COLUMN: Prioritizing local recruitment pointless after Jadis Jones picks Lindenwood over SEMO

There was a column on Semoball not too long ago stressing the importance of corralling the area’s top talent to bring the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball team back to conference contention.

Redhawks head coach Brad Korn tried to recruit Cam Williams when he was a star senior at Cape Central last year. He chose to go the junior college route and now has Division I options in conferences rated much higher than the Ohio Valley Conference.

Korn tried to recruit New Madrid County Central senior Jadis Jones after he decommitted from playing college football at Coastal Carolina and opened his recruitment to basketball. Jones was recently named Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 27.1 points and 12.2 rebounds per game while leading the Eagle to their second straight state championship.

Jones announced via social media his commitment to Lindenwood University, an in-state OVC rival who is in its third year as a DI program, on April 12. Meanwhile, fellow NMCC senior BJ Williamson is going to Garden City Community College and will likely find the same path as Williams.

If after months of watching the best players in Southeast Missouri for years on end only to see them pick anywhere but SEMO, the only local prospect going to the Redhawks is Cape Central senior Jay Reynolds, who’s father works in Korn’s staff as an assistant.

At some point, one has to wonder if it’s even worth it anymore.

Sure, Korn will probably continue to try to recruit locally. Maybe Jackson’s Kole Deck or Scott City’s Kobe Watson will be on his radar next year if the Redhawks ever need an outside shooter, which is every year.

From a Missouri standpoint, St. Louis has historically been the place for Korn to bring in talent, same goes for the SEMO women’s basketball team. Before Phillip Russell led the Redhawks to their second March Madness appearance in 2023, he played high school ball at Vashon in St. Louis. Rob Martin, SEMO’s current scoring leader, played at Christian Brothers College, which has been one of the best high schools in St. Louis in terms of producing athletes. Fellow SEMO point guard BJ Ward was previously leading Chaminade to Class 6 final four appearances. Dylan Branson and Kobe Clark round out the rest of SEMO’s St. Louis based talent.

More importantly, in today’s game, if the Redhawks are going to turnaround from the worst season in Korn’s coaching career (9-22, 4-14), they will need to pull ready-made talent from the transfer portal. SEMO had six players on its roster who transferred from other DI programs, mainly in pursuit for more playing time. More than searching for the Jadis Jones for the world, Korn needs to find free agents from the portal that are ready to step up as the focal point of the attack and give SEMO hope this coming fall.

Good luck to Jadis, who seemed to have found a place that is both ripe with academics and fertile ground for athletic opportunity. If the Lions — who finished last in the OVC (9-22, 3-15) a year after making it to the conference tournament — could roar back into OVC contention and make it to the NCAA Tournament before Jones graduates, he would leave a legendary legacy there. Lindenwood is halfway through their 4-year reclassification process so by the time Jones is a junior, the Lions will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament should they win the OVC Tournament.

As for SEMO, bringing in local talent is nice, but its overrated. Take it from someone who has travelled all across the United State of America and calls three cities outside of Cape Girardeau home, people only go to Show Me Center and read about the Redhawks on semoball.com when they are winning, when they are dominating the OVC. Where the players are from becomes totally irrelevant when they’re dropping 20 points in a given game.

Just assemble the best collection of players possible.