CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The reigning Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Southeast Missouri men's basketball team began its preparation for the 2025-26 season with its first practice Monday afternoon.

Brad Korn starts his sixth year as SEMO's head coach. Under Korn's leadership, the Redhawks have ascended to the top of the OVC winning two league titles in the last three years.

Last season, Korn led SEMO to its 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.

This season, the Redhawks' 14-man roster includes nine returnees and five newcomers.

Forward Brendan Terry and guards Braxton Stacker and BJ Ward are the returning starters.

Terry, a Second-Team All-OVC pick, is the team's top scorer back after averaging 11.2 points per game in 33 starts. He ranked second on the team with 4.5 reobunds per game to go along with a team-best 24 blocks.

Stacker and Ward followed with 8.9 and 8.4 points per game, respectively, in 2024-25. Ward also finished second on the team with 51 three-pointers made, while Stacker rated second with 17 blocks.

Troy Cole Jr., Marqueas Bell, Elliot Lowndes, David Idada, Saxton Hoepker and Jay Reynolds are the rest of the returnees.

PJ Farmer and Trace Sadler, who graduated from nearby Sikeston High School, are the true freshmen on this year's squad.

Meanwhile, transfers Landren Blocker (Louisiana Tech), Luke Almodovar (St. Francis (Ind.) and Blaize Sagna (Stetson) enter their first year as Redhawks.

SEMO tips off the season at Saint Louis on Nov. 3.