Southeast Missouri State University Men's Basketball

Brad Korn begins his sixth year as head coach at Southeast Missouri in 2025-26. Under Korn's leadership, SEMO has ascended to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference winning two league titles in the last three years. Last season, Korn led the Redhawks to their first-ever outright OVC regular-season championship. After finishing 10th in the OVC and missing the league's postseason tournament the year before, the 2024-25 team went 21-12 overall and 15-5 in conference play for the best one-year turnaround in program history. SEMO earned the #1 seed in the OVC Tournament for the first time in school history securing its first double bye in the eight-team event. The Redhawks made their fourth OVC Tournament championship game appearance all-time. As a team, the Redhawks led the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.283), scoring margin (+6.97), turnover margin (+3.03) and OVC wins. In conference games alone, SEMO was first in attendance (20 games, 36,331 total/1,817 Avg.), scoring margin (+7.70), free throw percentage (.740), field goal percentage (.471), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.311), turnover margin (+2.70) and assist/turnover ratio (1.32). Nationally, the Redhawks ranked fourth in the country in 3-point field goal percentage defense holding opponents to five or less 3-pointers made in 22 of their 33 contests. For his efforts, Korn was a unanimous choice for his first prestigious OVC Coach of the Year award. Guards Rob Martin (first-team) and Teddy Washington, Jr. (first-team), and forward Brendan Terry (second-team) gave SEMO its most All-OVC players in a season in program history. SEMO swept home-and-home series against five OVC opponents in 2024-25, its most in a season with Korn at the helm. Additionally, the Redhawks went 18-6 in their final 24 games of the season winning by double figures nine times in their last 13 contests. The Redhawks outstanding 2024-25 campaign came a year after they finished 2023-24 at 9-22 overall and 4-14 in the OVC. In 2022-23, Korn brought the national spotlight back on SEMO Basketball when he led the Redhawks to a remarkable postseason run that resulted in the program winning its first OVC Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over two decades. SEMO, which became the first #5 seed to ever win the OVC Tournament, won four games in four days to hoist its first trophy since 1999-2000. Along the way, the Redhawks knocked off the tourney’s top two seeds in #1 Morehead State and #2 Tennessee Tech to claim only their second NCAA Tournament berth in program history. The Redhawks completed their historic 2022-23 campaign at 19-17 overall and 10-8 in the OVC. SEMO snapped a streak of eight-straight losing records by postint both overall and OVC winning records in a season for the first time since 2004-05. The Redhawks 10 conference wins were their most in a season since the 1999-2000 team went 14-4.  Guards Chris Harris (1,169) and Phillip Russell (1,016), both 1,000-point scorers in their careers, earned All-OVC honors. Russell garnered first-team accolades and Harris was a second-team selection. Both also made the OVC Tournament Team with Harris taking the event’s coveted Most Valuable Player honor. In conference play , SEMO was the league’s top scoring team with an average of 81.4 points per game in 2022-23. The Redhawks put up 80 or more points in 11 of their 18 league contests. Overall, SEMO was first in the OVC in turnover margin (+1.56) forcing 14.6 per game. Korn’s 2022-23 squad assisted on 497 of 958 made field goals at a rate of 51.8 percent. The Redhawks’ 497 assists were teh fifth-most in a season in program history. SEMO’s 36 games played are the most in a season all-time. The Redhawks also established top-five single-season marks during their program’s tenure in OVC wins (t4th, 10), points (3rd, 2,798), field goals attempted (2nd, 2,191), 3-pointers made (2nd, 286), 3-pointers attempted (1st, 875), free throws made (587, 3rd), free throws attempted (4th, 828), assists (5th, 497) and steals (2nd, 251). SEMO’s storybook 2022-23 season received unprecedented media attention. Korn and Harris were featured in a live interview with Inside College Basketball studio hosts Clark Kellogg, Seth Davis, the late Greg Gumbel and Jay Wright on Selection Sunday prior to the Atlantic 10 Championship game. Several national media outlets latched on to the Redhawks unforgettable run. Korn became just the second head coach in SEMO basketball history to lead his team to back-to-back trips to the OVC Tournament semifinals (2022, 2023) and reach the tournament’s title game (2023). His team records steadily improved over his first three seasons at the helm going from 11 victories during his first year in 2020-21, to 14 in 2021-22 and 19 in 2022-23. SEMO's +12 increase in the win column during the 2024-25 season was a program-best one-year turnaround. The OVC Tournament semifinal appearance in 2021-22 was SEMO’s first in 17 years. The Redhawks were 14-18 overall and fourth in the conference with an 8-9 mark that season. SEMO again had two All-OVC performers. Eric Reed, Jr. claimed first-team accolades and Russell was a second-team pick.  