New Indiana State Coach Building With Hard Work
(St. Louis, MO) – New Indiana State coach Josh Schertz knows he has an uphill climb in building the Sycamore basketball program. Replacing Greg Lansing isn’t easy and rebuilding a roster decimated by transfers is a huge disadvantage.
The self-aware Schertz comes from the nation’s most successful NCAA basketball team (any division) over the past ten years. Lincoln Memorial participated in ten NCAA Tournaments, and reached three Division 2 Final Fours. During Schertz’s tenure the Railsplitters won 337 games in 13 seasons, winning nine conference titles and sending players into pro basketball careers.
Schertz realizes ISU’s hiring of a D2 coach wasn’t exactly exciting. The seven-time conference coach of the year says he can’t change the early narrative. He is simply going about building with hard work.
Not blessed with great basketball abilities, Schertz skipped his senior eligibility to become a student coach at Florida Atlantic. It launched Schertz into a life of learning how to coach.
Building With Hard Work
His record at Lincoln Memorial is remarkable. A winning percentage of .831 and during the 2010s, it was .845. Schertz coached nine all-Americans, eight of whom are playing professional basketball and the ninth is currently playing for DePaul. Emanuel Terry is playing in the Clippers’ organization.
Schertz says the key to success is to surround yourself with people that are highly competetant and have high character. He says his players were cut from the same cloth of hard work and shared values around team success.
His first hire was former Butler Bulldog Matthew Graves. The assistant coach has extensive experience at the Division 1 level. Numerous years at Butler and stops at Xavier and Evansville have honed Graves’ skills. Schertz says Graves and all of his future staff members need to be highly competent, humble, hard workers, great communicators and great character.
Schertz has hired his entire first-season staff. Former Lansing staff member Kareem Richardson was returning to the Sycamore staff, but has been hired by Clemson. Schertz says he has hired Richardson’s replacement and his entire first-year staff has been signed and should be announced within the week.
Building the Roster
ISU fans were encouraged by the return of Sycamore veteran Cooper Neese. The 6’4 senior was last season’s third leading scorer (9.5 ppg) while making .816 of his free throws and converting .391 from deep.
Recent twitter pictures revealed that ISU legend Tyreke Key has been at Sycamore work outs. Schertz says Key has been at ever Spring session. One of ISU’s all-time greats weighed the decision to return to ISU for his extra year of eligibility or to turn pro.
Breaking News! – Tyreke Key is Coming Back!
— Tyreke Key (@TyrekeKey) April 28, 2021
While inviting all previous players to return Schertz tried to share the values and style that would be emphasized under his leadership.
Prior to Key’s announcement, Schertz contemplated the possibilities of his return.
Lincoln Memorial will be well represented. Three former Railsplitters are joining Schertz in Terre Haute. While trying to implement a new system at ISU, the ‘corporate knowledge’ that Cameron Henry, Xavier Bledson and Simon Wilbar bring will be invaluable. All three redshirted at LMU.
Henry is an elite defender who averaged 15.1 points and six rebounds last season. The 6’6 junior was a part of the South Atlanta Conference all-freshman team and was a two-time member of the league’s second-team all-SAC squads.
Bledson red-shirted AFTER his freshman season and averaged 10.5 points and led the team with 5.1 assists per game during his sophomore season. Schertz says Bledson’s basketball IQ is among the best he has ever witnessed.
The 6’11 Wilbar has a very high ceiling. Wilbar hasn’t played a ton of minutes, but Schertz says his time at LMU has been spent playing against elite level players in practice and working on his overall strength. Schertz believes Wilbar has outstanding skill.
First Impressions
Coach Schertz is likable, has been wildly successful at the D2 level and seems to be made of the right stuff. I understand why the ISU administration hired him. Will his humble, thoughtful and determined approach work in the wild world of D1 recruiting? Will his D2 transfers prosper? His first two prep recruits have very solid credentials.
Key’s return will jump start to process in the right direction.
Our entire conversation was enjoyable and can be heard here.
Key returning is huge, but this coach believes in building with hard work and player development. During his first season at LMU the Railsplitters were 14 and 14. They never lost more than nine nor won fewer than 20 games for the next twelve seasons.
This guy has earned this promotion and bears serious observation. He is ready for this leap.
Do Good
Twitter Feed
As we near the closing of the portal window, we've reached 1900. Some of them never to play college basketball again, earn a college degree and some to play at a much lower level than they did last season.
I guess we'll be seeing this in a @RacersHoops uniform this year. Glad AJ is staying in the @ValleyHoops.
