​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was March 9, when Longwood Athletics Director Troy Austin parted way with then women’s basketball Head Coach Bill Reinson after eight seasons. Reinson went 58-177 overall and 28-86 in Big South conference play. During his last season at the helm, the team only went 7-23, with a 5-13 record in conference play. In the month that followed, there was speculation about who would be tabbed as the next coach of the team who hadn’t had a winning season since the 2007-2008 season when they went 16-13.

​

Tillett reached out to a former player of hers for the contact information of women’s soccer Head Coach Todd Dyer, but also came away with the contact information of then-Athletic Director Troy Austin. She decided to seize the opportunity and let Austin know she was interested women’s basketball head coaching vacancy.

​

The first step of Tillett’s interview process after contacting Austin was to meet with him and part of the athletics leadership team at Longwood. Tillett said, “In that in-between time, I’m researching the university, the [basketball] program and trying to decide if it will also be a great fit for me.”

​

Tillett said, “One of the things that really stood out to me on the interview, was as I was being walked through campus by Troy [Austin], how friendly people were, both in that they knew him, and he knew them but just the vibe on campus. I still feel that now when I’m walking on campus.”

​

​

​

Tillett knew the Longwood women’s basketball program was the right place to start her career as a head coach of a college program even though the year before she was hired, the team had a streak where they lost 13 out of 14 games. She had spent time teaching at the high school and elementary level while coaching high school basketball for a decade and a half. Tillett said, “They need someone that’s really going to teach, and the fact we are known for being a teaching college as well and I was a teacher.

​

All of those things fit, I love the Big South I think it’s a great league that can be really competitive by recruiting all of the kids I was recruiting at Navy and the kids I’ve coached in Virginia. There’s also the opportunity to do something special at a university that’s eager and ready to have that happen.”

​

On April 12, Austin announced Tillett as the eighth head coach in the history of the women’s basketball program. After the announcement, both redshirt junior Kate Spradlin and sophomore Mallory O’Dell were excited to get started with their new coach.

​

Reflecting on meeting Tillett for the first time Spradlin said, “I was so excited. I think everyone in our program knew it was time for change. I remember I had my first meeting with Coach Tillett and I walked out of her office and I was so excited for what we had coming and for the discipline she wanted to bring to our program and a new work ethic for our program, just rebuilding our culture and rebranding Longwood women’s basketball.”

​

​

​

O’Dell, who was actively being recruited by Tillett during her time at Navy said, “It was really exciting, but it was obviously nerve-wracking knowing there was a change coming, things would be different, but also a positive outlook.”

 

As the days rolled on, Tillett chose her staff to help start the journey. The first coach selected for Tillett’s staff was Maeve Gallagher on May 11. Tillett said, “Coach Maeve impressed me when we worked together at the Naval Academy camps [Gallagher served as the individual camp director] and she has a great sense of humor. You need someone on staff that’s gonna keep the staff keep seeing the good things in life and laughing because it’s a long season, it’s a journey. She brings some expertise as far as Xs and Os that I admire.”

​

Tillett added her second coach a week later and one she’s known the longest. Jessica Olmstead who was an assistant coach of Tillett during her high school days. Tillett said, “There’s such a comfort level with us, an unspoken communication, she can read my mannerisms and facial expressions. She does things before I would even think to ask her and that comes both from our time together and also from her gifts that she brings to the table.”

​

Tillett finally added Tiffany Sardin on May 23 as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator. Sardin played basketball professionally in Portugal and at UVA, later staying in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to coach and recruit for Boston College and Clemson, respectively. Tillett said, “I don’t know what our season would be like if we didn’t have Coach Tiff right now. Her ability to build relationships with our players and our staff was immediate. She’s the one on staff with the most Division 1 experience.”

​

While Tillett was in the process of choosing her staff, she was getting workouts in with the team. Tillett said during the first meeting with the team everyone seemed nervous, the “good kind,” while the team and Tillett were trying to read each other. She said after she announced her staff they started recruiting right away. She also wanted to spend as much time with the team as possible to get to know them and implement her culture right away.

​

According to the players, there were some sizeable culture changes between the two coaches. Senior forward Kristina Antonenko said, “I feel like we have different energy. I feel like the way Coach Tillett and the new staff is coaching us is closer to us. They’re all women coaches, which I would say is a good thing, and we have a lot of positive energy, we have a lot of competition, we have a lot of challenges to go through together.”

​

​

​

Tillett has changed the core values, pace and energy on the court, as well as adding a leadership council to help bridge the communication between players and coaches. The four core values Tillett has implemented are: collective responsibility, impact, initiative and love. Spradlin enjoys the changes, “I think they were needed, in our program, to get our culture back on the right track and align it with the changes of culture the rest of the athletics department is building.”

​

Players who wanted to be on the leadership council had to submit a cover letter, resume and then go through an interview process with the coaching staff to be chosen. The reason behind that, it to prepare the players for the real world beyond college.

​

Antonenko loves the idea of the leadership council, she said, “It’s an amazing opportunity because first of all you have to interview for it and write a resume so it’s like a legit job, which is so helpful because obviously we’re all going to get a job when we’re done with basketball. At this point you kinda know how it’s going to be and getting into the leadership council is like another step that helps you realize how it’s going to be in real life.”

​

​

​

During the leadership council meetings, both the coaching staff and the players talk about what positive things are happening with the team, and what are things that need to be improved upon. The council is also reading called Why the Best are the Best by Kevin Eastman, similar to what Coach Todd Dyer does with the women’s soccer team. They choose a chapter to read individually and then talk about it as a group.

​

Tillett and her staff organized multiple off-the-court activities during preseason to help with team bonding and also getting ready for the season. Those activities included a ropes course, a Toughness with the Marine Corps (TMC) program and the ultimate competitor created by Olmstead. Antonenko explained during these exercises, players pushed each other to their limits and communicated like there were in a game situation.

​

The ultimate competitor is a competition where the team gets into groups they normally might not be in during practice to complete a non-basketball-related tasks. One of the tasks, was holding a bucket of ice water using only their feet, rotating the bucket and eventually taking shoes and socks off. The competition helps with team bonding, communication, and increased competitiveness.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Antonenko along with some of her other teammates enjoyed TMC even though it was challenging. Antonenko said, “It showed where everyone’s limit and it showed that we can all go beyond our limit. We did so many things we haven’t done before.”

​

O’Dell echoed similar thoughts about TMC, “At first it was helpful because it was pushing us out of our comfort zone, so we realized we could be pushed out of our comfort zone and still be successful. In times where we’re struggling a little bit or things are getting tough then we’ll have that to lean back on”.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Tillett has high hopes during her tenure at the helm of the women’s basketball program. Tillett said, “Let’s put some Big South banners on that wall and make the NCAA tournament! The other thing we’ve talked to recruits about is we want to make history, Coach Duncan made incredible history while she was here [Duncan is the winningest coach of all-time in Longwood women’s basketball history, with 356 wins and four NCAA Division 2 tournament appearances] and now I would love for these women that are here now and the ones we bring in to have a chance to break records.”

​

​