In front of the Billiken faithful, Josh Schertz, SLU’s new men’s basketball head coach, was introduced to fans on Monday, April 8 at Chaifetz Arena with hopes of bringing SLU basketball championship glory again.
Schertz’s hiring was announced by Saint Louis University Athletics on April 6, nearly a month after firing their longtime head coach, Travis Ford on March 13. There was high praise from SLU Athletic Director, Chris May.
“Josh’s teams win at a high level and compete for championships while performing at an elite level of offensive and defensive efficiency,” May said.
Schertz made headlines this past season as he led his former team, Indiana State University (ISU), to a 32-7 record and a run to the NIT championship game. As a collegiate head coach, Schertz is 403-109. Now, as the Billikens head coach, Schertz is ready to make SLU basketball a championship winning program.
“I can’t wait to get to work building and developing a program everyone involved with can be proud of,” Schertz said.
Schertz is known for his motivation, respect, loyalty and sense of humor towards his players. His coaching style has been described as a team-oriented offense where there is not one dominant player, but instead, an offense that is produced by the entire team. Players from Schertz former team, ISU, are already following their former head coach as one of the biggest breakout players last season, center Robbie Avila, announced on April 20, that he is transferring to SLU. All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) guard, Isaiah Swope, announced on April 22, that he is transferring from ISU to join Schertz and Avila next season.
Even though the basketball season is many months away, the excitement of Schertz’s hiring is high and the coach himself cannot wait to get started.
“I could not be more excited to be named the head coach at Saint Louis University,” Schertz said. “From the top-down leadership of President Dr. Fred Pestello, Chairman Joe Conran, Trustee Dr. Richard Chaifetz and Athletics Director Chris May—to the elite facilities, infrastructure, academics and resources—this place is where you can build a sustainable championship-level program.”
