Josh Schertz might be new to Saint Louis, but he isn’t starting from scratch in the strictest sense.

The former Indiana State coach, who led the Sycamores to the NIT title game in the spring, jumped to the Billikens shortly thereafter. Following him from Terre Haute were junior center Robbie Avila (17.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg), a first team all-Missouri Valley selection, and senior guard Isaiah Swope (15.9 ppg), a second team pick.

Avila, in particular, became a bit of a household name last season as the Sycamores flirted with an NCAA tournament berth. Between a distinctive look (goggles), a spate of nicknames (such as Cream Abdul-Jabbar) and a multi-faceted game that includes efficiency around the basket and 39.4 percent shooting from 3.

“He’s a guy who you can build an offense around,” Schertz says. “He’s the kind of person and leader you can build a program around. He brings a vision, and Isaiah does as well, of what we want to be as a program.”

There’s distinct value in that for Saint Louis, considering Indiana State’s rapid growth. It was 11-20 in Schertz’s first season, 23-13 the next year and then 32-7 in 2023-24. It was only the second 30-win season in program history and the first since Larry Bird was the team’s star. Last year also marked the first time Indiana State cracked the AP top 25 since 1978-79, Bird’s final season.

In short, Avila has a decent idea what a successful program looks like given his first two college seasons.

“Every team is different, so our progress isn’t the same as it was last year or the year before,” Avila says. “We have different types of players and different types of skillsets as well. It’s looking a lot different than it did last year but we’re still progressing in the same positive way and over time continue to get better.”

Avila brings more than a track record or familiarity. It didn’t take him long to commit to joining Schertz, and his place as a foundation of this roster provided Schertz something of a head start on developing his first Billikens team.

“One of the hardest things in coaching is to get guys to trust you, believe in you and follow you,” Schertz says. “I feel like Robbie really believes in who we are, our culture and how we do things. That’s expedited that for the returning Saint Louis guys but also the five other transfers that came in and the true freshmen. They really quickly bought in and everyone’s moving in the same direction.”
 
A look at the Billikens:

Coach: Josh Schertz, first season at Saint Louis, 124-64 with the Billikens and 403-109 overall in 16 seasons

Last year: Saint Louis was a competent offensive team, but the other end of the floor? It’s best not to revisit it beyond pointing out the Billikens were outscored by 132 points from beyond the 3-point line despite their own 36.7 percent work from 3. Saint Louis didn’t win back-to-back games after Christmas and finished 13-20, getting a split in the Atlantic 10 Championship as the No. 14 seed and ending the year with a loss to eventual champion Duquesne.

They’ll miss: Much of last season’s rotation left the program, including Sincere Parker (15.9 ppg), who only got into 16 games but managed to have three consecutive 30-point outings.

Among the departures who were rotation constants throughout the year, Terrence Hargrove Jr. (13.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) was the most productive.

Impact returners: Only three scholarship players remain from Travis Ford’s final Saint Louis team, but one of them is a Preseason First Team All-Atlantic 10 pick. Guard Gibson Jimerson (15.8 ppg) is the active leader in career 3-pointers with 312, and his 1,825 career points ranks fifth in Billikens history. He needs only 148 points to pass Anthony Bonner’s school record.

The other two prominent holdovers from last year are junior Larry Hughes II (7.4 ppg) and redshirt sophomore Kellen Thames (6.0 ppg). Hughes started much of last season, while Thames was one of only four Billikens to get into every game.

Newcomers of note: Beyond the obvious like Avila and Swope, Schertz also collected some high-major options. One is forward AJ Casey, who played the last two seasons at Miami and appeared in the Final Four in 2023.

Also worth monitoring are Kobe Johnson, who has one year of eligibility left, and Josiah Dotzler, who has three seasons remaining in college after playing in 19 games at Creighton.

“They’re two guards that come from the Power Four level,” Schertz says. “They’re guys who have had experience at a high level. Kobe started at West Virginia last year and he’s a big physical guard at 6-4 and over 200 pounds. Josiah is 6-3 and over 200 pounds. They bring a defensive versatility and the ability to handle the ball and facilitate. Those guys are impactful.”

Reasons to be optimistic: Schertz took Lincoln Memorial to 10 Division II tournaments in 13 years, including a trip to the 2016 national title game, then capped a three-year run at Indiana State with a 32-7 season.

Clearly, he knows what he’s doing, and that suggests Saint Louis will improve both as this season progresses and as he gets deeper into his tenure.

X factor: Avila isn’t the only incoming big with a chance to make a difference for Saint Louis. Kalu Anya started 47 games over the last two seasons at Brown, and averaged 9.1 points and 6.9 rebounds last winter for the Bears.

“He’s got great physicality at 6-7, 225,” Schertz says. “A proven guy who starred on a good Brown team in the Ivy League. He was in a system where they played a lot slower. We think he’s a good complement to Robbie. They’re very different in how they play, but Kalu has a physicality for us and athleticism and versatility defensively that we really like.”

Circle the date: Schertz makes his debut on the Billiken sideline on Nov. 4 when Saint Louis meets Santa Clara in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Bottom line: Avila became something of a college hoops folk hero last season, so the Billikens will generate more interest just from his presence alone. But Avila and Swope also should bolster Saint Louis into a team capable of landing in the top third of the league.
“Our bandwidth is huge,” Schertz says. “We talk a lot about when you look at external expectations where we’re picked fourth and other [places] we’re first or second or whatever. We talk to our guys that that’s what somebody thinks is going to happen. What we have to focus on is possibilities, which is what can happen. We think if we can reach our potential as a team and if we can come together and put our strengths together and become the best version of ourselves, then we certainly have a team that has a chance to compete for a championship.”