With the first official day of summer practice inside the Chaifetz Arena pavilion the 2026-27 Saint Louis Billikens season has unofficially begun. And with that begins our coverage here at STL Sports Central.
Whenever the Billikens have a press availability, open practice or scrimmage this summer we'll reconvene here for the "Billikens Notebook" to go through the biggest takeaways from the day & dive deep into Josh Schertz's (and the players') pressers as Saint Louis gets a step closer to officially opening the season in October.
First Impressions
Like most first impressions, the biggest takeaway from the media in attendance and fans following the coverage online is purely based on looks.
Specifically that everyone looks like they put in WORK since the end of the season less than three months to go. Amari McCottry, Jax Kerr and Ishan Sharma all looked like they added a substantial amount of muscle since we saw them last. Head coach Josh Schertz confirmed Kerr's gains, saying he went from 198 when he arrived last season to 220lbs this summer. We only have film to compare, but transfer big man Alon Michaeli surprised with a frame that looked bigger in person than on Youtube. Still doing a solid Durant-at-Texas impression with his build, Schertz mentioned redshirt freshman Badara Diakite's growth as well but it looks like there's still some work to be done.
Amari McCottry Shooting Form Update #1
Amari McCottry's shooting form has received a lot of attention over his first two years as a Billiken, which is why his performance on Day One jumped out so much. You won't confuse him for Klay Thompson, but Amari McCottry's three-point shot looks to have taken a bigger jump over the last two months than it did the previous eighteen. He still doesn't spin the ball as much as you want--he's working up to over one full rotation per shot--but his release looks more compact, quicker and, most importantly, repeatable.
And, as previously mentioned, he looks HUGE. Amari was already able to bully opponents and ran the center spot in Schertz's 5-guard lineup, so what can an even more physically imposing version handle?
Who's gonna back him down on a mismatch?
Or stop him with a full head of steam in transition? Good luck to the player who takes that charge...
Let the Position Battles Begin
Speaking of players looking bigger, how about the new 220lb man Jax Kerr? The frame looked more filled out, with room to go, but he also looked just as quick (quicker even?) while going through DHO shooting drills.
Schertz pointed out the same post-practice, "He's gotten stronger...He's still moving great."
Speaking of shooting drills, his 3-point shot looked great. He has a high release and doesn't bring the ball down on the catch, a perfect combination alongside his 6'11 listed height which should make his jumper virtually unblockable.
That shooting, combined with the aforementioned size, are going to be crucial for the Billikens this season. "He's the guy that, for us to be good, he's got to have a terrific year for us," claimed Schertz after the practice. Do those expectations sound heavy? "I haven't had a big like that, that can provide vertical spacing, horizontal spacing and then rim protection," Schertz admitted as he described Kerr's ability as a rim running lob threat (vertical spacing), spot up shooter that can space on offense (horizontal) and block shots as the primary weak-side threat (rim protection).
There was a lot of talk from Schertz and Trey Green about how the playmaking is going to change with the departure of Robbie Avila but that doesn't mean they will have to completely abandon the "trigger" spot in the Schertz system. "We have to adjust the way we play offensively because we don't have Robbie there. But Jax's the guy that can pass the basketball, he can shoot it, he handles the ball well. We think he's a good decision marker. He can connect actions...". Put it another way, coach.
"Big expectations in terms of what we think he can provide in the 2026-2027 season."
Deja Blue
Speaking of big expectations, there may not be a level of hype that is too high for redshirt freshman wing Luke Laszkowski.
We covered all the reasons for excitement in last year's season preview and the new offerings have been added. (Quick review: Pedigree, size, shooting. Check, check, check.) But interviews over the spring with assistant coach Zack Boisvert & Trey Green on the Midtown Madness Pod and Josh Schertz on the Randy Karraker Show informed us of another trait in which "Latch" stands well above-average--Instincts. Both interviews revealed that Laszkowski already has a cut named after him in the team's system and Schertz called him "one of the best pure cutters" he's ever coached. If you have followed Schertz since the Indiana St. days you may remember what Jayson Kent was able to do and why that kind of compliment from Schertz carries so much weight.
We didn't get a chance to see those instincts on Day One, but we got to see plenty of the shooting. Lights out. Has anyone ever wondered what Gibson Jimerson would look like if he were three inches taller?
Thames goes "M-I-A" in PHX
Kellen Thames knows how to get reactions from Saint Louis fans. Whether it's a between-the-legs save, a highlight real dunk or dropping pieces of information like "Damian Lillard's trainer reached out because he wanted to work with me" or 'I'm going for a 45' vertical on Wednesday'.
Context on the way.
A few weeks ago Phil Beckner, NBA Star Damian Lillard's trainer, reach out to Saint Louis assistant coach Zach Boisvert to connect him with Thames. Kellen ended up in Arizona for two weeks working out with Beckner, former Billiken Jordan Goodwin, St. Louis native Caleb Love and other NBA pros.
His three-point shooting stroke appears to have changed since the season ended. That comes on the heels of a season where his shot changed from the years prior. The main change appears to be moving the ball outside his frame when he brings it up, but the motion looked much more smooth when he was working through threes off the dribble instead of catch-and-shoot.
What else does he take away from that two-week trip? "[Beckner] says I got a good work ethic and a good personality, and that's gonna take me a long way...Making sure I cantonie to carry that personality and character."
