SEMO MBB coaches hit the road today with judicious eyes

The coaching staff for Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball finds itself in an advantageous position today.

Fourth-year coach Brad Korn and his three assistants (J.R. Reynolds, Connor Wheeler, and recently-promoted LaDon Champagnie) will be in Atlanta, as well as Augusta, Georgia, for the famed “Peach Jam,” over the next four days, and the Redhawks have a couple of things working in their favor.

1. SEMO is coming off a historic run to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, so it has some positive mojo to walk around with, and

2. With only one scholarship available (right now) for the Class of 2024, Korn is going to be patient and judicious with how he uses it.

“This is a huge AAU weekend,” Korn said. “It’s the first AAU weekend since April.”

Korn said his staff will be in the southeast for the three recruiting periods this month.

The NCAA recruiting calendar became more crowded this year, as a high school evaluation period was added in June, where college coaches could go see kids play with their high school programs, as opposed to summer circuit teams.

“I liked seeing kids with their high school teams,” Korn said. “I think that is important.”

The SEMO staff has offered future scholarships to several players within Missouri, including Marquell Murray (Cape Central, sophomore), PJ Farmer (Charleston, freshman), Trace Sadler (Sikeston, junior), and most recently, Ben Winkler (Chaminade College Prep, junior).

As far as the Class of 2024 is concerned, as of now, Redhawk senior center Josh Earley is the only player to exhaust his eligibility this coming season.

“When you look at our roster on paper,” Korn said, “it will be hard for us from the standpoint of we only have one scholarship. In the prep scene, the high school scene, it’s hard to say that you are only going to commit to one particular scholarship (player).

“But if we see something we like, we will (commit to the player). But until then, we’ll be a little bit patient.”

Though SEMO may not eventually land a particular player that it pursues over the next few months, that doesn’t mean the coaches’ efforts have been wasted.

This spring, the Redhawks added two players (Rob Martin, Christian Brothers College) and Braxton Stacker (Cardinal Ritter College Prep in Fairview Heights, Ill.), both of whom the Redhawks recruited in high school, but those players ultimately signed with Indiana State and Murray State, respectively. However, when both players sought a transfer this spring, they felt comfortable with the SEMO program because of the relationship built a year earlier.

“We didn’t get Rob and Braxton out of high school,” Korn said, “but we did recruit those guys. I was in their high school gyms in September. So, we knew those guys.

“You don’t recruit those guys with hopes that they do (transfer), but you are doing all your homework, doing good work, and casting a large net, so when they do hop into the (transfer portal), they remember you.”

SEMO not only added Martin (5-10, guard) and Stacker (6-5, guard), for the 2023-24 season, but also BJ Ward (6-0, guard, Chaminade College Prep), TJ Biel (6-7, guard, Triton College), Asa Barnes (6-2, guard, Wichita Southeast), and Marqueas Bell (6-3, Park Hill).

“You put a pin on the map and draw a 500-mile radius,” Korn said of recruiting regionally, “and we’re trying to do a good job of making sure that we take care of home and seeing guys who we need to see early in their careers.

“We’ll keep tabs on them and see where they go from there.”