Rob Gardiner enters his third season at Saint Louis in 2026-27, as he was hired as an assistant coach by Josh Schertz in April 2024.
Gardiner was part of a SLU staff that orchestrated one of the finest seasons in Saint Louis basketball history in 2025-26. The Billikens finished 29-6 overall, captured a share of the Atlantic 10 regular-season title and earned the program's first NCAA Championship berth since 2019. Saint Louis advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship after defeating Georgia in the first round, marking the Billikens' first NCAA Championship victory since 2014.
The 29 victories established a new school record. The Billikens spent multiple weeks in the national rankings and climbed as high as No. 18 nationally while becoming one of the nation's most efficient offensive and defensive teams.
Gardiner coached multiple student-athletes earn Atlantic 10 postseason honors, highlighted by Robbie Avila's selection as the league's Player of the Year and a first-team All-Conference performer.
Gardiner worked with Schertz at Indiana State as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach in 2023-24, as well as an assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial for one season in 2020-21.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Rob at LMU and at Indiana State,” Schertz said at the time of Gardiner's hire. “Rob is as smart, hard-working and organized a human being as I have ever been around. He impacts the program in every way for us to be successful. Rob is terrific on the court, understands basketball at the highest level, and does a great job with our guys.”
“I could not be more excited to get to work with our players, coaches and administration to build a program that Saint Louis University can be proud of on and off the court,” Gardiner said at the time of his hire. “Coach Schertz is a service-driven leader who is elite at building relationships with players, coaches and communities, and I look forward to helping him build a championship culture here at Saint Louis. When you combine Coach Schertz’s track record of success and program building with the history, tradition and support of Billiken Basketball and the St. Louis community, you produce great expectations for the future. SLU is a special place, and I am filled with extreme gratitude, joy and excitement to give everything I have to our players, program, University and the Saint Louis community. Go Bills!”
Gardiner was part of a magical season for Indiana State in 2023-24. The Sycamores finished with a 32-7 record and captured the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season crown. They were a No. 1 seed in the NIT and advanced to the championship game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
ISU led the nation in effective field-goal percentage last year. The Sycamores were fourth in 3-pointers made per game and seventh in scoring offense.
At Lincoln Memorial in 2020-21, Gardiner assisted Schertz as the Railsplitters advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Gardiner was the team’s recruiting coordinator and oversaw opponent scouting.
Prior to his stint at Lincoln Memorial, Gardiner served eight years on the staff at Ashland University, starting as a graduate assistant in 2012 before rising to associate head coach. He helped the Eagles to their first conference championship in 2016 and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991. Ashland also went to the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
Gardiner was the recruiting coordinator and was charged with coordinating the defense at Ashland. The Eagles ranked in the top 30 nationally in scoring defense in five of his last six seasons. Gardiner also recruited and developed six student-athletes who went on to enjoy professional careers.
From 2021-23, Gardiner was a senior recruiting coach for Next College Student Athlete (NCSA). He managed more than 1,200 high school basketball recruits in their pursuit to play college basketball.
A native of Dublin, Ohio, Gardiner also served as a graduate assistant at Wright State in Dayton, Ohio, from 2010-12. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education and history in 2010 from Ohio Wesleyan and a master’s degree in education technology from Wright State in 2012.
