A member of the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Andrea (McAllister) Gorski returned to The Hilltop when she was named the ninth head coach in program history in April 2016 and the 2021-22 season will mark her sixth year as head coach at her alma mater.
Gorski returned to Bradley from Missouri Valley Conference-rival Southern Illinois, where she spent the previous three years as associate head coach on former Bradley assistant Cindy Stein’s staff. During Gorski’s time in Carbondale, Southern Illinois improved its overall and conference records in each of her three seasons, culminating in the first 20-win season for the Salukis in almost a decade, as well as the program’s first postseason appearance since 2007.
Since returning to her alma mater, Gorski has had the Braves on the rise. Bradley followed up a record-setting campaign in 2019-20 by making the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in 2020-21. Bolstered by the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in program history in 2018-19 and 2019-20, the Braves have won 72 games over the last four seasons to match the most wins in a four-year stretch in school history (1979-80 through 1982-83). In fact, Bradley has won 39 MVC contests over the last four years for the most league wins in a four-year stretch. Gorski’s senior class of 1991-92 had held the previous school record for league wins in a four-year span (38-34) in the final years Gateway Conference.
Two years prior to Gorski’s return to Bradley, the Braves ranked 326 in the final RPI of the 2014-15 season and had not placed among the top 200 nationally dating back to 2012-13. Steadily rising in her first years back on The Hilltop, Bradley closed the shortened 2019-20 season with a school-record RPI of #50. The 2020-21 squad, which made the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, finished the year 79th in the inaugural NET rankings.
During Gorski’s tenure, Bradley has produced eight First-Team All-MVC performers to equal the team’s total of first-team all-league selections over the near-25 years between the time she earned the honor as a senior in 1991-92 and returned as head coach following the 2015-16 season.
One of Gorski’s first recruits, Gabi Haack was named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year along with earning MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after helping the Braves to the 2020-21 tournament crown. Haack, who is the first three-time First-Team All-MVC pick in program history, is also a three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete and Bradley has produced five MVC Scholar-Athlete honorees over the last five season. In addition, the Braves have boasted a Senior CLASS Award National candidate each of the past two years with Haack (2020-21) and former teammate Chelsea Brackmann (2019-20) both earning the honor. Brackmann is the lone Brave that has been a Senior CLASS Award finalist.
In addition to the first MVC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the 2020-21 season was highlighted by Bradley’s first road win at Drake since 2009-10 along with the first series sweep of Southern Illinois dating back to the 2012-13 campaign. Boasting the top two scorers in the MVC, Lasha Petree joined Shelli Braud (1987-88) as the only Braves to lead the MVC in scoring after tossing in a league-best 18.0 points per outing. Haack, who needs just 40 points to break BU’s career scoring mark, was second in the MVC at 16.5 points per game; as the duo were both first-team all-conference performers.
The Braves were the first team in MVC history to post an improved win total in five consecutive seasons after Gorski led Bradley to a school-record 22 wins (22-7) in 2019-20. In fact, she led the Braves to the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in program history with the 42 wins between the 2018-19 (20) and 2019-20 campaigns the most in a two-year stretch at Bradley. Owning an 84-66 (.554) record as head coach of the Braves, Gorski is already third in career wins at BU. She is closing in on 200 career wins at the collegiate level, bringing a 190-125 (.603) record into the 2021-22 season.
The 2019-20 was one for the record books as Bradley posted school records for overall (22) and MVC victories (13) in a season. The Braves took third in the MVC standings (13-5) for the best conference finish in program history and were poised to make the first post-season appearance in nearly a decade, ranked 50th in the NCAA’s RPI heading into the MVC Tournament before the season was cut short.
For the first time Bradley produced a school-record three First-Team All-MVC picks in 2019-20, with Brackmann and Haack both capturing the honor for a second straight year, while Petree earned the distinction for the first time after ranking fourth in the Valley in scoring (16.5 ppg).
A historic 7-0 start to MVC play marked the longest conference win streak in program history and the Braves won their first 12 home games to stretch the longest home win streak in school history to 18 straight before a loss to #17/21 Missouri State in the final home contest of the year snapped the streak.
Bradley had four individuals average 10 or more points per game in the same season for the first time since 1995-96 during the 2019-20 campaign in which the Braves connected on a then school-record 210 three pointers.
