Griff Aldrich

Last updated
Griff Aldrich
Griff Aldrich 2023.jpg
Aldrich at Willett Hall in 2023.
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Longwood
Conference Big South
Record118–89 (.570)
Annual salary$150,000 [1]
Biographical details
Born (1974-06-28) June 28, 1974 (age 50) [2] [3]
Alma mater Hampden-Sydney College (BA)
University of Virginia (JD)
Playing career
1992–1996 Hampden–Sydney
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2000 Hampden–Sydney (assistant)
2018–present Longwood
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2016–2018 UMBC (dir. of recruiting)
Head coaching record
Overall118–89 (.570)
Tournaments0–2 (NCAA Division I)
1–2 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 Big South tournament (2022, 2024)
Big South regular season (2022)
Big South North Division (2022)
Awards
Big South Coach of the Year (2022)

Scott Griffith Aldrich [4] (born June 28, 1974) [3] is an American college basketball coach and lawyer. He is the current head coach of the Longwood Lancers men's basketball team. [5] [6]

Contents

Playing career

Aldrich played at Hampden–Sydney under Tony Shaver, where he was team captain his senior year and a part of two NCAA Tournament squads for the Tigers. [7] [8] Aldrich also was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa honors societies. [9] : 91, 138 

Coaching career

After graduation from the University of Virginia School of Law, Aldrich returned to Hampden–Sydney for the 1999–2000 season as an assistant coach, where he assisted in the Tigers' perfect 24–0 regular season, and No. 1 national ranking in Division III. He also served as head coach of the Tigers' cross country team. [10]

Aldrich then entered the private sector for 16 years, while also coaching AAU basketball in the Houston, Texas area. [11] Among the players Aldrich coached in AAU include DeAndre Jordan and Orie Lemon. [6] He returned to college coaching in 2016, joining Hampden–Sydney classmate Ryan Odom's staff at UMBC as the director of basketball operations, and Director of Recruiting/Program Development. Aldrich was part of the Retrievers' historic upset over top-ranked Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

On March 22, 2018, Aldrich was named the ninth head coach in Longwood University program history, replacing Jayson Gee. [5] In his first season, he led the Lancers to their first ever Division I postseason appearance in the 2019 College Basketball Invitational, and was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award (given for most outstanding first-year head coach), which had been won by Odom in 2017. [12] His second season saw Longwood reach fourth place in the Big South Conference, their highest finish in the league since joining in 2012. In July 2021, Aldrich received a contract extension through 2028. [13] At the close of the 2021–22 season, Aldrich was named the Big South Coach of the Year for leading Longwood to the regular season title. [14] Five days later, Longwood won their first ever Big South Conference tournament and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.

The following season saw the Lancers win a second consecutive 20-win season for the first time in program history, and Aldrich was named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. [15] Subsequently, Aldrich received a contract extension through 2034. [16] After the Lancers won the 2024 Big South Conference tournament, [17] punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years, Aldrich was again named a finalist for the 2023-24 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. [18]

Non-coaching career

Aldrich was a partner at Vinson & Elkins law firm, and also was the founder of an oil and gas company in Texas, as well as a managing director and chief financial officer at a private investment firm. [7] [6]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Longwood Lancers (Big South Conference)(2018–present)
2018–19 Longwood 16–185–119th CBI Quarterfinals
2019–20 Longwood 14–189–94th
2020–21 Longwood 12–1710–10T–5th CBI Quarterfinals
2021–22 Longwood 26–715–11st (North) NCAA Division I Round of 64
2022–23 Longwood 20–1212–6T–2nd
2023–24 Longwood 21–146–10T–5th NCAA Division I Round of 64
2024–25 Longwood 9–30–0
Longwood:118–89 (.570)57–47 (.548)
Total:118–89 (.570)

Personal life

Aldrich is married to Julie Aldrich. [19] They have three adopted children. [20] Aldrich is a Christian. [19]

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The 2019–20 Longwood Lancers men's basketball team represented Longwood University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lancers, led by second-year head coach Griff Aldrich, played their home games at Willett Hall in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 9–9 in Big South play to finish in fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament to Hampton.

