Redhawk rebounder is rehabbing his way through 'long, long process'

Following a season-ending knee injury to Southeast Missouri State sophomore forward Kobe Clark last January, the Redhawks lost six games throughout the remainder of their season. Of those defeats, four were by six points or less, including a double-overtime loss at Lindenwood.

Gut-wrenchingly, one of those losses was a four-point defeat to Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Do you think having one of the best rebounders in the Ohio Valley Conference would have made a difference in any of those slight outcomes?

Fourth-year SEMO coach Brad Korn spoke recently of his latest roster, and he did so with hopes that the Redhawks will be improved defensively over a team that won 19 games a year ago.

“We’re going to be way longer and way more athletic than we were a year ago,” Korn said. “What does that translate to? I don’t know, but it should translate to more disruption defensively and should translate into better rebounding.”

Within OVC play last season, SEMO ranked last in scoring defense, ninth (out of 10 teams) in field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense, and seventh in rebounding margin.

“Those two areas,” Korn said of defensive pressure and rebounding, “if we improve on those alone, to go along with our offensive scheme system, those are hopefully the reasons we can keep this thing going.”

Glancing at those statistics on Jan. 19, when Clark endured a gruesome knee injury at the Show Me Center against UT Martin, Korn’s team ranked seventh in the conference in field goal percentage defense, sixth in 3-point defense, and sixth in rebounding margin.

Clark’s absence, statistically AND from an energy standpoint, was noticeable.

“I don’t think you can talk about our team and its heart and soul without talking about Kobe Clark,” Korn said early during last season.

When Clark got hurt, he ranked 14th in the OVC in minutes per game (30.1). THAT shows you how critical he was to the Redhawk’s strategy each night last winter.

The 6-foot-6 athlete was the third-best rebounder in the conference (8.9 per game), as well as in blocked shots (1.3 per game), and even passed effectively (his 2.7 assists per game ranked 14th in the OVC).

“Every team needs a leader,” Korn said of Clark, “a heart and soul leader. We’ve been begging for that over the past couple of years here.”

Now, the question for THIS season remains to what degree the Vashon High School graduate can contribute due to his health.

“Kobe is still a little ways out,” Korn said of Clark’s rehabilitation process. “He didn’t have just a traditional ACL (tear), it was pretty severe.”

That is enough to make Redhawk fans shudder, even if it is July.

“It was a pretty severe, pretty significant injury,” Korn continued. “He is probably further behind than we would like. But that isn’t anything more so than just the nature of the injury.”

Of the 15 games that Clark missed following the injury, SEMO was outrebounded in nine of those.

As for this summer, Clark has simply rehabbed himself and has done no basketball-related activity, according to Korn.

“He is with our team (in activities) at the level that he can be,” Korn said. “He is in rehab with our trainer (Amanda Martin) every day.

“He is at a rehab standpoint. He goes out and makes passes (to teammates) during drills. He is doing everything that he can do, but it is a long, long process. We’ll hopefully get him back at some point for games. We’re just not exactly sure when. He is not quite ready for physical contact. He’s not even close to that right now.”