Josh Schertz began his tenure as men's basketball coach at Ƶ University with the usual basic tasks Sunday — meeting the team and touring the facilities — but with the to-do list in his mind already overflowing with major projects that need immediate attention.
He has recruiting underway with a roster to rebuild, a schedule to construct nearly from scratch and a staff that has a few pieces ready to go.
Learning the lay of the land, buying a house and other personal matters will come with time. The rest already was underway when he arrived Sunday afternoon in Ƶ with an introductory press conference to come at 10 a.m. Monday.
There has been little time to rest between taking Indiana State to the NIT championship game Thursday, announcing his departure Friday and starting work for the Billikens. But he did take time to write a lengthy thank-you note to fans that he posted on X, noting some “misinformed and inane theories” he felt had been circulating.
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“Without getting too specific, a lot of people thought this was done for a long time or that I was operating with one foot out the door, and nothing could have been further from the truth,” Schertz said Sunday night. “A lot goes into the process, but those things were not true.
“I talked to a lot of different places. There was a lot of interest, and I had a number of good options in terms of schools that offered positions. But at the end of the day I chose to be here. If I was going to leave Indiana State, I was going to go to a place I felt was a life-changing opportunity for me and my family and for what was the right fit for me personally.”
Schertz said he had seen the facilities on video but was more impressed in person. After going through the arena, the practice gym and new Champions Center, he called them “high-major facilities.”
Schertz said most of the players were on hand for the meeting, and he plans to meet individually with them Monday and Tuesday. Four players are in the transfer portal for now and two others have exhausted their eligibility.
Recruiting efforts are in full force with Schertz expecting six or seven players to visit campus in the next 10 days once the NCAA dead period ends. He could not comment on the possibility of players from Indiana State potentially making the move to SLU.
He has been briefed on SLU’s name image and likeness potential with the Billiken Victory Fund collective and has confidence it is in a strong position.
“That’s a major component of taking a job, and I think we’ll be as good as anybody in our conference for sure,” he said. “There’s a commitment to doing it at a very high level with understanding the importance of not just recruiting but retaining players.”
Schertz plans to bring several members of his staff — assistant coaches and other positions — but was not sure of specifics. Matthew Graves, his associate head coach at Indiana State, is pursuing the head coaching job with the Sycamores. Schertz will talk to the assistants on the previous SLU staff before making final decisions.
The schedule is in need of nearly a full slate of nonconference games with a return game at Illinois State being the only holdover from the 2023-24 season.
He will start to get an idea of the remaining talent quickly. He has watched video and in addition to having meetings, he plans to start individual workouts without players as soon as Monday afternoon.
Before all of that, Schertz had dinner with some SLU athletics staff and his family Sunday. It was a brief chance to maybe decompress after the hectic nature of the last few weeks and days.
“It was extremely emotional losing the way we did,” he said. “Then to have to address the team Friday after I made the decision really on Wednesday then finalized it. I officially signed the contract Friday. We were playing until April 4, which was great, but that’s all on your mind. It was gut-wrenching and emotional because it was such a special group and the fans were so great.”