In all, Korn has coached five All-OVC guards during his tenure at SEMO, most of any head coach in program history. The Redhawks concluded the 2021-22 campaign ranked among the top three in the OVC in scoring offense (3rd, 75.6 ppg), free throw percentage (2nd, .732), turnover margin (3rd, +0.41) and 3-point field goals made (1st, 281).  Korn’s first head coaching job came anything but easy when he took over at SEMO in the middle of a global COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout all the challenges and uncertainties during an unprecedented 2020-21 season, Korn led his first SEMO club to an overall record of 11-16 and seventh-place showing in the OVC. The Redhawks made the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2016-17 and saw a +4 improvement in total wins and +6 jump in OVC victories from the season before. At the time, SEMO’s nine conference victories matched the program’s most in a season in 20 years. SEMO rated among the top five OVC teams in 3-point field goal percentage (5th, .352), rebounding margin (5th, +2.2), defensive rebounds (5th, 25.6 per game) and defensive rebound percentage (1st, .764).  Academically, the Redhawk men’s basketball team accumulated above a 3.0 GPA in each of its last three semesters. SEMO recorded a 3.09 GPA in the spring of 2024, a 3.18 in the fall of 2024 and a 3.16 in the spring of 2025. Korn was officially introduced as SEMO’s head coach on Mar. 23, 2020 and is the seventh head coach in the program’s NCAA Division I era (since 1991-92). Prior to arriving in Cape Girardeau, Korn spent five years at Big 12 Conference member Kansas State working four seasons as an assistant coach and one as the program’s Director of Operations. In his final four years back at K-State after returning following a three-year stint at Missouri State (2013-16), Korn helped the Wildcats to 82 wins and three-straight NCAA Tournaments. K-State posted consecutive 25-win campaigns for the first time in school history (2017-18, 2018-19). During his first year back in 2016-17, the Wildcats won 21 games, including eight over teams that advanced to the postseason and knocked off Wake Forest in the NCAA First Four before losing to #18 Cincinnati in the NCAA South Regional First Round. Working primarily with the post players, Korn was a big influence on the development of two-time All-Big 12 First-Team selection Dean Wade, who became the fourth Wildcat to earn All-Big 12 First-Team honors in 2018 and just the second to do so in back-to-back seasons. Wade is one of just three players to rank in the school’s Top 10 in both career scoring (1,510) and rebounding (685). He was instrumental in the progress of Makol Mawien, who started every game in his K-State career and emerged as one of the top big men in the Big 12. Korn was also key in the growth of All-Big 12 selections Wesley Iwundu and D.J. Johnson during his first season as an assistant coach in 2016-17. Iwundu, who was twice named Third Team All-Big 12, became the first Wildcat since 2008 to be taken in the NBA Draft when he was selected with 33rd overall pick by the Orlando Magic. Johnson, an honorable mention all-league selection, broke the career field goal percentage record at 59.5 percent, while setting the single-season mark for the second consecutive season at 62.3 percent in 2016-17. Korn spent one season on Bruce Weber’s inaugural staff at K-State as Director of Operations in 2012-13, helping the Wildcats to a 27-8 overall record and their first-ever Big 12 regular-season title. It was the school’s first conference title since 1977, while the 27 wins rated second-most in school history. Overall, he has 19 years of Division I experience, which includes time at his alma mater – Southern Illinois (2004-12). Korn has extensive ties to Weber after playing his first four years (1999-2003) for him at Southern Illinois. He redshirted in 1999-2000 before playing the next three years for Weber. He concluded his playing career for for then-Saluki head coach and then-K-State associate head coach Chris Lowery. Korn returned to Manhattan in May 2016 after three seasons at Missouri State, where he served as an assistant coach to then-head coach Paul Lusk from 2013-16. At MSU, he helped the Bears to 44 wins, including a 20 -win season and a trip to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2013-14. Korn helped mentor a number of All-Missouri Valley honorees during his stay at Missouri State, including 2014 All-MVC Second-Team selection Jarmar Gulley and 2016 MVC Newcomer of the Year Dequon Miller. In addition, he coached three MVC All-Freshman Team honorees in Austin Ruder in 2014 and Obediah Church and Jarred Dixon in 2016 as well as two Most Improved Team members (Dorrian Williams in 2015 and Chris Kendrix in 2016). Prior to his first stint at K-State, Korn spent eight years (2004-12) at Southern Illinois, including his final six years as a full-time assistant under