NCAA Basketball: 3 under-the-radar coaches who have exceeded expectations entering March
Anyone ready for March Madness? This is the greatest time of the year for a few reasons. One reason is that college basketball is on all day long, and two, we all fill out our "perfect" brackets and await the team that will bust it within the first 24-48 hours.
Nonetheless, it is important to take a real look at what has led to these moments. From great wins to bad losses, to conference tournaments, and to players and coaches who have set the scene throughout the season, paving the way for another great year for their respective teams. It’s all about the process leading up to this point that sets the tone for a fantastic NCAA Tournament.
There are so many great coaches in the college basketball landscape who have done a terrific job this season. From Matt Painter's Purdue Boilermakers to Rick Barnes' Tennessee squad, and to Dan Hurley, who debatably has the best team once again after winning the National Championship last year with the UConn Huskies, But there are oftentimes coaches who have taken programs into shambles and turned them into the ideal March Madness story. Here are three under-the-radar coaches who have done a near-perfect job in the 2023–24 season.
3. Josh Schertz, Indiana State Sycamores
Josh Schertz has risen to become one of the best mid-major coaches in the entirety of college basketball. Currently, he has Indiana State in position to get an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2011. However, there is still work to be done. They have already won the Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season championship, but that will not get them an automatic bid. If the Sycamores can grasp the Missouri Valley conference tournament championship, then they would automatically punch their ticket to the big dance.
Indiana State is an astounding 26-5 led by fan favorite Robbie Avila, who is averaging 17.6 PPG, 6.9 REB, and 3.9 AST. He is also shooting 55.6% from the field, and 39.6% from the three-point line. But to give you a quick glimpse of the job Schertz has done, He has a record, 49 wins over the last two seasons at ISU. It's the first time they've clinched the conference regular season title since 2000, the second since 1979, and do you remember who led that team? Well, it was the one and only, Larry Bird.
They have not made it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2001. Not only was that the year I was born, but it was also in the middle of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's three-peat with the Los Angeles Lakers. Josh Schertz has changed the culture and has done an incredible job. He deserves all the recognition that he is getting and more.