Southeast Mens Basketball

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

Former Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Rick Ray was recently hired as an assistant coach at Colorado.

Recently-hired Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn sat in a conference room with one of his recently-hired assistants, Sam McMahon, Wednesday and hovering over the two was a dry-erase board covered end-to-end with information on how to build the Redhawks into a formidable Ohio Valley Conference program.

Brad Korn has been a college basketball coach for 15 years. You can multiply that number by several hundred and tally the number of times his mind has wandered in terms of the tasks he would like to accomplish when – if – he ever received an opportunity to be a head coach.

New Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn and Redhawk assistant Dustin Yoder have roots in the state of Illinois that both hope to tap into as they build their basketball program.

When Southeast Missouri State assistant men’s basketball coach Dustin Yoder was hired, he got to work in building the Redhawks very quickly.

There is no hidden agenda as to why Nolan Taylor is going to suit up for the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program this coming season.

First-year Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball assistant coach Dustin Yoder has spent four years as an actual college coach but has never been able to recruit at the NCAA Division I level.

New Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn added a couple more pieces to his first personnel puzzle Wednesday, as he hired Missouri Southern associate head coach Sam McMahon as an assistant, while on the floor, he received a verbal commitment from one of the more versatile, talented, and highly successful players in the state.

The history of Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball at the NCAA Division I level has been one of mostly mediocre to poor results (21 losing seasons in 29 years), with a handful of flashes of success sparingly sprinkled in. However, recently-hired Redhawk coach Brad Korn made clear from his first day that accepting a fate of non-success was going to be unacceptable.

New Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn has officially been on the job for six weeks as of today and he has taken some important steps towards building a foundation for success.

Famed comedian Jerry Seinfeld has an infamous bit centered on why it is so difficult to be a sports fan. With players changing teams so frequently, fans, Seinfeld explained, aren’t truly cheering for athletes, but in actuality are “rooting for laundry (uniforms).”

When you look at first-year Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn today, you’ll see a soon-to-turn 40-year-old adult who just happens to make a nice living teaching basketball skills to athletes who aspire to play professionally.

Within minutes of being announced as the new men’s basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State, Brad Korn was talking about building a “long-lasting, genuine trust” with his players.

Recently-hired Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn has spent the initial three weeks in his new position operating with his hands tied behind his back, but in the world that exists today, he is no different from any other coach across the country.

When Brad Korn was hired as the men’s basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State last month, he didn’t mince words when it came to what he planned to build the Redhawk program upon.

The list of NCAA Division I men’s college basketball players choosing a new program in which to play continues to grow by the hour during this time of the year. According to the site devoted to tracking such, verbalcommits.com, the number is well over 600 and is trending toward the 2019 number (997).

When the clock ticked Wednesday morning to 12:01 a.m., thus marking the start of a new month, there was no one involved in collegiate athletics more appreciative of the moment than Southeast Missouri State athletic director Brady Barke.

SIKESTON — Former Sikeston guard Parker Long is heading back to the area. Long announced on Twitter Saturday that he had committed to Southeast Missouri State University and first-year men’s basketball coach Brad Korn.

“We need someone who can come in and convey a vision, create a sense of unity within that program in terms of where they are headed.” Southeast Missouri State athletic director Brady Barke made that statement nearly a month ago when he was addressing the topic of hiring a new men’s basketball coach and he reiterated it Tuesday when he introduced former Kansas State assistant coach Brad Korn as the new coach of the Redhawk program...

Kansas State men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber admitted to being “surprised” that his former player at Southern Illinois, Brad Korn, wanted to go into the coaching profession upon graduating.

There has been no bigger problem encompassing the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program than roster instability.

When I was hired as the regional sports editor for Semoball.com nearly a year ago, one of the most repeated opinions that was delivered to me, whether I wanted to hear it or not, was the displeasure of those that followed the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program in former coach Rick Ray.

The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program has been ravaged over the past five years by player departures.

Southeast Missouri State athletic director Brady Barke had stated earlier this month that he wanted to wrap up the search for a new men's basketball coach by the end of March.

When Southeast Missouri State athletic director Brady Barke made the decision to replace men’s basketball coach Rick Ray earlier this month, he had asked for two things from the two signed Redhawk recruits, as well as the returning student-athletes:

For those that follow college basketball, the month of March is annually a time of uncertainty.

What has become a rite of spring within the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program showed the first sign of blossoming this year Sunday when college basketball writer Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported that Redhawk junior forward Isaiah Gable would be transferring. The exodus of a Southeast player isn’t surprising.

Southeast Missouri State athletic director Brady Barke made it clear recently when discussing the traits he was seeking in the next Redhawks’ men’s basketball coach.

Southeast Missouri State University Director of Athletics Brady Barke announced Tuesday that Rick Ray has been relieved of his duties as the Redhawks head men's basketball coach.

