Lol, Korn is just as rambling and incoherent as Weber. I also hope this baits Fitz or whoever wrote this crap into coming over here to double-secret ban me from his website.
"Call it a dream come true. Brad Korn always wanted to return to Kansas State at some point in his career, and now he has.
On Wednesday, head coach oscar Weber announced Korn, an assistant at Missouri State for the last three seasons, was hired as an assistant coach to replace Alvin Brooks III, who left the program to take the same position at Baylor.
“We are excited to welcome Brad back to the staff,” Weber said in a statement. “Obviously, he has history with us, having served on our staff during that special Big 12 Championship season in 2012-13. He also played for me [and Matt Painter] at Southern Illinois and got his start in coaching as an assistant coach to Chris (Lowery). I felt it was important to get someone who knows our system and the types of players we recruit here at K-State.”
Korn, who spent the 2012-13 campaign as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Wildcats, spoke to the media about his new position and his vision for the role moving forward.
How does it feel to be back at K-State?
“Ironically, my dad was actually born and raised in Abilene, Kansas, so even before coming here the last time I was familiar with the area. It’s a great opportunity. I’m really blessed, but it’s very exciting for me. It’s going to be my 12th year in Division I outside of playing.
“You want to work and get to this level. You want to challenge yourself, just like the players. In all of our professions you want to challenge yourself at the highest level, and this is it for me. It’s very rewarding, I’m very humble, and just ready to get to work.”
What’s the story behind everything that took place before you were hired?
“It’s well known I played for Coach Weber at SIU. So I’ve known him since he was recruiting me in 1997. That relationship started then and just throughout the years, playing for him at SIU, and just then always staying in contact. You’re never too far out of the people that you meet in the business. It’s a small world.
“I think that there’s always been that trust. The thing I think maybe about me and him is that we’ve both been the same people from 1997. Coach has always been a straight-up genuine guy. That’s something that has always stuck with me, and you always want to work with people like that. It makes it easier to do your job. I think that he has probably felt the same way towards me, in a sense. He has been able to watch me grow through adolescence in those years and just to see the maturation.
“Leaving here, I think, helped as well. To go work for Coach (Paul) Lusk at Missouri State, and get back into the fold of the grind of an assistant was important for him to see that as well.”
When you left three years ago, did you think at that time you’d be back here ever again?
“You know, it’s crazy. My wife always thought that we would come back. She kept all of her gear. Part of it was because it’s so nice, but the other part of it was she just always had a feeling in the back of her mind and her heart that we would be back. It was always a dream. I always thought, ‘Man, if I could ever get back here that would be great.’
“You just never know in college athletics. Year to year, things can change so quickly. But I kind of had a little bit of a hope when I knew there was an opening here. With the way I am, you never want to put yourself out there too much and then just be let down. I kind of had a little bit of a guard up but I was dying to get back here, for sure.”
What did you think of Kansas State the last few years while you were at Missouri State?
“I’ve always watched. It’s always easy to watch Saturdays and Mondays. I’ve always kept an eye on the games. Obviously there was a little bit of a youth movement over the years. You look at last year’s schedule and so many games could have gone the other way. I think that part of it was youth. The things that have transpired over the years, with some guys leaving and whatnot, contributed to that, and guys were thrown to their roles maybe earlier than expected. But I think that’s going to pay dividends going forward. I think those guys have gotten that experience now to where you get in those close games and now you can finish it off the way it needs to.
“So hopefully you can see a flip in that, and that would reflect on the record as well.”
How do you feel you grew as a coach at Missouri State?
“Every year, and that’s the great thing about basketball, even as a player, there’s always something that you can be working on. That’s the beauty of basketball. Something that I learned from Coach Lusk there was a different perspective. Even though we are all “under the same tree,” everybody does things a little differently. To really view and dissect and analyze film at maybe a little bit different type of a level.
