His first Israeli national team coaching tenure (which lasted three years), saw two EuroBasket appearances (1985, 1987) and Israel's historic 7th place finish at the 1986 FIBA World Basketball Championship. Sherf's tenure as national team head coach ended after what was perceived as a poor performance at EuroBasket 1987 (11th position), but Sherf later returned as the team's head coach for the years 1991-97. In 2005, Sherf was again appointed head coach of the Israeli national basketball team, and on January 1, 2008, he was appointed head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.