Top Basketball Coach Not Leaving St. Louis

Josh Schertz, the head coach at St. Louis, has agreed to extend his contract with the school, as announced by athletic director Chris May on Friday.

This news arrives as there had been plenty of chatter about Schertz being a prime candidate for coaching positions at Syracuse and Providence, among others.

Syracuse recently let go of coach Adrian Autry, and Providence parted ways with Kim English just a day after their exit from the Big East tournament against St. John’s.

Though Schertz is still relatively early in his head coaching career, this is only his fifth season, he’s already showcased skills that suggest he might be ready for a larger challenge, possibly in a more competitive conference.

This season, he has led the Billikens to an Atlantic 10 regular season championship and achieved a record of 28-4 following a win over George Washington in the conference quarterfinals.

At one point, this year’s team ranked as high as 18th, marking their return to national rankings for the first time in five years.

According to ESPN’s projections, St. Louis is anticipated to be a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would be Schertz’s first trip to March Madness as head coach and the school’s first since 2018-19.

In his two seasons leading the program, Schertz has managed a record of 46-19.

Before joining St. Louis, he spent three years at Indiana State, where he started with a challenging 11-20 record. However, he made a strong comeback with a 23-13 second season, ultimately seizing the regular season title in his final year with an impressive 32-7 finish.

An 84-80 loss to Drake that season in the conference tournament hindered his chance to coach in the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier in his career, he also had a successful stint at Division II Lincoln Memorial.

As Syracuse and Providence searched for replacements, Kansas State recently announced the hiring of Casey Alexander from Belmont, indicating that this will be an active coaching cycle.