Brackmann, who concluded her career as Bradley’s all-time leading rebounder and was tied for ninth in league history with 953 career boards, took home Second-Team Senior CLASS Award All-American recognition after she was one of 10 national finalists for the 2019-20 Senior CLASS Award.
The impressive run in 2019-20 came after a historic 2018-19 campaign in which Gorski led Bradley to its first 20-win season since 2008-09. The Braves started off the year by matching the longest win streak in program history (9 games) and went 10-1 in non-conference action as Bradley finished with its highest non-conference win total. The best MVC record (10-8) since 2009-10 helped the Braves post their best league finish (5th) dating back to that same season.
Brackmann and Haack were both named First-Team All-MVC picks. In addition, Petree earned both the MVC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year award along with garnering honorable mention All-MVC recognition. Petree joined Karin Nicholls (1986-87) as the only Braves to earn MVC Freshman of the Year honors and was Bradley’s first MVC Sixth Player of the Year honoree.
Brackmann set the Bradley Freshman rebounding record in 2016-17 to earn a spot on the Valley’s All-Freshman Team. Haack led the Braves in scoring as a frosh in 2017-18, averaging 10.5 points per game in addition to becoming the first Valley freshman in over 20 years to hit 68 three-pointers and grab 180 or more rebounds.
In 2017-18, Bradley ranked in the top three in the MVC in both scoring offense and defense in the same season for the first time in program history. Bradley posted the lowest turnovers-per-game average in program history to that point in 2017-18 with the season resulting in the highest win total on The Hilltop since 2012-13.
Gorski’s first year on The Hilltop was highlighted by a three-win improvement in the team’s overall and conference records. Along with becoming Bradley’s career rebounding leader in 2016-17, Leti Lerma capped her career with First-Team All-MVC honors as she became the first Brave to earn first-team all-league honors since Monica Rogers in 2008-09.
A native of Dearborn Heights, Mich., Gorski boasts 25 years of coaching experience, including 22 years as a head coach at the collegiate and high school levels. Before joining Stein’s staff at Southern Illinois, Gorski was head coach at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich., from 2008-13. In just five seasons, she became the winningest coach in the program’s history.
Inheriting a team which had never made the NAIA national tournament, Gorski’s squads reached the NAIA Tournament each of her last three seasons and made consecutive Sweet 16 appearances in 2012 and 2013. During her tenure with the Cardinals, the two-time conference coach-of-the-year selection led Concordia to a 106-59 (.667) overall mark and 58-28 (.674) conference record. In fact, Gorski’s teams combined for an 80-24 (.769) overall record and 48-8 (.857) league record in her last three seasons at the school.
In addition to leading Concordia to its best national ranking in program history, Gorski’s achievements included mentoring three first-team All-Americans and three conference players of the year. Off the court, she served as Interim Director of Athletics at Concordia during the 2011-12 school year and was Associate Director of Athletics for her final three seasons.
Gorski entered coaching shortly after graduating from Bradley in 1992 with a degree in business management and administration, serving as a graduate assistant for the Braves in 1992-93 before venturing into the private sector.
She returned to coaching three years later, taking over as head coach of Ladywood High School in February 1996. She led her squad to a 184-99 (.650) record in 12 seasons at the Livonia, Mich., school and the Blazers claimed 11 district titles and a pair of conference championships during her prep coaching career. Gorski was a three-time Catholic League Coach of the Year and was selected as the state coach of the year in 2005 by the Associated Press, Detroit Free Press and Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan.
A 1996 Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Gorski was a first-team All-Gateway Conference selection as a senior in 1991-92. Her sophomore season included a then school-record 12 conference victories and her final three seasons mark the only other time in program history the Braves finished in the top half of the league standings in three consecutive seasons before the current three-year run.
Gorski finished her career ninth in scoring at Bradley with 980 career points and still ranks 22nd all-time in scoring on The Hilltop. She shared the 1992 Charles Orsborn Award with baseball player Matt Quinn after averaging 14.7 points per game as a senior. Gorski still ranks among the Bradley career top 10 in three-point field goals (8th), assists (4th), starts (T10th) and minutes played (9th).
Gorski has two children, Luke and Kiley.