Countdown to tipoff: Experience will help Blue Devils meet heightened expectations

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QUINCY — The Quincy High School boys basketball players don’t shy away from harboring state championship aspirations.

“That’s my goal every time I play,” 6-foot-3 senior guard Bradley Longcor III said.

Still, becoming preoccupied with that title pursuit is the last thing the Blue Devils can afford to do.

As Quincy coach Andy Douglas reminds them, this team hasn’t accomplished anything yet.

“Complacency worries me more than anything,” said Douglas, entering his 11th season at the helm. “There are a lot of people trying to pump them up, but this group hasn’t done anything. If you’re going to have guys like Bradley (Longcor), Dom (Clay) and (Keshaun Thomas), who are going to lead us, they understand that.

“Last year was last year. Two years ago was two years ago. We’re trying to leave our imprint on the program for this year, for the 2024-25 season. That’s our job and our focus.”

This group wants to be remembered.

“We have to put a lot of stamps on the program this year,” said Clay, the 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard.

They’d like to do more than any of the three previous teams did.

Since this group entered as freshmen — Longcor, Clay, Thomas and point guard Kamren Wires have been a part of the varsity roster since the 2021-22 season — they have helped the Blue Devils compile an 85-15 record with two Western Big 6 Conference championships, three regionals titles and one sectional crown.

They’ve also endured heartache, such as the last-second 44-43 loss to Normal Community in last year’s Class 4A Pekin Sectional championship.

But if you leave the high-water marks in the past, you leave the low-water marks there, too.

That’s what this group is doing.

“We have a really good team that can win, and it’s great everyone is excited, but we have to focus on every day getting in the gym and getting better,” said Thomas, the 6-foot-6 senior forward. “That’s how we meet expectations.”

Those expectations are high. Quincy is ranked fifth in the NestoHoops preseason Class 4A top 25 and is expected to be in the top 10 when the Associated Press releases its first state rankings next week. Four seniors are college bound — Longcor has signed with Santa Clara, Clay has committed to Austin Peay, Wires is heading to Culver-Stockton College and Thomas is receiving NCAA Division II interest — and there is length and athleticism coming off the bench.

It’s easy to see why Blue Devil Nation is excited.

“With that comes a lot of responsibility,” Douglas said. “The biggest responsibility is coming in every day with the mindset that we have to do whatever we can to improve. For the most part, we’ve improved every day.”

The seniors are committed to getting better.

Longcor, who was a first-team all-state selection by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association a year ago, heads into his senior season with 1,297 career points, 250 career rebounds and 285 career assists. He is the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000 or more points in a career and currently ranks 12th all-time in scoring.

He has a legitimate chance of finishing in the top three in scoring.

And that’s without having to shoulder the load alone.

Thomas averaged 13 points and eight rebounds per game as a junior and is one of the best forwards in the WB6. Clay averaged 7.9 points and made 39 treys as a junior, but his game expanded on the AAU summer circuit and he has the bounce and length to provide additional punch.

“We’re not worrying about stats or anything like that,” Clay said. “We play as a group. We care about what each other does.”

They let each other know it — good or bad — by communicating constantly.

“If we talk, we’re the best team in the state,” Thomas said. “We have to be able to talk to each other, talk through things, not get mad at each other and focus in.”

And ignore the distractions that come with being talked about as a state contender.

“Expectations are high, but there’s no pressure,” Longcor said. “We just have to go out there and play the game we love.”