Saint Louis is hiring former Indiana State coach Josh Schertz, the school announced Saturday.
Schertz, 48, just completed his third season at Indiana State, compiling a record of 66-40 and leading the Sycamores to the 2024 NIT championship, which they lost to Seton Hall on Thursday, after being one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament. The 32 wins this season are the most since Larry Bird led the program to the 1979 national championship game.
Named Missouri Valley Conference coach of the year this season, Schertz was previously the head coach at Division II Lincoln Memorial for 13 seasons, where he led the Railsplitters to nine regular-season conference titles and nine NCAA DII Tournament appearances, including three Final Four trips. Before that, Schertz was an assistant at High Point, part of a unique coaching journey for the former youth tennis standout.
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Schertz replaces Travis Ford, who Saint Louis fired after a 13-20 record in 2023-24, including just 5-13 in the A-10, finishing 14 out of 15 in the conference standings. Ford amassed a record of 146-109 over eight seasons with the Billikens, with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019.
OFFICIAL: Josh Schertz is a Saint Louis Billiken.
We are thrilled to announce Josh Schertz as the next Head Coach of our program.#SLUBillikens pic.twitter.com/qLDXHSenjq
— Saint Louis Men’s Basketball (@SaintLouisMBB) April 6, 2024
What Schertz brings to Saint Louis
Schertz has been one of the hottest mid-major names on the coaching market this offseason, drawing some interest from high-major programs as well, including Louisville. But this hire has been trending to Saint Louis for a couple of weeks.
Indiana State had a top-20 offense this season according to KenPom metrics, including the best effective field goal percentage in all of college basketball. It was largely a product of Schertz’s five-out offensive philosophy, with a unique big man in Robbie Avila as the playmaking hub. The Sycamores ranked in the top 30 in the country in terms of offensive pace and were one of the best shooting teams in all facets, converting 50.5 percent from the field overall, 38.5 percent on 3-pointers and 79.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Defensively, Indiana State was top-10 in defensive rebounding percentage.
Schertz faces an interesting adjustment on the resources and recruiting front, moving from a program with an annual budget of roughly $2.5 million, on the lower end of the MVC, to a budget north of $7 million at Saint Louis and one of the highest in the A-10.
(Photo: AP Photo / Vasha Hunt)
