IBCA honors local players, coaches, friends of the game during Hall of Fame banquet

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association waited, rescheduled and then waited some more before receiving an “all clear” to hold its Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony.

Although recipients and their families were required to wear masks inside Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena on Saturday night, the IBCA finally was able to honor two years worth of inductees and celebrate incredible contributions to the game.

The 2020 inductees from West Central Illinois were Muddy River Sports editor Matt Schuckman, former WGEM and KHQA sports director Steve Looten, Quincy Catholic Boys all-stater Dan Pieper, Quincy University women’s basketball players Kelly Buresh and Christi Longnecker, Carthage’s Joe Dion as a friend of basketball and the 2008 West Hancock girls basketball team.

The 2021 inductees were Quincy High School assistant coach Mike Hellenthal, Southeastern graduate Brad Eaton and four Carthage girls basketball products — McKensey (Long) Green, Lexanne (Dickerson) Darwent, Danielle (Hibbard) Surprenant and Megan (Shirey) Carlisle – as well as former WTAD broadcaster Jeff Myers and Quincy contributor John Groves.

Quincy Media and the Oakley family were honored as one of the three organizations of the year. This is the first time the IBCA has honored organizations. The Champaign News-Gazette and the Illinois High School Association were the other recipients.

Schuckman, who served stints as the University of Missouri men’s basketball beat writer for the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune and as editor of Inside Mizzou Sports magazine, worked for the Quincy Herald-Whig for more than 22 years. He began serving as editor of Muddy River Sports in July.

He served as the beat writer for Quincy High School boys basketball throughout his career and the past decade as the beat writer covering the Quincy University men’s and women’s basketball programs. He also served as the color analyst for WGEM Radio’s broadcasts of the Blue Devils and the Hawks for 19 seasons.

Schuckman has received more than 50 writing awards from the Illinois Press Association, the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors and the Missouri Press Association throughout his career and has been honored five times with top-10 writing awards in the Associated Press Sports Editors’ national contest.

Pieper, a 1972 graduate of Quincy Catholic Boys, led the Raiders to the Class A state quarterfinals as a senior when he averaged 26.2 points and 15.8 rebounds, scored a school-record 842 points and was named to the Chicago Daily News Class and the Associated Press Class A all-state teams.

Buresh played three years at Quincy University after scoring more than 2,000 career points at Annawan. The forward finished second on the Hawks in scoring and rebounding during the 2012-13 season. She tied a single-game school record with eight 3-pointers against William Jewell that season.

Longnecker was an all-state forward at Hardin Calhoun who played at Quincy University in the late 1980s and was named a National Catholic Basketball Tournament Academic All-American in 1989.

Looten spent two decades bringing Quincy area viewers their television sports news. A Hannibal native and graduate of Truman State University, Looten spent his first three years at KTVO as a weekend news and weather reporter who dabbled in sports. In 1983, he began a two-year stint as the sports anchor at KHQA before taking over as sports director at WGEM in 1985. He stepped away from the broadcast business in 2001.

Hellenthal passed away in May 2020, so his son, QU basketball coach Ryan Hellenthal, represented him at the banquet. He spent 15 seasons as an assistant basketball coach at Quincy High School. Hellenthal, who is a member of the Quincy Blue Devils Sports Hall of Fame, also served as athletic director at Galesburg and Dixon.

Eaton starred at Southeastern in the mid-1980s, leading the Suns to a 22-5 record as a senior in 1985 when he scored 23.1 points per game. He was a third-team all-state selection and first-team all-area pick who was the Suns’ all-time leading scorer when he graduated with 1,570 points. 

Green was a first-team all-state selection from both the Associated Press and the IBCA and a finalist for Illinois Ms. Basketball in 2007. She graduated as Carthage’s all-time leading scorer with 1,895 points. She became a first-team All-American at Kirkwood Community College.

Darwent led the Bluegirls to a 27-8 record and a third-place finish at the Class A state tournament in 2004 when she averaged 16 points per game, earning first-team all-state honors from the Associated Press and the IBCA.

Surprenant averaged 17.2 points and seven rebounds per game as a senior, leading Carthage to a 24-9 season and the Class A state quarterfinals in 2003. She went on to star at John Wood Community College and is a member of the JWCC Hall of Fame.

Carlisle averaged 15.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in 2004 at Carthage. She enjoyed a Hall of Fame career at John Wood Community College, where she was a two-time all-conference and all-region selection before becoming an NAIA All-American at Cardinal Stritch University.

Myers worked at WTAD in the late 1970s and early 1980s and joined Mike Lawrence as the co-host of “Sports Rap.” Since 1989, he’s been the play-by-play voice of high school football and basketball in the Elgin area.

Groves serves on the QHS Thanksgiving Tournament committee and is a past tournament chairman. He also assists the Blue Devil mascot with the pre-game routine.