What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 1/27/2024

Coaching Search: DePaul--Burner Ball

The job has only been open four days, but the wheels are already in motion to find their next coach.

The Favorites
Josh Schertz (Indiana State head coach)

Josh Schertz is one of the hottest mid-major names in the sport. The Indiana State head coach runs beautiful offense and currently has the Sycamores sitting at 17-3 overall. This guy simply wins wherever he goes. At D2 Lincoln Memorial, he went 337-69 with nine conference titles and two D2 Final Four appearances. After going 11-20 in his first year at Indiana State, they won 23 games last season and will likely surpass that number in 2024. The Sycamores are in contention for an at-large bid should they not win the Missouri Valley tournament.

Schertz is currently without an AD and the President of the university is retiring in June. The instability in leadership makes him an extremely likely mover candidate this cycle, no matter the job. His buyout is only 250k, making a move even more palatable for prospective schools. Hiring Schertz would signal a distinct shift in DePaul’s usual (and mostly unsuccessful) course of action. An outside-the-box hire may be what the school needs to shake off years of hoops misfortune.
Other Names To Watch

Brian Wardle (Bradley head coach)
Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois head coach)

Winning Key Weekend Games--Valley Hoops Insider
1/27/24 SATURDAY NEWS AND NOTES--Staring at the Floorboards

Subscriber Content

Indiana State mostly throttled Bradley in Peoria in the first meeting (a game that saw them lose Hickman in the 2H), but the Braves are the hottest team in the Valley right now, and looking for revenge in Terre Haute...

Women's Basketball Earns 66-55 Win Over Missouri State in Nashville Return--belmontbruins.com

'It's incredible': Bradley Braves reward walk-ons with basketball scholarships for rest of season--Peoria Journal Star

Bradley WBB falls to UNI--bradleybraves.com

Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Saturday, Jan 27th--Hoops HD

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
–Northern Iowa @ Drake (Missouri Valley) – Drake can still make a run at the bubble if they can continue to blow through the MVC. They need to hold serve at home in this one