Quincy University Men's Basketball

Brad Hoyt enters his second season leading the Quincy University men’s basketball program, building upon a strong foundation after guiding the Hawks to a 10-18 record in his first year at the helm. Hoyt comes to QU from John Wood Community College, where he served as both Head Coach of the men’s basketball team and Athletic Director, dating back to 2011. His 269-156 record with the Trail Blazers makes Hoyt the all-time winningest coach in program history. Coach Hoyt has coached basketball in the Tri-State area for over a quarter century, spending the majority of that time at JWCC as either Head or Associate Head Coach, while also making a three-year stop as the skipper of the Culver-Stockton College Wildcats. During his tenure at JWCC, Hoyt guided the Trail Blazers to six Mid-West Athletic Conference Championships and four national tournament appearances. He was a four-time Conference, Region, District, and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, developing numerous standout players, including eight conference and region Players of the Year, eight NJCAA All-Americans, 27 All-Region selections, 30 All-Conference honorees, and four Conference Freshmen of the Year. In addition to his coaching and administrative duties at JWCC, Hoyt also served as Dean of Student Affairs, a founding member of the NJCAA Diversity Committee, and held multiple leadership positions, including Mid-West Athletic Conference men’s basketball chair, Region 24 men’s basketball DII chair, and men’s Region 24 director, overseeing all men’s sports for the region. Hoyt has been a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association since 2004 and the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 1999. He and his wife, Nikki, have three children: Sydnie, Jake, and Luke.  

Justin Bottorff, a Quincy Notre Dame High School graduate and former Quincy University signee, returns to Quincy after spending last season serving as an assistant coach at Concordia University Chicago. Bottorff became the Cougars full-time assistant coach after a year as the graduate assistant. In his first season, he helped the Cougers to an 8-0 start, the best start to a season since the 1978-79 season. Bottorff then helped CUC to a .500 record and a berth to the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference.  Bottorff played for Hoyt at John Wood during the 2018-19 season, finishing the season with a 6th place finish at the NJCAA DII National Tournament. He finished his successful playing career at Augustana College. 

Brendan Gooch, a Belleville, IL native, comes to the Hawks after serving last season as an assistant coach at fellow GLVC member Illinois-Springfield. With UIS, Gooch helped the team to an 18-13 record and a berth to the GLVC tournament, where the Prairie Stars fell to a NCAA-bound Lewis University. The Prairie Stars had four GLVC All-Conference honorees and had the best team three-point percentage in the GLVC.  Gooch graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. He played 69 games in three seasons as a Saluki. Gooch transferred to McKendree where he appeared in 37 games over two years and earned Second Team All-GLVC honors after the 2020-21 season. Gooch averaged 14.7 points per game and led the GLVC in three pointers scored (51). He went on to play professionally for the Drogheda Wolves National League Team in Drogheda, Ireland in 2022.