Ex-Streak ready to dance: Allen Massey headed to NCAA men's basketball tourney with Longwood

Allen Massey is headed to the Big Dance.

The 2015 Galesburg High School grad, who hit the hardwood for the Silver Streaks, is in his first season as the video coordinator for Longwood University's men's basketball team.

And the Lancers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the school's history.

Longwood punched its ticket with a 79-58 victory over Winthrop in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday, March 6 in the Big South tournament championship game.

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The Lancers (26-6, 15-1 in league play) have won eight straight games and haven't been playing on the Division I level for their entire existence.

Longwood a true Cinderella entry

In 2004-05, Longwood, which is located in Farmville, Virginia, started its move up from Division II, and the Lancers finished with a 1-30 overall record that season. Before the 2021-22 season rolled around, a 17-14 overall mark was Longwood's best, and that came in 2008-09.

“This has just been an absolutely incredible season," Massey said. "To go 15-1 in conference, win the regular season conference title and then win the conference tournament is incredible. Since they moved to the Big South, the highest they had finished was like fourth and with a .500 record.

"I’m just so happy for the players," added Massey. "They’re not only great players but great people. They’ve reaped their rewards. It’s just awesome for them."

The Lancers will find out their first round NCAA tourney foe Sunday evening, and they'll be ready for whomever.

“We won’t find out who we are playing or where we are playing until Sunday but we'll be prepared," Massey said. "This is my first time going to the tournament, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

“The women’s program is also going for the first time," added the 25-year-old. "It’s just a great time in Farmville.”

Massey's coaching journey includes stays at Drake, Louisiana Tech

Prior to joining Longwood's staff, Massey spent two seasons at Louisiana Tech University, an NCAA Division I school located in Ruston, Louisiana. He was a graduate manager for the Bulldogs' men's basketball team. Massey, who obtained a master's degree in business administration while at LA Tech, worked primarily as the director for scouting and video.

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Before he ended up in "The Pelican State," Massey attended Drake University, an NCAA Division I school in Des Moines, Iowa, and he was the head manager for the men’s basketball team for four seasons.

Massey obtained a bachelor’s degree in business marketing while at Drake, and he organized and broke down film, as well as assisted with many parts of the operations behind the scenes.

Massey does similar things now for the Lancers and more.

“Breaking down film is the majority of it but I also assist with some of the day-to-day within the program," Massey said. "The thing about working at a smaller school like this is you have your main title but you also do other stuff.

"I’m an academic coach for some of the players on the team and just make sure things are going well for them in the classroom and stuff like that.”

Dream to be a college basketball coach

Why did Massey decide to pursue a post at Longwood once his time at Louisiana Tech was over?

“Obviously, my whole life I've been around basketball, and it’s kind of always been a dream of mine to get into college coaching," said Massey, whose dad, Evan Massey, just wrapped up his 44th season as Galesburg's girls basketball coach. "High school didn’t interest me at this point in my career. I wanted to stay in college if I could.

"Longwood really jumped out to me," Massey added. "It’s a smaller town (with a population of around 8,300) and the community is able to rally behind Longwood University. A lot of the population either works at Longwood or has ties to Longwood. The backing of the community you don’t always get at the Division I level. We were able to sell out a few games this season, and I can’t imagine that’s ever happened before.

“They’ve been turning it around the past few years so I knew this was a place that really interested me.”

Matthew Wheaton can be reached at (309) 315-6073 or at mwheaton@register-mail.com. Follow him on Twitter @matthewlwheaton

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: NCAA Men's Basketball: Galesburg's Allen Massey is going dancing