Lowery. He helped the Salukis post a 145-116 (.556) overall record with four postseason appearances, two Missouri Valley Conference championships and one State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. The squad won 20 or more games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on three occasions (2005, 2006, 2007) during his tenure as an assistant coach, including a 2007 trip to the Sweet 16. He was a graduate assistant at SIU his first two years before being elevated to a full-time assistant coach on Jan. 31, 2006. A native of Plano, Illinois, Korn helped the Salukis through one of their greatest periods of success from 1999 to 2004. The squad went from 16 wins his redshirt-freshman season to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under Weber and Painter. He was also a part of three Missouri Valley regular season championships as a player. The 6-foot-9 forward saw action in 121 games in his career, averaging 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. As a senior, he averaged 9.7 points on 41 percent shooting with four rebounds and 1.9 assists in helping SIU to 25 wins and a 17-1 mark in MVC play. He was named to the league’s Most Improved Team. Korn earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Southern Illinois in 2004 and his master’s degree in Administrative Studies from Missouri State in 2016.  He resides in Cape Girardeau with his wife, Kristin, and daughters Brielyn and Ashtyn.      

J.R. Reynolds is in his fourth year on Southeast Missouri’s basketball coaching staff. On Sept. 9, 2024, Reynolds was promoted to Associate Head Coach after spending his first two years as an assistant coach. Reynolds coached a pair of First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference guards in Rob Martin and Teddy Washington, Jr. during SEMO's outstanding 2024-25 season which culminated with the Redhawks winning their first outright OVC regular-season title in program history. In his first season at SEMO in 2022-23, Reynolds helped lead the Redhawks to their first OVC Tournament crown and NCAA Tournament appearance in 23 years. SEMO won four games in four days becoming the first #5 seed in OVC Tournament history to win the crown. Reynolds coached two All-OVC performers in guards Chris Harris and Phillip Russell. Both Harris and Russell were 1,000-point scorers in their careers and made the OVC All-Tournament Team, as well. Before coming to Cape Girardeau, Reynolds was an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) for the last five seasons. He coached the forwards and handled recruiting among other duties during his stint with the RedHawks.         In 2020-21, the RedHawks recorded their first winning season since 2009. Miami earned a berth in the eight- team Mid-American Conference Tournament as the RedHawks advanced to the quarterfinal round for the fourth time in the last six years, including three of the last four MAC Tournaments. Miami clinched its MAC Tournament berth with three games remaining on its regular-season schedule. It was the second time in the last four years Miami was the No. 7 seed in the tournament, its highest seeding since the 2011 tournament. Reynolds assisted in a significant improvement for the RedHawks immediately once the staff was on board. During the 2017-18 season, Miami won its most games and qualified for the postseason for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. Reynolds came to Miami from Eastern Illinois, where he spent four seasons as an assistant coach for his alma mater. Reynolds helped the Panthers advance to the 2014 OVC Tournament, just the second time EIU had made back-to- back tournament appearances since the 2003 season. In 2015, he helped coach the Panthers to posting their second winning season since the 2001 season. EIU finished with an 18-15 record including winning an NCAA Division I school record nine straight games in December and January. EIU appeared in the CollegeInsiders.com Postseason Tournament beating Oakland in the opening round for the program’s first NCAA Division I postseason victory. Prior to his time at Eastern Illinois, Reynolds spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Purdue. Working with Owens and head coach Matt Painter, the Boilermakers compiled a record of 77-27, as well as winning the Big 10 and advancing to the Sweet 16 in his first season. Reynolds played two years for Hall of Fame Coach Todd Franklin (currently at Vincennes University) at Southeast Illinois College. He was a two-time All-Conference and All-Region selection, and was inducted into SIC’s Hall of Fame in 2010. Reynolds graduated from Eastern Illinois in 2004 with a Bachelor’s Degree in economics and earned a Master’s Degree from Purdue in 2012. He was a two-year starter who garnered All-OVC honors under OVC Hall of Fame Head Coach Rick Samuels. Reynolds was also a team captain his senior year. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Southern Illinois College. Reynolds and his wife, Leah, have two sons, Jay and Cameron. Jay is a freshman on SEMO’s men’s basketball team.    

