Josh Schertz

Since arriving on the Lincoln Memorial University campus as the 17th head coach of the Railsplitter program, Josh Schertz has engineered one of the more remarkable turnarounds in all of college basketball.

Schertz, who was named LMU's head coach on March 22, 2008, inherited a team that had won only one conference game, a program that had never won 20 games in a season and had posted just seven winning seasons at the NCAA level prior to his arrival. In his first four seasons, he has re-written both the school and South Atlantic Conference record books. He has led LMU to its first two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2011, 2012), its first NCAA Tournament win (2012), and in 2011-12 Railsplitters made history by becoming the first ever South Atlantic Conference program to be ranked No.1 in the nation. More impressively, his overall winning percentage of (73.9%) is the best all-time among South Atlantic Conference coaches, and the 2012-13 Railsplitters will enter the season with a conference record 28 consecutive weeks ranked in the national poll.

Among the school and conference records his teams have set include: overall wins (27), single-season winning percentage (90%), consecutive wins (22), and consecutive conference wins (14). Under his leadership, the 2010-11 Railsplitters won their first ever South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles.

Over the last three seasons the Railsplitters have posted a 74-17 record which ranks them at the top of the Southeast Region and among the best nationally in both wins and winning percentage. The Railsplitters are also one of two teams to be ranked in every Southeast Region poll over the last three years.

Individual accolades go hand in hand with team success and Schertz and his players have received plenty of individual honors. Since taking the reigns at LMU, two players have been named All-Americans, six players have received First Team All-SAC honors, and five players have been chosen to the All-Freshman team. Schertz has been recognized as well as he was the 2011 South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year, selected as a finalist for the 2011 National Division II Coach of the Year, and was honored as the NABC Coach of the Month for January 2011. His work at LMU has been noticed nationally as Small College Hoops named Schertz the Top Non-Division I Head Coach under 40 years of age, while Collegeinsider.com voted him one of the top 25 Non-Division I Head Coaches in the nation.

Schertz's teams exciting style of play and his commitment to community involvement has led to better than 300% increase in attendance, making Tex Turner Arena into one of the best homecourt atmospheres in Division II basketball.

Off the court, the focus on academics by Schertz and his staff have made a huge impact as the 2012 team put together one of the finest fall semesters in school history. In keeping with his players first philosophy, he has helped champion both summer school and a fifth year program for all student-athletes at LMU, which will dramatically improve graduation rates for all sports.

Prior to his arrival in Harrogate, Schertz spent 10 seasons as an assistant/associate head coach at four different institutions. He was the Associate Head Coach at High Point University for five seasons as the Panthers went 87-66 and set school records for wins, conference wins, road wins, and highest RPI ranking. During his tenure as recruiting coordinator, two players, Danny Gathings (2004) and Arizona Reid (2007,2008) earned Big South Player of the Year honors a total of three times.  While at High Point, Schertz signed some of the best players in school history including 2,000 point scorers Arizona Reid and Nick Barbour along with all-time assist leader Mike Jefferson and all-time shot block leader Cruz Daniels.

Schertz came to High Point from Queens University (NC) where he spent two seasons as the associate head coach. The Royals went 49-14 including a school record 29 wins in 2002-03 when they advanced to the Final Four for the only time in school history. While in Charlotte Schertz landed Spencer Ross who was named 2004 National Division II Player of the Year along with 2003 CVAC Freshman of the Year Kendrick Harris.
 
Before joining Queens, Schertz spent two years at Lynn University (FL) serving as the Knights recruiting coordinator. While at Lynn, the Fighting Knights went 37-18, but the five-man recruiting class he signed in 2001 became his lasting legacy as they went on to lead Lynn to a school record 29 wins and a Final Four appearance in 2005. While at Lynn, Schertz signed two players named Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year as well as four players who earned All-Conference honors.

Schertz began his career as an assistant coach at his alma mater Florida Atlantic University, where he spent one season working under Kevin Billerman.

Schertz, a 2000 graduate of Florida Atlantic University, also has a masters in education from Lynn University.
He and his wife Natalia have two sons: Jordan and Jaden. They reside in Harrogate, TN

Josh and Natalia Schertz celebrate LMU's SAC Championship after the team cut down the nets on Feb. 26, 2011.