Hall of Fame Inductee - Bruce Brothers

One of the greatest basketball players in Quincy High School history. His three-year varsity career from 1949-52 is simply referred to as The Brothers Era. The Blue Devils reached the single-class state tournament at Huff Gym in Champaign in each of his three seasons with records of 25-6, 29-4 and 28-5. Quincy finished third in the state in 1951 and lost in overtime to tiny Hebron in the 1952 championship game, still considered one of the most memorable in Illinois High School Association history. Brothers, a 6-foot-5 post player, scored a then-school record 1,464 points during his career. He also held records for most points in a game (39), field goals and free throws made in a career, and rebounds in a career at the time of his graduation. He is still No. 10 on the all-time state tournament scoring list. Brothers was voted the most valuable player in the North-South Classic in Murray, Ky., a game that featured future NBA star Tom Heinsohn, and he was named Mr. Basketball by Chuck Taylor, a nationally known authority. Other honors bestowed upon him in high school include: two-time Associated Press first-team all-stater; as a junior, he was named to the Champaign News-Gazette and the Chicago Daily News second-team all-stater; and as a senior, named to the Champaign News-Gazette and Chicago Daily News first-team all-stater. Brothers went on to become a three-year starter at the University of Illinois. He was named team MVP as a senior. Brothers rejoined his Quincy High School coach, George Latham, in the Waukegan School District, and later spent more than two decades as a teacher and coach in the Maine Township School District. He was voted to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was a charter member of the Quincy High School Sports Hall of Fame.