QU men, women both picked to finish ninth in GLVC preseason basketball coaches polls

QUINCY — The Quincy University men’s and women’s basketball programs find themselves in the same exact spot.

They have to prove the Great Lakes Valley Conference coaches wrong.

Both QU programs were picked ninth among the league’s 14 teams in the preseason poll of the league’s coaches. Only the top eight teams make the GLVC Tournament at the end of the regular season, meaning the Hawks aren’t expected to be there.

Come March, at Lindenwood’s Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo., that could change. 

On the men’s side, Indianapolis is picked to win the league. The Greyhounds return the reigning GLVC Player of the Year in senior forward Kendrick Tchoua and a first-team All-GLVC selection in junior guard Jesse Bingham. They also have added second-team All-GLVC pick Paul Zilinskas, a transfer from Quincy University.

Indianapolis received 13 of the 14 first-place votes. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.

Illinois-Springfield is picked second and received the other first-place vote. The Prairie Stars return first-team All-GLVC forward Jack Weber and second-team all-league guard Max Kunnert.

Third is Missouri-St. Louis, which is coming an NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance. The Tritons were hit hard by graduation, but return guard Matt Enright, an all-freshman team selection a year ago.

Quincy, which went 14-15 a year ago and lost to UIndy in double overtime in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament, returns its second-leading scorer in Zion Richardson, but will be one of the youngest teams in the league with 10 of the 15 players on the roster being freshmen and sophomores.

On the women’s side, Lewis is picked to end Drury’s reign, earning eight of the 14 first-place votes. The Flyers were the GLVC Tournament runner-up a year ago and return four All-GLVC selections — first-team picks Grace Hilber and Kathryn Schmidt and second-team picks Taylor Gugliuzza and Jenna Badali.

Drury received four first-place votes and will be looking for its eighth straight GLVC Tournament title. The Panthers, now coached by former QU skipper Kaci Bailey, went 31-2 overall last season and 20-0 in the GLVC. They return GLVC Freshman of the Year Reese Schaaf.

Truman State and Maryville each received one first-place vote as well.

Quincy, under the tutelage of first-year coach Courtney Boyd, returns junior forward Cymirah Williams, who averaged 8 points and 8 rebounds per game last season. She is the only returnee among the Hawks’ top five scorers from last season.