SEMO MBB, Korn making inroads into recruiting local talent

It remains to be seen as to whether or not any local boy’s basketball talent ultimately ends up playing college basketball in the Show Me Center for Southeast Missouri State in the future. However, the Redhawk coaching staff is certainly making a concerted effort to try and secure the services of those players who have the ability to do so.

The Redhawk coaching staff recently became the first NCAA Division I program to offer a scholarship to Cape Central High School freshman guard Marquel Murray, who is just the latest in a line of area players that SEMO is pursuing.

“I think you have to recruit your area,” third-year Redhawk coach Brad Korn said of recruiting talented players who compete close to your campus. “Anywhere you are, whether you are at Michigan State or UCLA, you have to put a pin in the map and draw that 300-mile radius and take care of home.”

Korn, who could not address specific high school players, per NCAA rules, but spoke of recruiting in general, has now offered Murray, his Tiger senior forward teammate, Cameron Williams, Charleston sophomore guard P.J. Farmer, and New Madrid County Central junior forward Jadis Jones.

“You have to know who (the talented players) are,” Korn said. “You have to do your homework and know if they fit what you are trying to do.”

On the current SEMO roster, which by the way, is currently in a six-way tie for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference, Korn has signed Missouri players Phillip Russell (Vashon High), Kobe Clark (Vashon High), Dylan Branson (Mehlville High), and Tennessee high school player Evan Eursher.

The Redhawks also have a pair of walk-ons, each of whom has contributed this season from Missouri (Tevin Gowins, Hazelwood Central) and Tennessee (Mason Hanback, Jackson, Tenn.).

“You can’t take them all,” Korn explained of local players,” but there can’t be a kid 100 miles down the road and we never went and saw him.”

Under the “you can’t take them all” category, is former Cape Central High School guard Kinyon Hodges, who is now excelling at OVC program Eastern Illinois after spending two seasons at Three Rivers Community College.

Korn wasn’t explicitly speaking on Hodges, but in general, he explained that roster construction plays a factor in who you recruit.

“The thing that gets lost in recruiting,” Korn said, “especially with the transfer portal, is that you may have two point guards on your roster already. If there is a local player who is a point guard, in that particular year, you may not be able to take that player.”

In the case of Hodges, junior college guards tend not to commit during the early signing period, when Eursher was willing to do so as a high school senior, and in the spring, Korn had a wealth of perimeter talent coming back for the 2022-23 season. Or so he thought.

With All-OVC players Eric Reed, Jr. and Phillip Russell, as well as veterans Chris Harris, Nygal Russell, and DQ Nichols, there was no place for a guard, for example, Hodges, to fit in. By the time Reed, Jr., Nygal Russell, and Nichols informed Korn of their interest in transferring, Hodges was already deep in the recruiting process with the Panthers.

“If we take a local player (and he doesn’t play),” Korn said, “he’s going to be unhappy.

“There are a whole lot of factors that go into recruiting.”