The chance of Josh Schertz being interested in a transfer portal player is first determined by a 15-minute video cut-up created for his viewing by a graduate assistant at 狐狸视频 University.
Those snippets can include the moments in games when a particular player touched the ball, every catch-and-shoot, the drives, the cuts, ball screen defense, rebounding.
They鈥檙e short bursts that tell Schertz whether he needs to proceed to watching full games and then a deep dive into that player鈥檚 character.
Of more than 100 players he has watched in those videos since being hired at SLU, Schertz estimates he has eliminated 75%.
鈥淚鈥檓 a pretty hard grader,鈥 Schertz said. 鈥淚 spend most of the time I鈥檓 not doing a recruiting visit on my phone or computer watching video. My assistants get mad because I鈥檓 always, no, no no.鈥
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And that鈥檚 just the start of the process he has used to rebuild a roster that was decimated by departures. It is not a coincidence that the first 10 players to fill roster spots were known to Schertz or those around him before he arrived at SLU.
A player might look great in video, but will he fit the system? A recruit might consider himself a team player, but how is he viewed by those who play with him? And someone might not appear to bring baggage, but does his inner circle include potential poison?
Most coaches talk about wanting players who fit their culture. Schertz is consumed with the concept.
鈥淵ou need a unified group so we鈥檙e being purposeful about the pieces of the puzzle,鈥 Schertz said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not acquiring talent, you鈥檙e building a team. There鈥檚 a big difference. You can get talented players, but if they鈥檙e not team oriented and possess the right competitive character 鈥 if the inner circle around them isn鈥檛 right 鈥 you can completely tear away the dynamics of the team. Teams are fragile, and it just takes one or two to be outside the team and it crumbles.鈥
So far, 10 have passed the eye test, the background check and have wanted to play for SLU. Three spots remain and Schertz continued to watch video as a new batch of players scheduled visits starting late last week.
Schertz runs an offense that revolves around his center, in this case Robbie Avila, while the remaining players on the floor are essentially positionless. So, while he is hard on his grading and research, he considers the field of talent for the offense to be large.
鈥淲hen you have 10 spots, you need everything. When you have three, it鈥檚 much more specific,鈥 Schertz said. 鈥淚 do think the way we play gives us tremendous bandwidth. Being positionless one through four gives us more variety in what we can do and create rosters with great versatility.鈥
Schertz started by determining who from last year鈥檚 team wanted to stay and fit his prerequisites. He used assistant coach Corey Tate and others to gather information and targeted Gibson Jimerson, Larry Hughes II and Kellen Thames, all of whom will return.
Then sights turned to the Indiana State roster and who among Schertz鈥檚 former players might want to join him at SLU. He landed Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope.
That left eight spots to fill. SLU has signed two incoming freshmen who Schertz was recruiting at Indiana State and knew well. Schertz also had recruited transfer guard Josiah Dotzler at Indiana State and was familiar with his game and family. Transfer AJ Casey was well known by Avila, who played with Casey starting in elementary school. And transfer Kalu Anya received a thumbs-up from assistant Antone Gray, who recruited him at Brown.
Schertz said he still is seeking an impact perimeter player who is strong defensively, a backup to Avila, and a 鈥渨ildcard鈥 player, who would not necessarily have to contribute next season.
In that search, Schertz remains hyper aware of how the remaining players might impact the team dynamic. A new element in that equation is money in the name, image and likeness era. SLU has lost out on some transfers who were offered more than SLU could at other schools.
鈥淭he first question everybody asks is 鈥榃hat can I expect to make here?鈥 Everybody wants to know a range,鈥 Schertz said. 鈥淭he second is playing time. There are things that tear at team dynamics and now NIL maybe become No. 1 if you let it. Guys are unrealistic about what their value is. One thing that鈥檚 been good is I know we have a number of guys that have taken a lot less than they could have made because they wanted to be part of something here. That bodes well.鈥
As he adds players, Schertz can only hope he finds a player like Jayson Kent, who transferred to Indiana State after two years at Bradley. Schertz鈥檚 system allowed Kent to lead the country in points scored on cuts with the help of Avila鈥檚 passing.
He has high hopes for Anya, who he sees as a potential double-double performer, and Casey, who he said was in a 鈥渢errible system鈥 for his skill set.
As for who might play where, it mostly doesn鈥檛 matter. And that includes his desire to have a point guard who runs the whole thing. Avila will be surrounded with players who mesh.
鈥淵ou need someone you think can handle the ball, but the way we play it鈥檚 much less important,鈥 Schertz said. 鈥淭he guy who handles it most for us is the (center). At the end of the game, you want to know where your two-man game is going to come from. At Indiana State, it was Ryan Conwell and Robbie who closed games together. But because of the interchangeability of the system, we don鈥檛 have to have one guy who gets us organized.鈥
The path to finishing the roster is different than what has transpired thus far because, Schertz concedes, previous knowledge of prospective players is less certain.
He doesn鈥檛 expect to take any more than one more high school player, but it鈥檚 possible the rest of the roster will include transfers.
鈥淗ow we play is pretty different and not everybody would fit,鈥 Schertz said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always tried to be very specific and dogmatic about what we look for tangibly and intangibly.鈥