Born and raised in San Diego, California, Joshua Merrill played three different sports in high school. In his senior year, he was runner-up for Athlete of the Year in the state of California. In 1994, Josh was named the CIF Player of the Year in basketball and The San Diego Union Tribune also named Josh as its Athlete of the Year. Josh focused on basketball in college and signed with Pepperdine University where he played his freshman year before transferring to and finishing his final three years at the University of California, Santa Barbara. For three years at UCSB, he was the second leading scorer and rebounder for the team. The UCSB Gauchos won the Big West Conference his senior season, and Josh was named Second Team, All Best West. Josh then continued playing basketball overseas for six years in a variety of different countries, including Argentina, Portugal, and Australia. Since 2006, he has been the director and pastor with Shepherd Sports.