“Everybody comes from a different angle. So to see the how we were going to maybe be in different coverage and different offensive philosophies and ideas, I just think you’re always gaining that information with the more people you interact with throughout the business.
“With Coach Lusk, I think it was more of just analyzing the game from different perspectives. We actually kind of went through a little bit of a transition period ourselves and a little bit of a youth movement. Now we had to do multiple things defensively so you had to educate yourself on other defenses and other ways to attack things. I was able to grow that way.”
What kind of recruiting base do you have? Coach Weber mentioned you will probably help associate head coach Chris Lowery with the Midwest and maybe down in Texas, but do you have connections in certain areas?
“Yeah, I think throughout the years you make different connections. There’s been some good, young talent out in Arizona as well. Obviously Missouri is close to Arkansas. There are a couple of programs down there that do a great job with some of their young talent.
“But yes, primarily I’ve been in the Midwest. I think that’s something that can help, but at the same time, I think with Manhattan is you can get kids from pretty much anywhere. It’s just going to be a matter of establishing those relationships early and making sure you can secure the right guy. I think a lot of guys can recruit, but can you get the right guy for the right coach, for the right place. I think there’s more to it than just identifying if a guy can play or not. You have to make sure those other things check out as well.”
How much were you out there recruiting at Missouri State?
“As much as anybody. There were no limitations on that. I got out quite a bit. Over the three years we had some turnovers. I don’t know the exact number, but we had some turnover over there, transfers and whatnot. There were some times we had to fill some gaps pretty quickly. We were able to have two kids that were on the All-Freshman Team this year in the Missouri Valley Conference. We had the Newcomer of the Year in that conference as well so we had some kids get some accolades that were deserving, but if you can identify them early and establish those relationships, it can pay off for you.”
Will working with the bigs be your primary responsibility?
“Coach hasn’t necessarily said or zoned in on that specifically yet. My time at SIU I played the forward spot. I was kind of a guard trapped in a big guy’s body so to speak, height wise. Footwork, skill level, those were my things I understood… It’s more angles, footwork, and things of that nature, and my first year at Missouri State I worked primarily with guards. I made a switch the last few years and going back down with the big guys. (Weber) hasn’t really said, but I do feel comfortable doing both.”
What do you feel will be the biggest challenge with the transition? Will it be in the trenches recruiting?
“I think that’s a challenge. I think it’s a challenge at this level with recruiting. You’re down in those trenches and there’s always going to be ups and downs recruiting, but hard work and being trustworthy can take you a long way.
“For me, in the next two weeks, in the immediate future, is being able to establish that relationship with the current players. There’s no recruit right now bigger than the ones we have on our campus. I think if I can identify those guys, let them identify with me, and get them to understand me and know I have their best interest at heart then we can build that trust and go from there.
“I think immediately that’s something I can really do and take pride in. I take pride in building relationships with guys. Hopefully they will be able to tell and feel that right away.”
Schematically, do you have a nice idea for what this team has and what it’s trying to do?
“I think so, yeah. Just in watching the guys from afar and staying in contact with these guys, I think I know what Coach wants, how he wants it, and be able to have another guy that can help relay that throughout practices and individual workouts. It allows for other guys to be away maybe a day longer than they normally would so they don’t feel like they have to come back to campus right away.
“I think that’s another positive of it as well. If you can have another extension of you to where you don’t have to feel you have to control everything when you’re not on campus. I think that can go a long way as well.”
What are you most excited about?
“Right now, I’m mostly excited about getting the guys on campus, getting to workout with them, get to practice. We are going to Italy this summer. So just to experience those things and just to dive in with the guys. I think that’s the most exciting thing for me right now. The complete challenge of being here and being on this level and to, not necessarily prove yourself, but just to have your hard work pay off, and to have K-State be what K-State should be.
“I think that’s the most exciting thing for me is just to get in there, get your hands dirty, and go for it. There’s really no other option.”