With today’s announcement that Southeast Missouri State is in the market for a new men’s basketball coach after firing five-year coach Rick Ray, there will unquestionably be excitement from the Redhawk fan base for better things ahead. However, not to be a cynic, but this is a university that has employed five coaches during its NCAA Division I era and none has achieved much success. Ray was just the latest in a line of under-producing coaches to make residence in Cape Girardeau. So forgive me if I am going to take a “wait and see” approach to the next guy.

The seemingly inevitable news that Southeast Missouri State has parted ways with men’s basketball coach Rick Ray after five years finally became official today, and it is obvious to look in the rear-view mirror and question as to why.

With today’s 87-78 regular-season concluding defeat at UT Martin, the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program wrapped up yet another disappointing season, which for this program historically, is nothing out of the ordinary. And I don’t understand why that is.

Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball has put a final period to what may charitably be called a difficult season in losing Saturday at UT Martin, 87-78. SEMO (7-24, 3-15, Ohio Valley Conference), in its final regular season game, followed a familiar script at the Elam Center in Martin, Tennessee in dropping its fourth in a row – fading down the stretch...

No berth in the postseason was at stake. The Southeast Missouri men played for pride Thursday, diving for loose balls, tipping passes and forcing turnovers. The game came down to a final Alex Caldwell jumper at the buzzer which just missed as time expired – sending home a disappointed Senior Night crowd of 1,775...

Southeast Missouri State (7-22, 3-13, Ohio Valley Conference) is about to finish a gruesome season under fifth-year coach Rick Ray. For the fourth time in Ray's tenure, SEMO will miss the OVC playoffs, at which eight of the top 12 league teams contend for the tournament crown. Thursday the Redhawk men play their final home game of the 2019-20 season as they host Eastern Illinois (14-14, 7-9).

It’s officially “wait until next year” for Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball. The Redhawks (7-22, 3-13, Ohio Valley Conference) officially were eliminated from any chance of making the OVC tournament Saturday as SEMO fell on the road to Tennessee Tech, 71-62...

Given its placement (12th in a 12-team league) in the most recent Ohio Valley Conference standings, there is no shortage of negative aspects surrounding the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program to nit-pick at. However, what isn’t at fault is the degree of competitiveness and discipline that the Redhawk program is putting on display even in the face of a season that went wayward almost from the get-go.

Aside from perennial Ohio Valley Conference-power Belmont, no men’s basketball squad has enjoyed as much success as Southeast Missouri State has over the past two weeks.

Southeast men’s basketball seems to be an enjoying a late season renaissance, posting its second consecutive win Saturday and its third victory in the last four outings, defeating SIU-Edwardsville, 75-71. Southeast (7-20, 3-11 Ohio Valley Conference) led at the half, 40-36, stretched the lead to 10 in the second frame. The Redhawks fought off a late surge by the Cougars (7-20, 4-10) to seal the win...

For the second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball game, Southeast Missouri State found itself in a heated contest as the clock ticked to :00.

A truly skilled professional sports gambler will generally have a success rate of 55 percent, or for the cynics out there, a failure rate of 45 percent.

Three times in the past month, Southeast men’s basketball dropped a game by a margin of a single bucket. The third time was particularly heartbreaking as the host Redhawks (5-20, 1-11, Ohio Valley Conference) fought back Saturday to tie Tennessee Tech with very late in the game – only to foul and lose the contest with 5.7 seconds left, 62-60...

The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad put on one of its best performances of the season Thursday, as it earned its initial Ohio Valley Conference victory in beating Jacksonville State 76-72 at the Show Me Center.

When you’ve been the editor of three newspapers, not just the sports editor, but THE editor, there have been times in which I have had to write on difficult topics.

The Southeast Missouri State dropped another double-digit game within Ohio Valley Conference play Saturday, this time 70-57 at Eastern Kentucky. However, this latest defeat did not follow the Redhawks’ typical pattern.

The Morehead State men’s basketball team had lost four consecutive games and ranked as the worst offensive team in the Ohio Valley Conference entering Thursday’s league contest with Southeast Missouri State. However, there apparently is no better cure for an anemic offense than facing a poor defense.

A last-second 3-pointer from sophomore guard Alex Caldwell was off-target for Southeast Missouri State, as the Redhawks fell 61-59 at Eastern Illinois in men’s basketball action. With the loss, Southeast (4-17, 0-8 Ohio Valley Conference) remains the lone winless program in the conference.

The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad has followed a familiar script throughout most of its games this season.

When a men’s basketball program has lost 11 consecutive games against NCAA Division I competition, it takes a bit of research to find any nugget of positivity. However, something that is clearly a plus within the Southeast Missouri State program this season has been the continued development of sophomore forward Sage Tolbert.