Saint Louis has released its 2025-26 nonconference schedule for Year 2 under head coach Josh Schertz.
In Year 1, after coming in from Indiana State, Schertz brought in two of his top players who contributed to a historic season for the Sycamores: Isaiah Swope and Robbie Avila. Expectations were high in the Gateway City.
Instead, the Billikens went just 19-15 (11-7), finishing fifth in the Atlantic 10. After the departures of Swope and longtime Billiken Gibson Jimerson, Avila will take the reins as the de facto lead man in 2025-26.
Out of the gate, it doesn’t look like Avila and Co. will have too tough a time. To open the season, Saint Louis starts with a five-game homestand, with games against Southeast Missouri, Chicago State, Lindenwood, Grand Canyon and Purdue-Fort Wayne.
The highlight of this stretch is Grand Canyon, which lost some program staples with the likes of Tyon Grant-Foster and Duke Brennan. However, the Lopes did bring in Gonzaga guard Dusty Stromer and Brown forward Nana Owusu-Anane (14.7 ppg). Brian Moore Jr. was one of the top scorers in the nation last year at Norfolk State, going for 18.1 ppg. GCU has reached the NCAA Tournament in four of five seasons under Bryce Drew.
Saint Louis will travel west to take part in the Acrisure Invitational. Game 1 on Thanksgiving will feature Santa Clara, a team that figures to make some WCC buzz, and Game 2 will see Stanford or Minnesota, depending on the results.
To round out the California vacation, the final stop will occur in Los Angeles against Loyola Marymount. Billiken fans will need to keep an eye on 6-foot-3 guard Nakyel Shelton. At Eastern Illinois last year, Shelton was the second-leading scorer in the OVC at 17.0 ppg.
For the remainder of the nonconference season, Saint Louis will be back at Chaifetz Arena for four more Division I games: Central Michigan, San Francisco, Bethune-Cookman and New Hampshire.
