Schuckman: Finding coach to ’embrace this basketball crazy community’ shouldn’t be difficult for QU administration

QUINCY — Thirty-one minutes is all it took.

The news of Ryan Hellenthal’s dismissal as the Quincy University men’s basketball coach broke at 10 a.m. Friday, and 31 minutes after that news hit social media, the first mention of a possible successor was posted.

A plethora of posts followed.

Fans in this basketball savvy community want to see the Hawks succeed. They want to see local products choose to stay close to home. They will pack Pepsi Arena when the two go hand-in-hand as they did in 2016-17 when players from Illini West and Pittsfield were part of the rotation for a team that finished 25-7 and played in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The need for a coach who can tap this region for its best talent rang loud and clear in the ears of the QU administration on January 27 when Indianapolis guard Cory Miller Jr. — an all-stater at Mendon Unity and an All-American at John Wood Community College — received an echoing roar during the introduction of the starting lineups.

It’s one of the loudest moments in Pepsi Arena in recent history.

It rankled the Hawks, who beat the Greyhounds in double-overtime that night, but it also showed the administration there’s a piece of the puzzle that’s missing.

That’s a tie to the community.

Asked what his vision for the next head coach is, QU athletic director Josh Rabe said, “I’m looking for a recruiter, a developer, someone who is going to come in energized, the kind of person who will embrace this basketball crazy community and turn it into something we all envision.”

If the community has any sway in the hiring process, it became clear which direction it wants to see the Hawks go based on the amount of social media mentions.

Brad Hoyt would be the target.

The John Wood Community College coach is ingrained in this community. A lifelong Quincyan who went to grade school across the street from the QU campus at St. Francis and was a multi-sport standout at Quincy Notre Dame, Hoyt has embraced the need to mix the top area talent with the right pieces from afar to have success.

During his 12 seasons at JWCC, Hoyt has created a junior college powerhouse. The Trail Blazers made four national tournament appearances in the previous eight seasons and have been nationally ranked this season. They have produced six All-Americans in that span, including three who were tri-state area prep stars — MIller, Clark County’s Chandler Bevans and Canton’s Gabe McKenzie.

The 2014-15 team which finished as the NJCAA Division II national runner-up had two area products — Illini West’s Brody Gronewold and West Hancock’s Paxton Harmon — in the starting lineup. Harmon went on to play in the GLVC at Illinois-Springfield as did former JWCC standouts Regan Bruenger (Illinois-Springfield), TJ Tisdell (Southern Indiana), Aziz Fadika (Quincy), Chima Oduocha (Missouri S&T) and Miller.

Jordan Johnson, the All-American point guard on the national runner-up team, went on to play at UNLV and in the NBA G-league.

So finding, assessing and recruiting GLVC-level talent isn’t a hurdle Hoyt hasn’t cleared.

The same can be said for Luke Strege, the former QU assistant coach who is the head coach at Mineral Area College.

Now in his seventh season at the Park Hills, Mo., school, Strege owned a 153-30 record prior to this season and led the Cardinals to the elite eight of the NJCAA Division I national tournament last season. MAC’s Malevy Leons was named the NJCAA Player of the Year and is starring at Bradley this season.

Leons is one of several players the Cardinals have sent to NCAA Division I programs with JaMir Price, a former QU signee, likely to be the next at the end of this season.

Much like Hoyt, Strege knows how to find, assess and recruit top talent. Plus, he’s familiar with recruiting to the GLVC, having spent six seasons as the associate head coach under Marty Bell from 2004-10.

Other names will surface, like former QU player and assistant coach Jestin Anderson, who is currently an assistant coach at Maryville. The job should be appealing to a number of college assistant coaches looking to run their own program.

Rabe knows what he wants, and this community knows what it wants.

They go hand-in-hand.

The challenge will be to find the right person to embrace that, but it might not be too much of a challenge at all.