When Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz spoke with Hoops HQ on Friday morning, shortly before his team was set to face in-state rival Missouri at the Enterprise Center, he was under the impression that Robbie Avila was eligible to play. “He’ll be dressed,” Schertz said. “He’s available.”
That was the assumption of the entire college basketball world after the 6-foot-10 fifth-year forward was granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday. In an unprecedented move, St. Louis City Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser — a SLU alum — also ruled that the Billikens could have a 16th roster spot for Avila until a trial is held, which could be several months down the road. Sengheiser’s decision appeared to clear the way for the star big man to suit up for the Billikens for the entire 2026-27 campaign.
But just a few hours after Schertz’s interview with Hoops HQ, the College Sports Commission denied SLU’s request to add Avila as a 16th player, saying in a statement that the program was “in violation of the roster limits imposed by the injunctive relief settlement in House v. NCAA.
“Saint Louis University was not required to opt into the House settlement,” the statement continued. “In choosing to do so, twice, it chose to be subject to the rules governing revenue sharing and roster limits. The men’s basketball roster limit is 15, according to the explicit terms of the settlement. Saint Louis was not required to fill its roster to the maximum, but it chose to do so, leaving no open slots for an additional player. A school that is subject to the terms of the settlement does not get to disregard those terms.”
The CSC clarified that it takes “no position on Mr. Avila’s eligibility” and that while he may be eligible based on the injunction, “there is no roster slot available for him at Saint Louis University.”
The surprise development didn’t derail Saint Louis against the Tigers. The university issued a statement prior to tip-off saying that Avila wouldn’t be suiting up. He watched from the bench in street clothes as his team cruised past Missouri, 90-84, to improve to 2-0. The Billikens put on an offensive clinic, shooting 52 percent from the field and 56 percent from behind the arc. All five starters scored in double figures, led by 6-foot-5 junior forward Ishan Sharma (17 points) and 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Amari McCottry (17 points).
Afterwards, Schertz admitted that he wasn’t going to play Avila regardless of the CSC’s ruling (he just wanted Mizzou to have to prepare for that possibility). As for the situation overall, Schertz stressed that he feels bad for Avila because he has handled things the right way. “He’s like a son to me,” Schertz added, per Sports Illustrated reporter Killian Wright. “I’m going to support him, care for him, and I’ll love him just as much if he’s suiting up for the Billikens or if he’s suiting up for anybody not in the A-10.”
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Of course, the ramifications of the CSC’s decision are massive. Avila, the reigning Atlantic-10 Player of the Year, would raise SLU’s ceiling dramatically. Schertz’s team was already considered one of the best mid-majors in the country. With Avila in the mix, the Billikens would have the potential to soar even higher than they did last season, when they won a program-record 29 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
When the offseason began, Schertz wasn’t preparing for the possibility of having Avila — or any fifth-year players — on his ‘26-27 team, so he filled all 15 roster spots. “This became something in the summer,” Schertz told Hoops HQ before the CSC’s ruling came down. “We always want to operate with the highest levels of integrity and put people first. So when this became something, we didn’t move anybody on our roster. We didn’t create DSAs (Designated Student-Athletes). There’s been no funny business with our roster.
“We (said) we would listen to what the court said,” Schertz continued. “There were two hurdles. There was the fifth-year injunction and then the issue with the roster caps. I think where the roster caps is, there’s a lot of stuff with DSAs and who’s a DSA and who’s not a DSA, and so there are some variations across the country with who got put under that umbrella. From our standpoint, we didn’t do that, and so he needed both things to go his way. And then he got that.”
Avila was first a part of an eligibility lawsuit in Illinois that was dismissed, so he refiled in Missouri. He was granted a temporary restraining order in October and returned to practice with SLU’s scout team, but Schertz wanted to wait until there was more clarity before fully reintegrating him. That clarity seemed to arrive Thursday with Sengheiser’s verdict, and Avila subsequently had his first practice with the real team.
Schertz only felt comfortable re-adding Avila because of their familiarity with each other — Schertz has coached him for the past four years, including two at Indiana State — and the Billikens’ high level of retention. “I would never have done it in any other circumstance, and probably not for anybody other than Robbie,” Schertz said.
In 2025-26, Avila helped lead SLU to the A-10 regular season crown with averages of 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 41 percent from three. The roster was constructed around him, optimizing his unique skill set. It was loaded with elite shooters and playmakers, all of whom bought into specific roles and thrived within Schertz’s system, which emphasizes spacing, cutting, ball movement and pushing the pace. The Billikens ranked 10th nationally in scoring, eighth in assists, fifth in field goal percentage and third in three-point percentage.
Before Avila entered the picture a few months ago, Saint Louis had already retained nine players from last year’s team, including five key rotational pieces and three who earned All-A-10 honors (McCottry, 6-foot junior guard Trey Green and 6-foot-5 junior guard Kellen Thames).
As Schertz emphasized, that continuity — along with Avila’s winning mentality, leadership and dedication to SLU’s culture — was going to make reintegrating the big man rather seamless. “Because he has such a great understanding systematically, because he has so many teammates he’s played with and they understand him and he understands them, nothing’s really changed,” Schertz said. “It’s really him getting the physical conditioning and then getting back the rhythm of basketball.”
It’s unclear where Avila’s eligibility saga will go from here, but as Saint Louis proved during the preseason — when it toppled Nebraska on the road — and Friday against the Tigers, it can more than hang with elite power conference squads even without him.
“It’s not that he has to come in and save the day,” Schertz told Hoops HQ. “We feel like we have a really good team without Robbie, and Robbie just makes it better.”
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