SEMO Signs Korn

Breaking Through Walls

(St. Louis, MO) – Southeast Missouri State has signed their new head basketball coach. Long time Bruce Weber assistant Brad Korn, has become SEMO’s tenth Division 1 coach. The first-time head coach plans on breaking through the walls that have hindered Redhawk basketball.

Korn’s playing career and early coaching career was at Southern Illinois (Carbondale). He played for Bruce Weber and was a graduate assistant under Chris Lowery before becoming a full-time assistant. He later followed Weber to Kansas State and after four years there, joined Paul Lusk’s staff at Missouri State. When Lusk was fired he reconnected with Lowery and Weber in Manhattan, Kansas.

During his playing career and 15 years as an assistant coach he was a part of several Sweet Sixteen appearances and conference championships.

Shortly after his press conference, on facebook live to keep with social distancing policies, we congratulated the new head coach.

 

 

Korn knows the midwest, southern Illinois and southern Missouri well. Coaching, playing and recruiting the region will serve him well in Cape Girardeau. His knowledge of the region and his relationship with Director of Athletics, Brady Barke were big reasons for taking this job.

 

 

Barke worked in Southern Illinois’ compliance office during Korn’s coaching tenure and the two often played ‘pick up basketball’ together. Despite their friendship and mutual respect, there were no handshakes at the ‘Coronavirus-Era’ press conference. The two, elbow bumped.

Building Blocks

Korn laid out the ‘five pillars’ of the program. The 38-year-old Korn listed character, passion, accountability, unity and thankfulness. He believes in laying the right foundation for the Redhawk program and his own life. While speaking on thankfulness, he put into perspective the idea of being grateful and loving others, particularly during our nation’s troubled times.

 

 

The married, father of two girls comes from some very successful programs. Recreating that kind of success at SEMO will not be easy. The program has known academic difficulties and poor, win-loss records. Korn believes incremental growth will be the platform to larger successes.

 

 

Breaking Through Walls of Perception

While Korn knows the challenges of changing the perception of an entire program, he believes there are great opportunities in Cape. At his previous coaching jobs they were successful in recruiting the St. Louis area and the entire State of Missouri. Part of Korn’s sales pitch will be for players to believe they can both build a program and leave an historic mark on a successful program.

 

 

Korn is a ‘no excuses’ kind of guy. He was a red-shirted player as a freshman and ended up starting for an NCAA Tournament team at SIU. His assistant coaching career was wildly successful. Former K-State star Dean Wade talked about Korn’s impact on his career.

“When Coach Korn came to K-State, I was really thinking about transferring or not playing at all. I really lost that fire, the love of the game or however you want to phrase that. With Coach Korn being there and the way he went about coaching and connecting with the players were reasons why I didn’t stop playing basketball. That is why I am still playing and loving this game today. The footwork stuff and the way Coach Korn challenged me as a player every day made me so much better and really took me to another level, and the conference and nation noticed. I wasn’t just some kid from Kansas anymore, I was an actual basketball player!” (courtesy of gosoutheast.com)

While travel limitations will hinder Korn’s ability to reach out to current players, build a staff and recruit new student-athletes he will make no excuses. He understands the challenges but plans on breaking through walls to accomplish his goals.

 

 

Gleanings From Former Coaches

He learned much from coaches Weber, Painter, Lowery and Lusk. Korn speaks glowingly of their hard work, consistency as people and their depth of friendship. Weber’s ability to treat people with respect and affection inspires him. The way Lowery works challenges him. He gained a broader view of the way to do things by working with Lusk.

Korn speaks often of Chris Lowery opening the door for him to begin his coaching career. The two are very close.

He learned by long distance observations of his friend, Bryan Mullins’ first year at SIU. Korn says the two are very similar and employ similar priorities. He watched as Mullins ‘stayed true to himself’. Korn intends on holding firm to his personal convictions too.

Korn sees the ‘hard-work’ mentality of people in Southeast Missouri as a plus. Building a program with the right kind of values will resonate with the region’s fans.

The flood of new coaches with similar style, age and experience in both the Ohio Valley and Missouri Valley Conferences is an interesting trend. SIUE’s Brian Barone, SIU’s Bryan Mullins, Missouri State’s Dana Ford and now Korn all have deep ties to other coaches in the region, played nearby and bring a fresh and joyful ‘take no prisoners’ mentality to their respective programs.

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