Lincoln Memorial’s Schertz establishes himself as one of nation’s best basketball coaches
HARROGATE, Tenn. (BVM) — Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball head coach Josh Schertz’s name has become pretty well known throughout the Volunteer State. This June, following one of his most successful seasons at the school, Schertz was named the Tennessee College Basketball Coach of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association over finalists Casey Alexander of Belmont and Chattanooga’s Lamont Paris. This was Schertz’s second time winning the award having won it in 2016 following a 34-3 season that saw the Railsplitters reach the NCAA Division II national championship.
“I am humbled and honored,” Schertz said. “I think all of us who coach understand that it is about more than just us. I am blessed to be at LMU. We have a great alignment between our student-athletes experience and our program. We have a fantastic group of people who do a ton of work behind the scenes.”
Humbled and thankful to be able to coach some of the best players in the country who came together to create a team for the ages https://t.co/qkbHlsNM7M
— Josh Schertz (@CoachSchertzISU) June 2, 2020
Schertz should be credited with much of the program’s success over the past decade, though he is quick to point out that it’s players, not coaches, that win basketball games.
“Players always carry the coaches,” Schertz said. “That just shows the type of men that they are or were.”
The 2019-20 iteration of the Railsplitters may have been the best version Schertz had the pleasure to coach. LMU, after losing its first game of the season to West Texas A&M, rattled off 32 straight victories to end the season with a 32-1 record. Although the Railsplitters were set to host the Southeast Regional Championship against Belmont Abbey, the season was canceled due to concerns over COVID-19, ending one of the most successful years in program history. Lincoln Memorial dominated in most of their contests, winning by an average of around 25 points and notching double digit victories in 29 games. The 32 wins by the Railsplitters marked both a program and South Atlantic Conference (SAC) record and was the longest active win streak in NCAA basketball by the end of the season.
“I’ll always remember them as champions,” Schertz said. “The what ifs will always hang over the team and the season, but I don’t think it will diminish their accomplishments at all. We had a chance to compete for a championship and I felt we were the best in the country.”
With the sports world still on hold, @notthefakeSVP honors more high school and college athletes around the country by kicking off the second week of #SeniorNight pic.twitter.com/azU8wd7RkF
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 24, 2020
Even though Schertz wouldn’t take all the credit for the success, he deserves some acknowledgement for helping bring the Lincoln Memorial program to the forefront of Division II competition.
Prior to Schertz’s arrival to the university, the Railsplitters didn’t have a history of consistent success even though the program was nearing its 90th year. In fact, the team had only posted seven winning seasons at the NCAA level in program history and the five years prior to Schertz’s hiring, the team had won only 39 total games.
Schertz was hired prior to the 2008-09 season having spent 10 years as an assistant or associate coach at a number of successful programs including his alma mater Florida Atlantic University, Lynn University, Queens University (N.C.) and High Point. During his time as an assistant coach, programs Schertz was a part of were 175-126 over his 10 seasons.
Each of his stops gave Schertz a building block to become the coach he is today. As a graduate assistant at FAU, the former college basketball player learned how to operate within the coaching staff and understand how to handle a group of men for the first time. At Lynn, as a recruiting coordinator, Schertz learned less on the court, but more about how to evaluate players and what to look for in a successful player. At Queens, as an assistant coach, Schertz was finally able to put all he had learned at his previous stops together, marrying his knowledge of the ins and outs of the game along with his savvy recruiting techniques. At Division I High Point, Schertz was able to bring his coaching to the highest level and learn how to recruit and coach some of the best players in the sport.
With this newly formed knowledge, Schertz was able to quickly bring that same level of success and consistency to the Railsplitters.
In his first season as head coach for LMU, Schertz led the Railsplitters to a 14-14 record, the most wins in a season for a LMU team in over five years, and an 8-8 SAC record, the most SAC wins in a season in program history. In year two, Schertz pushed the bar even higher, leading the team to its first 20-win season at the Division II level and its first postseason win in program history.
Schertz truly established himself and the Railsplitters program among the DII elite in his third year when he coached the team to a then school-record 27 wins, including a 22-game winning streak in conference, the program’s first SAC regular season and tournament championships, its first placement in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II national poll while also getting the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time. For his work, Schertz won his first SAC Coach of the Year award and was nominated as a finalist for the Division II National Coach of the Year.
Not one to talk himself up, Schertz is quick to point out that he alone was not able to turn the program around as quickly as it did. It took a number of people all working toward the same unified goal and being successful both on and off the court.
