📍 Farmville, Virginia
🏀 Home of Longwood Lancers basketball

The geographical and cultural hub of Southside Virginia, the small town of Farmville is one that not many have even heard of. Even fewer associate Farmville with the esteem of college basketball. Yet every winter, the dedicated fans of the Longwood Lancers come out to support their team at one of the oldest public institutions in the country, Longwood University.

For more than 40 years, the Lancers played at the cramped, no-frills Willett Hall. The 1,800 seat venue was one of the smallest in Division I and lacked any eye-catching features or modern amenities. A replacement for this aging facility opened in 2023, thanks to a huge donation from benefactor and alumnus Joan Perry Brock. The new arena, situated next door to old Willett Hall, was named in her honor and features a classical architectural style that’s been cropping up in recent years around campus. The JPB seats more than 3,000 Lancer faithful.

Longwood was an all-female school until transitioning to co-ed in 1976, the same year that the men’s basketball team began play. Previously Division II – and Division III before that – Lancer athletics reclassified to Division I in 2004 and have been a contender in the Big South Conference since 2012. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams clinched conference tournaments titles in 2022, punching the school’s first-ever tickets to the Big Dance. A small hall of fame area in the lobby of the Joan Perry Brock Center features these two trophies, as well as an interactive video board full of Lancer highlights.

The student section is situated all along the length of the floor, surrounding three sides of the court in a style reminiscent of Cameron Indoor. During marquee games, these sections will be packed and bouncing. The school band, the Longwood Stampede, and the “Blue Heat” dance team add to the atmosphere at the JPB.

Although most schools in the Big South have small and dated venues, High Point’s Qubein Center and Longwood’s Joan Perry Brock Center are the notable exceptions. With the Lancers looking to be on the rise and a sleek new arena to call home, a stop here in rural Virginia might just make for the best college basketball experience in the conference.