Stafford High School graduate finds home at Longwood

FARMVILLE — Sometimes the demands of college athletics forces students to drop the sport they play to focus on academics and getting their degree.

But it appears college sports has helped LeeAnn Sullivan stay in school, or at least at Division I Longwood University in Farmville.

Sullivan, after graduating from Stafford High School, enrolled at Longwood during the fall semester of 2011. It is the same school her older brother and sister attended, and Sullivan planned to study athletic training.

But last fall Sullivan considered returning to Northern Virginia and attending a community college closer to home. Then she had the opportunity to walk-on with the women’s basketball team at Longwood, which is about one hour west of Richmond in rural central Virginia.

She missed the first few games of the season but has played in several games since she joined the team as a freshman.

“It is crazy. I did not think this would happen,” said the soft-spoken Sullivan, sitting in a conference room near the athletic department offices at Longwood one weekday afternoon. “It is really fun and the game is fast paced compared to high school.”

The 5-foot-9 Sullivan, a basketball standout at Stafford High, now plans to stay at Longwood and hopes she can gain a basketball scholarship at some point.

“It changed everything,” Sullivan said of joining the team. “I am getting used to it. Now I am in study hall (with the team). It changed my mind, big time. If I did not play I would have gone home. I am happy I stayed.”

Sullivan came off the bench for Longwood in a 74-45 loss Feb. 9 at North Carolina State, a member of the big-time Atlantic Coast Conference. She made two of three shots from the field and had four points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of play against North Carolina State.

She played in 13 of the first 26 games, with one start, and averaged 7.9 minutes and 1.8 points per contest for Longwood, which was 5-21 overall prior to facing Richmond at home Feb. 13. The Lancers will end the season Feb. 26 against New Jersey Tech.

“She has played sporadically as we have needed her,” head coach Bill Reinson said. One of her best games was against New Jersey Tech in January, as the Lancers won, 72-71, as Sullivan had eight points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. “We didn’t win that game without her,” Reinson said.

Earlier this season Sullivan was with the team for a road game at Notre Dame, a member of the Big East Conference. The Irish was ranked No. 3 in the country at the time and won, 92-26, and Sullivan was scoreless in two minutes off the bench.

“It is a good atmosphere with the crowd and everything and how big the arena is. It is packed and they are booing you and everything,” she said of road games at larger schools.

Sullivan said the best player she has gone up against this season is Devereaux Peters, who plays for Notre Dame.

“I am small compared to everyone else,” she said.

So what is like to go up against big-time Division I players?

“You watch them on TV and now you are playing against them. It is crazy,” Sullivan said.

Longwood has played as an independent this season, but Jan. 23 the school announced that it will join the Division I Big South Conference for the 2012-13 season. 

“Moving forward, membership in the Big South Conference will open up many recruiting avenues that have not been available in the past. The future is bright for Longwood Athletics,” Reinson said in a statement.

Sullivan is the second member of her family to play a sport at Longwood; her sister, Lauren, played field hockey at the school. Her brother, Tim, played football at Stafford High and their parents also went to Stafford High.

So what is the biggest adjustment to college hoops?

“It is a lot faster paced, for one. Now it is not like one person is good (like in high school). It is everyone,” Sullivan said.

While in high school she attracted attention from the basketball programs at Randolph and Marymount but the price tag for those schools was too steep. She played four years of hoops at Stafford and helped her team to a pair of district titles. Sullivan was a second-team all-district player and most valuable player of the district tournament.

She liked the campus at Longwood and entered school last fall. Sullivan sent an email to women’s coach Reinson early in the semester and eventually tried out for the team after the squad lost players to injuries.

One of her teammates earlier this season was freshman Megan Baltzell (Mountain View), who recently left the basketball team in order to focus on playing softball at the school this semester. Baltzell played in 21 games, with two starts, in basketball and averaged 11.3 minutes and 2.6 points per contest.

“I wasn’t coming here to play basketball. (Reinson) told me I was going to have to try out,” said Sullivan, who is now an undeclared major. She did just that and is glad to be part of the Lancers of Longwood and hopes to next season as a sophomore.

“We would love to have her back. I have not spoken to her about that. She has a great attitude. She has a good basketball IQ. She understands how to play the game,” Reinson said.

David Driver is a frequent contributor to The Sun. He can be reached at info@staffordcountysun.com.