'The Board Was Empty': Two Days Inside App State, the Sun Belt’s Most Consistent Winner

When Dustin Kerns took over at Appalachian State in the spring of 2019, one of the first staff meetings he called had nothing to do with roster construction or ball-screen coverages.

He stood at the front of the room next to a whiteboard and asked his assistants to name every reason App State couldn't win.

The list filled up fast. The Mountaineers hadn't posted a winning season in eight years. Boone is a hard place to get to, which makes it a hard place to recruit to. App is a football school, and the basketball facilities weren't close to where they needed to be. The staff kept going until no one could think of another.

Then Kerns went back to the top and had the group decide, one item at a time, whether each reason was real or just an excuse. Every excuse got erased.

"By the time we were done, the board was empty," associate head coach Bob Szorc told me.

"It set the tone for what we've done here, what he's done here," assistant coach Bradley Fey added.

Seven years later, App State is the Sun Belt's most consistent winner. The Mountaineers haven't had a losing season under Kerns, and no team in the league has won more conference games since he arrived. They won the 2021 Sun Belt Tournament, then won the league outright in 2024 with a program-record 27 wins.