LaDon Champagnie enters his third year as a full-time assistant coach at Southeast Missouri.  Champagnie initially joined SEMO’s staff as Director of Operations before being promoted to assistant coach on July 31, 2023. He spent two years as the Redhawks Director of Operations prior to taking over his new role. Champagnie helped guide the Redhawks to two Ohio Valley Conference championships in the last three years. SEMO won the OVC Tournament and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 23 years during the 2022-23 season before winning its first outright OVC regular-season title in 2024-25. He coached a pair of All-OVC performers in guards Chris Harris and Phillip Russell. Both Harris and Russell were 1,000-point scorers in their careers and made the OVC All-Tournament Team in 2022-23. Two years later, Champagnie helped coach First-Team All-OVC guards Rob Martin and Teddy Washington, Jr., and Second-Team All-OVC forward Brendan Terry. In his previous role as Director of Operations, Champagnie oversaw team budgets, coordinated travel plans for away games and supervised managers, while providing support to academic programs and other basketball areas. He joined the SEMO staff after working five years as head boys basketball coach at Bishop DuBourg High School. There, he was in charge of all facets of the basketball program. Champagnie earned Boys Basketball Class 3, District 4 Coach of the Year honors. Champagnie began his basketball career as a coach at Westminster Christian Academy. He spent four years (2012-16) in his first coaching position. Westminster made one Elite 8 appearance and was led by Aaron Cook who went on to play at Southern Illinois and Gonzaga. He also spent time as a coach with the prestigious St. Louis Eagles/Bradley Beal Elite program on the Nike EYBL circuit. Champagnie coached several players who moved on to play in the NBA, including Brandon Miller (No. 2 overall pick with Charlotte Hornets), Moses Moody (Golden State Warriros), EJ Lidell (Chicago Bulls), Nick Smith (Charlotte Hornets) and Yuri Collins (Santa Cruz Warriors). He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Missouri Baptist in 2013.    

DJ Byrd sets to begin his second year as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri. Byrd was hired on Sept. 9, 2024 and helped lead SEMO to its first outright Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title in program history during his first year (2024-25) on staff. He was briefly at Barry University  before coming to Cape Girardeau before the start of the 2024-25 campaign. Prior to that, Byrd was on the men’s basketball staff at Mercer University for five seasons. An outstanding developer of guard play, Byrd coached several Mercer guards who earned All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Tournament honors during their campaigns. The Bears also set numerous records in assists and 3-point field shooting during his tenure. Byrd worked as a graduate assistant from 2017-19 at Purdue University. There, he was with the 2019 NABC National Coach of the Year, Matt Painter. The Boilermakers won the 2019 Big Ten regular-season title and made the program’s first NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance since 1999-2000. A former standout player at Purdue, Byrd saw action in 130 career games and scored 890 points along the way. He made 195 three-pointers, ninth-most among Boilermaker career leaders. Byrd was the Big Ten Conference Sixth Man of the Year in 2012 and helped lead Purdue to three NCAA Tournaments (2010, 2011, 2012). In 2010, the Boilermakers won the Big Ten Championship and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the eventual NCAA National Champion Duke Blue Devils. He earned both his undergraduate (organizational leadership & supervision, 2013) and master’s (leadership, 2019) degrees from Purdue.  

Ryan Strohm begins his third year at Southeast Missouri.  On Sept. 9, 2024, Strohm was elevated to Assistant Coach/Operations. Strohm assumes other responsibilities in addition to his duties on the operations side.  Strohm oversees team budgets, coordinates travel plans for away games and supervises managers, while providing support to academic programs and other basketball areas. Before coming to SEMO, Strohm coached at Huntington from 2020-23 under Kory Alford. Huntington finished the 2022-23 season ranked #15 in the NAIA, the school’s best ranking since the NAIA merged to one division. He was part of back-to-back National Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023. Huntington won a National Tournament game in 2022, the program’s first since 2005-06. Strohm also coached at Manchester University from 2019-20 and spent two years as a graduate student manager at Kansas State. A native of St. Louis, Strohm was a Division III baseball player at Westminster College (2012-14) and Greenville College (2014-16).  His brother, Danny, is an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at Georgia Southern. Their father, Joe, is currently the Vice President of Ticket Sales for the St. Louis Cardinals.