Reports: Indiana State's Josh Schertz tells team he's leaving for Saint Louis job

INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Schertz is relocating to the Show Me State, according to multiple reports. Less than 24 hours after coaching Indiana State in the NIT championship game — a heartbreaking 79-77 loss to Seton Hall — Schertz intends to be the new Saint Louis basketball coach.

Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported Schertz had told the Sycamores during a team meeting Friday. Rick Semmler, of Terre Haute's WTHI News10, later confirmed the news.

Friday's moves comes after weeks of speculation linking Schertz to the Billikens and following a report from CBS Sports' Matt Norlander that SLU was prepared to make the mid-major coach of the year one of the highest-paid coaches in the Atlantic 10 with a salary north of $2 million.

Norlander previously reported Schertz, who amassed a 66-40 record over three seasons at Indiana State, passed on the coaching vacancy at Louisville.

Schertz told reporters Thursday he planned on making his decision "by the weekend."

"It's been a great run and I don't want to leave anybody twisting in the wind any more than they have been," he said. "So, I'll get to that, but tonight is not the time. And that's why I didn't want to do it during the season. It's too emotional, there are too many things pulling at you. I won't have a chance to decompress, turn my phone off and sit down to think about what's best for me, and certainly these guys will all have decisions to make as well."

Schertz's modern, high-scoring system and his knack for quickly revitalizing programs made him one of the hottest commodities on this year's coaching market.

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Schertz was 337-69 over 13 seasons at Lincoln Memorial with 11 consecutive 20-win seasons and 10 Division II NCAA tournament appearances (three D-II Final Fours) after finishing .500 in his first season. He enjoyed similar success in Terre Haute, guiding the Sycamores to a 12-win turnaround in his second season that included their first postseason appearance since 2014 and first postseason win since 2001.

Led by viral sensation Robbie Avila, the 2023-24 Sycamores cracked the national rankings for the first time in 45 years and won their first regular-season Missouri Valley Conference title since 2000, then overcame the heartbreak of an NCAA tournament snub to reach the NIT championship game and finish their historic season with 32 wins.

"They are devastated, but I think they have shown over and over again how resilient they are," Schertz said following Thursday's loss to Seton Hall. "I'm inspired by the kind of teammates they are, the kind of human beings they are. I'm better as a man for having been part of this team and this journey."

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Now Shertz will be tasked with reinvigorating SLU's slumping program. The Billikens went 13-20 this season and have not reached the NCAA tournament since 2019. They parted ways with Travis Ford after eight seasons earlier this season.

As for Indiana State, the task of finding a new head coach is accompanied by the question of which players will remain. IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel wrote following the NIT semifinals it's an "open secret" in the Sycamores' locker room four of their five starters would "most likely" follow Schertz to Saint Louis.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana State's Josh Schertz to be new Saint Louis basketball coach