Quincy University has officially named former QU basketball standout and alumna Alison Schwagmeyer-Belger as the new head coach of the women’s basketball program. The announcement, made April 29, marks a homecoming for the celebrated athlete and coach.

Schwagmeyer-Belger returns to her home after serving as head coach at John Wood Community College for the 2024-25 season. Her experience also includes time with the Camp Point Central girls basketball program as an all-time leading scorer, with, 1,950 points.

Schwagmeyer-Belger was a player who developed a background built on a decade-long professional career overseas in Germany, Spain, and Australia, where she earned All-Star honors.

During her time with the Hawks, Schwagmeyer-Belger was named GLVC player of the year during her junior season. Along with first-team All-GLVC and All-Midwest Region honors both seasons as a Hawk.

“I think I’m just most excited about building a program here. You know, we’ve had, Courtney did such a great job, and it’s so exciting that we got the GLVC tournament. And I say we because I’m an alum, and you know, if one of us has success, all of us have success,” Schwagmeyer-Belger said.

Schwagmeyer-Belger is going to use her own basketball experience as a guideline to success.

“I think I can bring a lot of basketball knowledge, a lot of basketball skill development and I think that I can recruit really well and so I want to make sure that our girls are getting better no matter what and I want to make sure that we’re making sure we just develop as a family and we celebrate each other’s success and just really excited about getting out there and having some hard-working players,” Schwagmeyer-Belger said.

Sydney Runsewe a shooting guard for the women’s basketball team is excited to play basketball and be coached by Schwagmeyer-Belger.

“I’m just excited to get things going, get things on the road and just grow as a team, see what she brings in, how we mesh, how we play together and just really just to play basketball,” Runsewe said.

President of Quincy University Brian McGee is excited to bring in Schwagmeyer-Belger.

“You know, Allie is an incredibly accomplished professional. She brings passion, energy, commitment to the university, an intent and excitement for the game. She’s really the complete package for Quincy University and she will be a tremendous coach for us,” McGee said.

McGee described Schwagmeyer-Belger as the most ideal fit for Quincy University because she is one of the best players in history for the Hawks.

“She’s one of the best players of the game ever to play here at Quincy University. So it was tough not to have that conversation. But against all the other outstanding candidates, she stood out by her passion, her intensity, her plan for success at Quincy University, and of course, her great commitments to this institution specifically,” McGee said.

Beyond her on-court legacy, Schwagmeyer-Belger, along with her husband and fellow QU alum Courtney Belger, leads the 25 Eight Mentality AAU program, which focuses on athlete development and local talent. Her commitment to community and student-athlete success is a cornerstone of her coaching philosophy.

Coach Schwagmeyer-Belger begins her work immediately as preparations for the upcoming season are already underway. Schwagmeyer-Belger had one more thing to state.

“Go Hawks!” Schwagmeyer-Belger said.