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.
