Great Lakes Valley
Brock Heading to Illinois-Springfield
Editor: The following is part of a press release from mbuspartans.com.
(St. Louis, MO) — Matt Brock has announced his formal resignation as Head Coach of Missouri Baptist Men’s Basketball after accepting the same role with the University of Illinois-Springfield.
“First, I want to thank Dr. Alton Lacey, Dr. Keith Ross and Dr. Tom Smith for their unwavering support and strong leadership over the last four years,” Brock said. “A special thanks to the fans, staff, coaches and especially the players for their hard work and sacrifice that has made the program what it is today. Missouri Baptist is a special place with amazing people and our family will always cheer for the Spartans.”
Brock spent four seasons at the helm for MBU Men’s Basketball, accumulating a record of 87-40. This past season, he guided the Spartans to a program record 28 wins and a berth in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. The Spartans won the AMC Regular Season Title for the first time in 14 years.
“Matt, his wife Cheryl, and their family were a blessing to Missouri Baptist Athletics,” said Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics, Dr. Tom Smith. “They will be greatly missed and we wish them much success in the future.”
Under Brock’s leadership, Missouri Baptist MBB was not only successful on the court but in the classroom as well. The Spartans qualified as an NAIA Scholar Team in each of Brock’s first three seasons. For a team to be considered for the NAIA Scholar-Team award, it must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) as defined by the institution. The team grade point average includes all eligible varsity student-athletes. Last year’s team finished with a team GPA of 3.19
— #WeAreStars (@UISAthletics) April 15, 2019
Missouri Baptist also won the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Excellence Award in each of the past three seasons. In order to earn an NABC Team Excellence Award, institutions in the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA must count the GPAs of all men’s student-athletes who competed during the 2017-18 season. Only 211 teams across all divisions of American college basketball qualified for the Team Excellence Award.
A national search for Brock’s replacement will begin immediately.