Bill Czech begins his sixteenth season as head coach for HIU with a 280-176 record during his tenure at Hope. Czech has taken the Royals' program from a perennial last-place finish in the GSAC to one of the top-flight programs in the NAIA.
FAST FACTS
- Record at HIU: 302-184
- Conference Record: 132-121
- GSAC Regular Season Titles: 2 (2015, 2017)
- GSAC Tournament Champions: 1 (2015)
PROGRAM ACCOLADES
- NAIA National Tournament Appearances (2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2020*,2022,2023,2024,2025)
- Ten Post Season Appearances
- Eight Straight Winning Seasons (2012/13-2019/20)
- 4 GSAC Coach of the Year (2014, 2016, 2017, 2024)
- 21 All-GSAC Selections
- 3 GSAC Player of the Year
- 1 GSAC Defender of the Year
- 9 NAIA All-American Selections
- Named to Silver Waves Media 50 Impactful D2/NAIA Coaches List
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
2024-25: The Royals started hot with a 17-2 record and 5-0 in the GSAC as they finished third in the GSAC standings with an overall record of 22-8, 10-4 GSAC. The Royals were then selected as an at large team in the NAIA Opening Round for the eleventh time while Grant Sii and Nick Hopkins were named All-GSAC.
2023-24: Coach Czech was named GSAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career after leading the Royals to finish just one game out of first place in the regular season after an early season injury to top player Sebastian Castro. Czech led the Royals to a big upset over No. 13 Northwestern over the course of a seven game winning streak. The Royals made it back to the NAIA Opening Round for the 9th time while Gaven Ramirez and Tristan Williams were named All-GSAC.
2022-23: The Royals finished the regular season in third place in the GSAC and made it all the way to the GSAC Tournament Championship game before falling to OUAZ 71-69. Czech also guided the Royals to their eighth 20 win season with a 20-11 record and their eighth appearance in the NAIA Opening Round. Jalani Horn and Sebastian Castro were named All-GSAC.
2021-22: In their first full season back from COVID-19 Czech led the Royals to second place in the GSAC standings and an appearance in the NAIA Opening Round where they fell to Oregon Tech. Anthony Garcia and Josh Powell-Davis were named All-GSAC while Powell Davis was also named All-American Honorable Mention for the third time after leading the Royals. The Royals also finished the season ranked No. 17 in the NAIA Coaches Poll but unfortunately had to forfeit most of their games due to eligibility issues.
2020-21: Only played six games (1-5) due to COVID-19 all against Vanguard and Westmont.
2019-20: Season cut short due to COVID-19. Once again Czech notched a winning overall record of 22-11 (.667). The Royals were getting ready to leave for Kansas City to compete for a National Title before the abrupt ending to the season, which would have been Coach Czech's seventh postseason appearance. In their last eight games of the 2019-2020 season, Czech led his team to a seven-game winning streak, upsetting four NAIA top 25 teams during that time to take the Royals to the GSAC Tournament Championship Game.
2017-18: Czech notched a 25-6 record in 2017-18 as the reigning GSAC Coach of the Year. The Royals made their sixth straight appearance in the GSAC Tournament Semifinals and their sixth straight trip to Kansas City, MO, for the NAIA National Championship Tournament. Coach Czech and his staff led the Royals to their fourth straight season of 25+ wins and his two four-year seniors, Liam Hunt and Deondre Bryant, graduated with the best winning percentage in program history at .819 (109-24).
2016-17: Brought the GSAC Regular Season title back to HIU after a 13-3 finish in conference play. The Royals, led by GSAC Player of the Year Liam Hunt, finished second in the GSAC Tournament after being knocked out in the final game by The Masters in double overtime. HIU made it to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament by defeating No. 25 Wiley (TX) before being bounced by No. 9 Life (GA) in the second round. Czech was again honored as GSAC Coach of the Year while Hunt and Donny Punter were named All-GSAC.
2015-16: The Royals returned to the postseason again in 2015-16 and finished as GSAC runners-up in the Regular Season Championship and the GSAC Tournament. HIU suffered its first-ever loss in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament in 15-16 after being bounced from the Tournament by Dillard (LA). Tuff Barnes and Garrett Neilan each garnered All-GSAC and NAIA All-American honors during the year - Neilan was also named the GSAC Defender of the Year during the 15-16 season.