10 is better than 1
The Billikens return more players than most teams in college basketball but that doesn't include Robbie Avila, who lead the Billikens in most stats and was often pointed to as the leader of the locker room and the poster boy for the culture that head coach Josh Schertz talks about. His absence is already being felt in the first day of practice, but it's not the negative you would think.
"You can see we had 10 guys back," Schertz explained. "The last two years Robbie's...has a lot of that on his shoulders. You have way more guys that are able to talk to other guys and coach other guys."
Trey Green noticed as well, "They have us to learn, like the Robbie role last year, to make the transition a lot smoother."
Kellen Thames sees it ike a head start on the season, "Instead of learning from ground zero, we're learning from a certain point and trying to help the other who came in to catch up to that point."
Quick Hits
- The Billikens will notice the absence of Avila, Schertz acknowledged that while players Michaeli & Kerr can move the ball, the wings/guards are going to have to take over the playmaking burden
- Schertz listed out Amari McCottry, Kellen Thames, Trey Green & Quintin Jones as players he expects to take "major steps forward as playmakers"
- Freshman Jermel "Magic Mel" Thomas is the most natural & pure PG that Schertz has had in St. Louis
- They put in work on a guard during portal season but it didn't work out--"Perfect world we would've got a guard."--so they went the 3-bigs route with players they believed in
- Alon Michaeli is already bringing a "Dion Brown" like verbal energy to the team
- Saint Louis has "really high expectations" for redshirt freshman transfer Sheek Pearson, with Shcertz pointing out his "unique skillset" as a player who "shoot the ball better than you expect" and is a "terrific rim protector"
- Schertz thinks we could see some three-big lineups with Pearson-Michaeli-Kerr, pointing out that all three are big men who can shoot
- Going a little smaller, and adding in a player like Strong, he says they can run any two of them together as well
- Schertz doesn't worry about who they missed out on, saying, "As a coach you never get fired for missing on guys, you get fired for signing bad players."
- "We're trying to create a roster as versatile as you can," was Schertz's point as he explained the ability to play big and even go small with a 5-guard lineup. "As the game evolved, we're trying to evolve with it."
- Kellen Thames on how much an improved shot would improve his game, "Tremendously. Cause that means you're going to have to guard me close and after that I eel like that's going to open a lot for me."
- On his continuing his play from last season, "I just want to be a full complete player...pick up where I left off and take it a whole 'nother level."
- Kellen tested with a 43.5 inch vertical last year. He's going for 45.0 this year. That would grade out as the second best mark at the NBA combine in the last 20 years.
- Trey Green kept the new idea for his tattoo inside the room, borrowing some ideas from Quintin Jones
- Trey's prediction for how this team compares to last year? "We're going to be fast, more athletic."
- Green highlighted the difference in the bigs specifically, "There's no replacing Robbie..but the bigs we have are going to be more athletic, we're going to be able to play aster...do things we couldn't do with Robbie." He reiterated there's also things they *won't* be able to do. That's where Trey & the other veterans come in.
- Green repeated multiple times that he's working on his ball-handling & getting into the paint more, as well as taking another leap as a playmaker, pointing to the rarity of off-ball guards below 6'0 at the next level
- With his former MOKAN teammate Kennard Davis & fellow Charlotte-area-native Jordan Crawford both transferring to Missouri this season, Trey Green has already starting the trashing talking for the new series
Think About It
There's usually at least one Schertz answer that's too long and too good to clip up or try to write around, so we'll use this space at the end to just drop a big transcript.
This week, the question has to do with the sacrificing we always heard about with last year's Billiken team. Avila was the leader of that, a nationally recognized player--on multiple preseason watch lists--who took less minute, less shots, and yes less attention, so that Saint Louis could put together a record breaking season. How do you extend that culture with an even deeper roster?
"Well, I think, you know, it's the same. Everybody assumes that everything's as it was and it never works like that in life. We have really good talent, we have really good depth, maybe deeper than last year. We're going to have to sacrifice. Guy's going to give up parts of their game, give up minutes, go up shots. I think the guys that were here and return understand what last year looked like, but they are all back and they all want more, right? Nobody came back for less or the same. And then you got new guys who want more.
And so our ability to handle that as a group, to have the level of team orientation that last year's group had, to play it a way that is sacrificial and give up for the good of the group, to give up minutes, to give up shots, to play the right way, to play no agenda basketball, to have ambition, not have agenda. We've talked about those things. Those are huge keystones and cornerstones for us. That's why when I told them this yesterday, you know, we talked about expectations and they'll see in some polls they'll in the top 25 or they'll be picked whatever, and, you know, we always deal in possibilities. Certainly we have the talent, the possibility to be a great basketball team and, you know, to not just do, not just replicate we did last year, but certainly be better. But we also, if we don't do the right things, don't work the right way, don't sacrifice the right way, we don't have the right team environment on/off the court, it could be nothing close to what it was last year.
So this is a new challenge, new group, and everybody's going to have to--right now, the great thing is, in the summer, everybody thinks they're playing 40 minutes and going to shoot 40 shots a night--so you have that in the summer, but it'll start to kind of come into focus as we get through the summer, where guys are, and then it'll stay fluid as we go, and ultimately, we'll get it down to where we have whatever that rotation is going into October.
I think that the challenge is going to be for this group is the same as it was last year. When you have as many good players, you, nobody's going to get exactly what they want. Everybody's got to be okay with giving up for the good of the group and enjoying each other's success and that goes back to, you hope you recruit guys with the right level of team orientation." - Billikens HC Josh Schertz