Griff Aldrich

Scott Griffith Aldrich[3] is an American college basketball coach and lawyer. He is the current head coach of the Longwood Lancers men's basketball team.[4][5]

Griff Aldrich
Aldrich at Willett Hall in 2023.
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamLongwood
ConferenceBig South
Record88–72 (.550)
Annual salary$150,000[1]
Biographical details
Born1974 or 1975 (age 48–49)[2]
Alma materHampden-Sydney College (BA)
University of Virginia (JD)
Playing career
1992–1996Hampden–Sydney
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2000Hampden–Sydney (assistant)
2018–presentLongwood
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2016–2018UMBC (dir. of recruiting)
Head coaching record
Overall88–72 (.550)
TournamentsCBI: 1–2
NCAA: 0–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big South North Division (2022)
Big South regular season (2022)
Big South Conference men's basketball tournament (2022)
Awards
Big South Coach of the Year (2022)

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.[6][7] Aldrich also was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa honors societies.[8]: 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.[9]

Aldrich then entered the private sector for 16 years, while also coaching AAU basketball in the Houston, Texas area.[10] Among the players Aldrich coached in AAU include DeAndre Jordan and Orie Lemon.[5] 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.[4] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] 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 twenty-win season for the first time in program history, and Aldrich was named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award.[14] Subsequently, Aldrich received a contract extension through 2034.[15]

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.[6][5]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Longwood Lancers (Big South Conference) (2018–present)
2018–19 Longwood 16–185–119thCBI Quarterfinals
2019–20 Longwood 14–189–94th
2020–21 Longwood 12–1710–10T–5thCBI Quarterfinals
2021–22 Longwood 26–715–11st (North)NCAA Division I Round of 64
2022–23 Longwood 20–1212–6T–2nd
Longwood: 88–72 (.550)51–37 (.580)
Total:88–72 (.550)

Personal life

Aldrich is married to Julie Aldrich.[16] They have three adopted children.[17] Aldrich is a Christian.[16]

References
  1. "Salary Listings 2018". Longwood University Digital Commons. April 26, 2018. 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. "Mr. Scott Griffith 'Griff' Aldrich". State Bar of Texas. May 7, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  4. "Longwood Names UMBC's Griff Aldrich Head Men's Basketball Coach -". longwoodlancers.com.
  5. "Longwood University Lancers". longwoodlancers.com.
  6. "UMBC". UMBC.
  7. "Odom '96 to Coach UMBC in NCAA Tournament Tonight". 16 March 2018.
  8. The Hundredth Kaleidoscope. Hampden-Sydney College. 1996.
  9. "Aldrich Resigns as H-SC Hoops Assistant". The Farmville Herald. August 16, 2000. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  10. 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.
  11. "Aldrich Named Finalist for Joe B. Hall Coach of the Year Award" (Press release). Longwood Lancers. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  12. "Aldrich Receives Contract Extension Through 2028" (Press release). Longwood University. July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  13. "Big South Announces 2021-22 Men's Basketball Annual Award Winners" (Press release). Big South Conference. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  14. "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.
  15. 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.
  16. Zayas, Riley. "Longwood's Griff Aldrich follows God's unique path to become Division I basketball coach". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  17. Mohler, Titus. "Seeing through a different lens". Retrieved 6 November 2020.
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