Cape Central's Jay Reynolds commits to SEMO, points focus to senior season

With the season nearing, Cape Central’s Jay Reynolds has his future beyond his senior year decided.

The senior announced on Oct. 23 that he will attend Southeast Missouri State University and play basketball under head coach Brad Korn and his dad, J.R. Reynolds, who is an assistant coach on Korn’s staff.

“Just seeing SEMO it felt like the right time and the right place to be,” Reynolds said. “The recruiting process wasn’t anything super crazy but it put a lot of other options in my mind at the time.”

Reynolds has grown up around college basketball with his dad coaching at the collegiate level and being around the game is something that fueled his passion.

“The moment I knew I wanted to play college basketball was when my dad was a grad assistant at Purdue,” Reynolds said. “I remember getting to go to a practice one day and getting to stand in the middle of that Purdue arena and I got to look around and watch the players play and how they interact.”

Reynolds said during his recruiting process he leaned heavily on his parents to help guide him, but his dad was able to offer him a unique perspective.

“He was very helpful and understanding of my decisions,” Reynolds said. “If I didn’t want to go to SEMO he understood obviously. He was super up front with me about what it would mean and what it would look like. He was very good at advising me and keeping it straight up with me on how it would look if I went to SEMO.”

Because his dad is on the coaching staff, Reynolds has participated in plenty of scrimmages with the Redhawks.

“Division one basketball is a whole different ball game,” Reynolds said. “These guys have dedicated their lives to the game and trying to get better. It excites me to go somewhere where everyone around me shares the same passion for the game and they’re invested like you are.”

While his future is decided, Reynolds made it clear to Tigers head coach Drew Church where his focus is at.

“I told him I want it to be all about the now,” Reynolds said. “SEMO is obviously the future but that’s a year away from now. Right now I’m a Cape Central Tiger and that should be the main focus.”

A season ago the Tigers steamrolled through the regular season, going 24-2, before falling to Sikeston in the district championship game.

“The season didn’t end the way we wanted last year,” Reynolds said. “I told (Church) when I was making this decision I wanted it to be something that I make and then get out of the way so we can focus on the upcoming season.”

Reynolds said he and his teammates are ready for the season opener on Nov. 27 in the Fountain City Classic.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Reynolds said. “We’ve put in a lot of work and a lot of dedication into making sure that something like that doesn’t happen again this year. I feel like we’re a bit banged up right now but once we get some guys back I think we have something special on our hands. Guys are really excited and we’re looking forward to it.”

Some other key dates for the Tigers include the SEMO Conference Tournament from Dec. 4 to Dec. 8, the first home game at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 against Farmington, the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament from Dec. 26 to Dec. 29, and the regular season finale on Feb. 20.