Young SEMO hoopsters put in the work last year to reap rewards this year

From a coaching perspective, fourth-year Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn deserves a good amount of credit for his team’s dramatic rally for a victory against Central Arkansas earlier this week – as do the Redhawk players. However, sitting a long way down the Redhawk bench was a curly-haired coach that no one, besides Korn and the SEMO players, realized played a very significant role in the 70-68 win.

“Coach Strohm is the real deal,” redshirt sophomore guard Gavyn Elkamil said earlier this season.

Elkamil was referring to SEMO Assistant Director of Sports Performance Danny Strohm, and Elkamil’s performance against the Bears, as well as that of sophomore guard Evan Eursher, can be linked directly to the work that the two players did over the previous 18 months with Coach Strohm when no one was paying attention.

The Redhawks (1-3) will participate over the next two days in the Coke Zero Sugar Classic in Chattanooga, and both Elkamil and Eursher will more than likely play a significant role in the success of their team, as they both did against Central Arkansas.

SEMO will face Evansville (4-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the hosts, Chattanooga (4-0) on Sunday at 1 p.m., with both games airing on ESPN+.

Elkamil and Eursher burst onto the radar of the Redhawk followers in the second half against Central Arkansas, and without them, SEMO would be winless right now, instead of feeling a sense of confidence.

“We can’t make a shot,” Korn said following the game, “and then guys like Evan Eursher step up, guys like Gavyn Elkamil step up and make a shot. That, to me, is what our team is going to be moving forward.”

A year ago, very few Redhawk fans got to see what Eursher was capable of on the court, as his role was limited behind older, more experienced players. And in the case of Elkamil, he sat out the season as a redshirt, so no one got to see what his skill set was.

But Strohm did.

The two young players didn’t get to work much (or at all) on game nights, so every day in practice and in the weight room with Strohm WAS game day for those two.

“I wanted to gain weight, get stronger, and get faster,” Eursher said. “I knew my role would be bigger this year.”

What is interesting to learn when discussing the training regiment of players with Strohm is that really, he has different plans to follow for different players. It isn’t 15 players following a “cookie-cutter” approach to getting stronger.

“It was different with Evan and Gavin,” Strohm said of his approach. “Evan, being a freshman, coming into the collegiate level, this is a different game. Everything is faster (and) everything is more physical.”

In the case of Elkamil, Strohm worked with his mental state just as much as he did his physical stature, due to the leg injury.

“Gavin was coming off an injury,” Strohm said, “and he hadn’t played really competitive basketball in a couple of years.”

Elkamil had been injured in high school, and his rehabilitation process “was hindered a little bit” during his freshman season at Tulsa due to COVID.

“Last year,” Strohm continued, “it was (necessary) for him to become more confident with his body and be able to get back to the way he was before he got injured.”

If his performance against Central Arkansas was indicative of anything, Elkamil is not only back, but even better.

The Redhawks misfired on 18 of their initial 19 3-point shots while Elkamil came off the bench and gave his team a massive spark by sinking three 3-pointers.

He finished the night having played a career-best 16 minutes and scored a career-high 11 points.

“Coming in last year,” Elkamil said, “I was good, but my legs weren’t strong enough Getting into the weight room with him, and him really knowing what he is doing and having a set program for me week by week and day by day, and changing every week, I feel like that really helped me.”

The 6-foot-5 Elkamil still weighs around 195 pounds, which is what he weighed during the summer of 2022 when he arrived in Cape Girardeau, but Strohm said it is a much different 195 pounds than before.

“Gavyn has put on some good, lean mass,” Strohm said. “He is shredded. He has lost body fat and is in a really good position to be back to his athletic self.”

Both players said they feel much more confident now, particularly at the defensive end of the court.

“I made some strides, defensively, towards the end of last year,” Eursher said. “I want to continue to build on that and a big part of that is getting in the weight room.”

For the 6-foot-2 Eursher, he has gained 10 pounds of muscle (weighing 185 pounds) and that showed against the Bears, as he came off the bench and hit a couple of shots (finishing with 10 points), but just as important, he grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes of playing time, all of which were career marks.

“I’m feeling stronger,” Eursher said, “and my hips are opening up. It’s everything.”