sideline…but that has nothing to do with the style of basketball we are going to play.”
With the addition of NIL and the revamped transfer portal, mid-major Division 1 programs such as Longwood are under more pressure to retain players and coaches. Over 1,200 Division I men’s college basketball players have entered the transfer portal, most looking for bigger schools to grow their brand and reputation.
“At the end of the day, these guys have a choice,” said Thomas. “We have a lot of work to do, and that is [the case] for whomever is in this seat.”
Longwood is already losing more than half of its players, some of whom just entered the program a year prior. Guards Angelo Brizzi, DJ Jefferson, Colby Garland, Leo Nordberg, Stark Jones and Dom Payne are all planning on leaving the school. At the same time, forwards Elijah Tucker and Johan Nziemi have also entered his name into the portal. Team captains Kyrell Luc, Michael Christmas and Trey Hicks have now run out of eligibility.
Thomas himself has youth on his side, having played collegiately only a decade ago.
“Coaching is becoming a young person’s game,” said Hall. “There’s just a built-in benefit for someone who is young being able to interact [with young people] … Ronnie is as ready to be a head coach as anybody who hasn’t been a head coach yet. You always have to do it for the first time,” Hall said.
