Marty Bell continued to make strides as Quincy University’s head men’s basketball coach last winter.

In his second year on the job, Bell coached the Hawks to an 18-11 overall record and a 14-6 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Quincy enjoyed its most success since the 1996-97 season, tying for third place in the GLVC and qualifying for a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

That success and the exposure gained from performing on a national stage has everyone, including Bell, excited for the 2006-06 season.

The 42-year-old Bell spent his entire career around basketball preparing for the opportunity to be a head college basketball coach. That chance finally came on April 10, 2003, when he was chosen to be the 14th head coach in the history of the Hawks’ storied program.

Many of Bell’s lessons were learned from his mentor and close friend, Kurt Kanaskie. He was Bell’s boss at Lock Haven University, Indiana (Pa.) and Drake University.

Bell moved with Kanaskie, currently an assistant coach at Penn State University, to Drake in Des Moines, Iowa, in the summer of 1996. Bell served as an assistant coach until he was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 1999-2000 season.

Before leaving Drake, Bell was the senior assistant on the coaching staff in terms of coaching experience and tenure. Besides his on-floor coaching duties and practice organization, Bell assisted in recruiting and was in charge of team transportation and travel arrangements, opponent scouting and gameplan preparation, all aspects of Drake’s basketball camps and coaching clinics and even Kanaskie’s weekly television program.

Bell believes his past experiences prepared him well for the Quincy job.

“I was very attracted to this opportunity,” Bell said. “When I saw the situation here at Quincy University, it had a certain appeal. The program has great potential and the basketball community is outstanding. This is definitely a town of basketball people and that makes this job attractive.”

Bell has also been grateful for the support he has received from the university and administration.

“We have a great commitment to the program from the university in the form of scholarships and facilities, coupled with community support and a solid nucleus of returning players in the program,” Bell said. “Quincy University embodies a lot of what I’ve experienced in my background, from NCAA Division II success to a small private Midwestern institution in Drake.”

Bell is a native of Williamsport, Pa., home of the Little League World Series. He was a 1981 graduate of Loyalsock High School, where he was a two-year letterwinner in basketball and golf. After high school, he left home for the University of South Carolina where he was a student coach and manager under legendary coach Bill Foster.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1985, Bell stayed on South Carolina’s staff and was a graduate assistant during the 1985-86 season. Bell then followed Kanaskie, who was also a South Carolina assistant coach, to Lock Haven (Pa.) University where he was a full-time assistant during the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons.

Bell then moved to Indiana (Pa.) where he was an assistant under Kanaskie from 1988-93 before being promoted as the associate head coach in 1994-95 and 1995-96. Bell helped lead Indiana (Pa.) to NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in 1994, 1995 and 1996, including Elite Eight appearances in 1994 and 1995.

While at Indiana (Pa.), Bell completed his master’s degree in education at Penn State University.

Bell’s objectives at Quincy haven’t changed much since he was hired 2 ½ years ago.

“One of the things we want to establish is a winning attitude through hard work, unselfishness and execution,” Bell said. “We need to do all three things. We want to focus on the things we can control, which are how hard we play, how well we play together and our execution.”