2014-15: Recorded a program-best 32-3 (.914) overall record. Made the deepest run to date at the NAIA National Tournament - the season ended with an NAIA Semifinal loss to GSAC foe Westmont on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater by the Warriors. Czech led his team to its first No. 1 overall NAIA Coaches Top 25 Ranking, a GSAC Championship, and a GSAC Tournament Championship during the year. Czech was named GSAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career while Kenny Morgan became the second HIU player named GSAC Player of the Year.
2013-2014: Marked the first-ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament and the Royals beat Emmanuel (GA) in the first round before falling to top-seeded Columbia (MO) in the second round. HIU finished second in the GSAC in 2013 and Kris Rosales- a product of Coach Czech’s first recruiting class- was named the GSAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year- another HIU first. The 2013-14 NAIA Tournament appearance was the first NAIA postseason appearance for any program in HIU athletics history.
2012-13: HIU finished 2012-13 with a record of 26-8 and 9-5 in GSAC play. Aside from their games in the national tournament, the highlights of the season were beating then-defending NAIA Champ Concordia (CA) on the road, sweeping the season series with Vanguard, and using a dramatic game-winning three-pointer to knock off Biola in the opening round of the GSAC playoffs.
2011-12: The Royals ended their 2011-12 season playing at the NCCAA National Tournament for the second straight season. While the team finished with a record of 12-18 and 3-15 in GSAC play, they impressed with their wins. They defeated (now former) GSAC foe Azusa Pacific for the first time since joining the GSAC in 1999. They knocked off GSAC rival The Master’s. Then to top everything they beat Westmont (the top GSAC team at the time) and (another former GSAC foe) California Baptist- both for the first time ever. Most impressive regarding those four wins- three of them came on the road and three were ranked 13 or higher in the NAIA at the time of the HIU win. Six of their losses were decided by five points or less (including two in overtime).
2010-11: Czech and his staff finished with a 14-19 record in his second season, marking the second-largest improvement from season to season in program history. The 10 win improvement from the previous year is the largest since a 14 win improvement between the 1986-87 and 1987-88 HIU teams. The Royals also qualified for the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Tournament in 2010-11. For his efforts, Czech was named the NCCAA Western Regional Coach of the Year.
2009-10: In his first season, the Royals won four of their first five games but would close out the season without another win. Even with a 4-26 record, Czech still believes HIU made strides in closing the gap between themselves and some of the other GSAC schools. Four overtimes losses, a loss on a layup at the buzzer, and a last-second game-winning shot off the mark help prove that point.
PRIOR TO HIU
Czech joined the Royals’ staff after spending 14 years as the Head Coach of the Fullerton Union High School Men’s Basketball Team. He left the Indians program with 219 victories- the most in school history.
On the strength of winning 12 CIF games under Coach Czech, Fullerton High finished amongst the top ten in Orange County three of his last six years. FUHS won three Freeway League titles in the same time frame.
Named the Indians Head Coach in 1996, his teams produced an overall record of 219 wins versus 141 losses. In his last ten years, his record was really impressive with 195 wins and 67 defeats. Czech’s last season saw the Indians finish 16-12 overall.
As proud as he was of his players on the court, he beams with pride when thinking about his players in the classroom. In his fourteen years of coaching the grade point average of the team never dropped below 3.0. In 1997, the Indians were the State Academic Champions with the highest team GPA in the state. They also finished in the top ten in 2007.
EDUCATION
Czech earned a Teaching Credential and Master’s Degree in Special Education from National University. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Health Education from California State University Long Beach.
PERSONAL
Just after taking the job at HIU, Czech took charge of the Adult Transition Special Education program in the Fullerton Joint Unified High School District. Prior to his current job, he had served as a Resource Specialist Program Teacher for FJUHSD since 1996. Coach Czech is married to his wife Chelledon and is blessed with five beautiful children, Louis, Billy, Logan, Christian, and Layla. The Czechs attend Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos.