The 2020–21 Longwood Lancers men's basketball team represented Longwood University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lancers, led by third-year head coach Griff Aldrich, played their home games at Willett Hall in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 12-17, 10-10 to finish in 5th place. They defeated UNC Asheville in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament before losing in the semifinals to Winthrop. They received an invitation to the CBI where they lost in the quarterfinals to Pepperdine.

The 2021–22 Longwood Lancers men's basketball team represented Longwood University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lancers, led by fourth-year head coach Griff Aldrich, played their home games at Willett Hall in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference. With the reintroduction of divisions for the first time since the 2013–14 season, the Lancers played in the North division. They finished the regular season 26–6, 15–1 in Big South play, to win the Big South regular-season championship. They defeated North Carolina A&T, USC Upstate and Winthrop to win the Big South tournament championship. As a result, the Lancers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the school's first-ever trip to the tournament, as the No. 14 seed in the South Region, where they lost in the first round to Tennessee.

The 2021–22 Longwood Lancers women's basketball team represented Longwood University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lancers, led by fourth-year head coach Rebecca Tillet, played their home games at Willett Hall in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference.

The 2022–23 Longwood Lancers men's basketball team represented Longwood University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lancers, led by fifth-year head coach Griff Aldrich, played their home games at Willett Hall in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference.

The 2023–24 Longwood Lancers men's basketball team represented Longwood University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lancers, led by sixth-year head coach Griff Aldrich, played their home games at the newly opened Joan Perry Brock Center in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 21–14, 6–10 in Big South play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big South Tournament, they defeated Winthrop, High Point, and UNC Asheville to win the Big South tournament championship, as a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history. As a No. 16 seed in the South region, they lost to Houston in the First Round.

The 2024–25 Longwood Lancers men's basketball team represents Longwood University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lancers, led by seventh-year head coach Griff Aldrich, play their home games at the Joan Perry Brock Center in Farmville, Virginia as members of the Big South Conference.

References

  1. ↑ "Salary Listings 2018". Longwood University Digital Commons. April 26, 2018. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ Miller, Ed. "How the managing partner of a multi-billion dollar private equity firm became a college basketball coach in Virginia". pilotonline.com.
  3. 1 2 "Griff Aldrich". coachesdatabase.com. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Mr. Scott Griffith 'Griff' Aldrich". State Bar of Texas. May 7, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Longwood Names UMBC's Griff Aldrich Head Men's Basketball Coach -". longwoodlancers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 "Longwood University Lancers". longwoodlancers.com.
  7. 1 2 "UMBC". UMBC.
  8. ↑ "Odom '96 to Coach UMBC in NCAA Tournament Tonight". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  9. ↑ The Hundredth Kaleidoscope. Hampden-Sydney College. 1996.
  10. ↑ "Aldrich Resigns as H-SC Hoops Assistant". The Farmville Herald . August 16, 2000. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ Miller, Ed (February 9, 2019). "How the managing partner of a multi-billion dollar private equity firm became a college basketball coach in Virginia". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Aldrich Named Finalist for Joe B. Hall Coach of the Year Award" (Press release). Longwood Lancers. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Aldrich Receives Contract Extension Through 2028" (Press release). Longwood University. July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Big South Announces 2021-22 Men's Basketball Annual Award Winners" (Press release). Big South Conference. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Towson's Pat Skerry is the recipient of the 2023 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award" (Press release). Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. March 30, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  16. ↑ O'Connor, John (March 30, 2023). "Longwood aligns with out-of-the-box hire. Griff Aldrich agrees to 10-year extension". Richmond Times-Dispatch . Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  17. ↑ "#5 Longwood Wins 2024 Hercules Tires Big South Men's Basketball Championship" (Press release). Big South Conference. March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Aldrich Named Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award Finalist" (Press release). Longwood Lancers. March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  19. 1 2 Zayas, Riley. "Longwood's Griff Aldrich follows God's unique path to become Division I basketball coach". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  20. ↑ Mohler, Titus. "Seeing through a different lens" . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
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