ATLANTA, Ga. - Indiana State men's basketball head coach Josh Schertz has been named to the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List presented by AXIA Time, released by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

The Watch List features 15 NCAA Division I coaches, nine from Power Five conferences. The next round of finalists will be announced on March 15. 

In his third season at the helm of the Indiana State Sycamores, Coach Schertz has led ISU to a 23-5 overall record and a 14-3 Missouri Valley Conference record. This team has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons. In Indiana State program history, including this season, there have been only 11 seasons that the Sycamores have recorded 23+ wins - Coach Schertz accounts for two of the 11. With 57 wins at Indiana State, Coach Schertz has tied Birch E. Bayh for 10th in program history in coaching wins. The 23 wins is the most in a regular season since the 1978-79 season when Larry Bird was residing in Terre Haute.

The NBA-styled, fast-paced offense has drawn national interest of both basketball fans and analysts. The Sycamores played its way to hold numerous top 20 national rankings in various categories, including effective field goal percentage, three pointers per game, and scoring offense, among others. ISU currently leads the MVC in seven different categories. ISU has led in effective field goal percentage since December 2, 2023. 

Headlining recent news for Indiana State, Coach Schertz's team earned national rankings for the first time since 1978-79. When the national polls were released on February 12, ISU earned the No. 23 spot in the AP Top 25 and No. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. Indiana State also topped the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll for three weeks straight, ahead of notable teams like Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.

Selected to finished fourth in the MVC this season, Indiana State climbed to the No. 1 spot and currently sits tied for first place holding the tiebreaker with the highest NET Ranking in the MVC. ISU has notched 27 league wins so far in the last two seasons. Last season's 13 wins are tied for second in program history, while the 14 wins this season stands third in program history.

When Coach Schertz moved to Terre Haute, his first season as head coach ended in the opening round of the MVC Tournament with an 11-20 record. The next year, Indiana State went 23-13 and accepted an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational and earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament. This was the first postseason appearance since 2014, and the win over USC Update in the first round marked the first postseason victory since 2001. The 23 wins tied the 2014 team for the most regular-season wins in a season since 1979. This team saw the Newcomer of the Year for the MVC in Courvoisier McCauley, while Cameron Henry, Robbie Avila, and Julian Larry also earned postseason awards. 

His 2023-24 team has locked up a top-four regular season finish, claiming a day-one bye game to advance to Friday play. ISU has clinched a top two seed for the upcoming MVC Tournament in St. Louis. 

Indiana State has a chance to win the regular season title for the first time since 2000 and make an appearance in March Madness for the first time since 2011.

ISU has three games left in regular-season action. Indiana State hosts UIC on Saturday, travels to Evansville on February 28, and battles Murray State on March 3 for Senior Day.

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