“The key to success is to surround yourself with great people,” Schertz said. “People who have both great tangibles and intangibles. Bringing winners, those who do the right things the right way, together. That’s been my mentality from day one. You admire not just their talent, but the commitment and character it takes to achieve that and sustain that.”
Schertz and the Railsplitters program hit their stride from there. In his 12 years with the team, Schertz has gone 318-65 (.830). Only Jim Crutchfield at Nova Southeastern (.841) owns a higher career winning percentage among head coaches at any NCAA level with 10 or more years of coaching experience and during this past season, Schertz passed Gonzaga head coach Mark Few (.828). For Schertz, it’s an accomplishment he will cherish, to be among the games greats, but he knows there is still work to be done for him to be considered in the same class as some of those names around him.
“I’ve always admired people who are able to demonstrate consistent high levels of coaching over an extended period of time,” Schertz said. “It is amazing some of the names on that list like John Wooden with all his championships or Adolph Rupp who coached 40 years. It is beyond humbling to see your name up there, but I realize that I’m not in the same league.”
On top of that, Schertz has won a conference record seven SAC Coach of the Year awards, four NABC Southeast District Coach of the Year awards and has been a finalist for the Division II Clarence Gaines Award six times and won the award in 2016.
For the second time in three years, @LMUMBB leader @coachschertzlmu is @NABC1927’s Division II Southeast District Coach of the Year ‼️#GoSplitters pic.twitter.com/NylUuaJoXa
— LMU Railsplitters (@LMURailsplitter) March 23, 2020
“It’s always nice to be recognized at the level of national coach of the year,” Schertz said. “It’s a direct reflection of your team, but it is difficult to quantify because you’re totally dependent on people. Players have to go out and do things. … As a coach, you have your hand in a lot of things, but that pales in comparison to the players. There’s the saying there are no hall of fame coaches that don’t have hall of fame players and that’s true. Our success is dependent on the talent of the players we coach.”
Schertz’s Railsplitter teams have also been a model of consistency at the Division II level. Following this season, the program has posted 11 consecutive 20-win seasons including five 30-win seasons in the past six years, made one national championship and made two Final Fours enroute to a 15-8 mark in the NCAA tournament including going 11-3 in the past three seasons.
Consistency has always been a key tenant to Schertz coached teams. Schertz preaches to his team the mantra “kaizen” — a Japanese word for continuous improvement. In fact, Schertz always seems to keep his teams focused on what lies in front of them rather than what has happened in the past and to continue to try to grow as a unit.
“We always tell them to embrace the growth process or to be better tomorrow then you were today,” Schertz said. “We have the saying about the windshield. Why is the windshield bigger in your car than the rearview mirror? Because you need to focus on the task at hand or what is in front of you rather than what’s behind you.”
Schertz players have also seen numerous successes during his tenure at Lincoln Memorial. During his 12 seasons, Schertz has coached a nation-leading nine All-American selections since 2011 and the Railsplitters have produced 15 professional players since 2011, the most among any Division II program. Last season, Schertz coached sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley, who in April announced his intention to transfer to Depaul University in Chicago, to an All-American season.
With the success he has seen, Schertz seemingly makes coaching look easy. But for Schertz, he knows coaching and unifying a team is not a run of the mill task. Being able to separate oneself from other programs who have similar athletes, facilities and coaches is not easy either, but it is a challenge Schertz embraces.
“You have to find a way to separate yourself from others,” Schertz said. “It’s like that George Washington Carver quote, ‘Do common things in an uncommon way and you’ll capture the attention of the world.’ You’re trying to get a group of young men from varying backgrounds to do something and that in itself is against human nature. You’re building bonds, relationships and preaching winning over individual success. … Everyone is unified and a united pursuit is the most powerful thing in the world, but that falls opposite to human nature.”
If there has been one lesson the longtime coach has learned over his decades of coaching groups of young men it is that success isn’t easy.
“I’ve learned that it is harder to handle success than it is to deal with failure,” Schertz said. “It is also harder to rebuild and maintain success than it is to just rebuild. … We always go in with the same goal and expectation and that is to be up to our standard. Play at the LMU standard. Staying together and not splintering and playing our best when it matters the most.”
Although he may have not earned the Division II National Coach of the Year award this season, it’s clear that Lincoln Memorial University has one of the most talented coaches in all of the NCAA courtside. Even with the hurdles of COVID-19 and the immense pressure of keeping up their level of play, it would not be a surprise to see the Railsplitters not only extend their winning streak, but also put up another spectacular season. Much of that is due in large part to Schertz, though you’d have a hard time getting him to admit it.
