Southeast Missouri completed its men’s basketball staff with the addition of Assistant Coach Connor Wheeler Monday.
A Carbondale, Illinois native, Wheeler joins the Redhawks after spending the last three years at Southern Illinois. He initially joined the SIU staff as the program’s director of player development and was promoted to director of operations.
Prior to SIU, Wheeler worked as the video coordinator at Southern Miss in 2018-19 and video coordinator and graduate assistant at Missouri from 2016-18.
“Connor comes from an impressive pedigree of coaches (Kim Anderson, Cuonzo Martin, Doc Sadler, Bryan Mullins) and is primed to bring all he has learned to help our program in recruiting, scouting reports and court coaching. We are looking forward to him relying on his playing and coaching experiences to enhance our program as we continue to move forward.”
As SIU’s director of player development, Wheeler made an instant impact on the Saluki program. SIU led the Missouri Valley Conference and ranked in the top-15 nationally in scoring defense (62.2 ppg allowed) during his first season in 2019-20.
In his second year, Wheeler helped lead SIU to a 7-0 start to the season, the best for the program since 1948. That start included a win over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse which snapped the Bulldogs’ nation-leading 59-game non-conference home court winning streak. Butler had not lost a home non-conference game since 2012 prior to SIU’s win in December 2020.
A year ago, Wheeler again helped guide the Salukis to the top of the MVC in scoring defense. SIU surrendered just 61.4 points per game during the 2021-22 campaign.
“Connor is a tireless worker, detail-oriented and basketball obsessed which is exactly what we need,” added Korn. “He comes highly regarded by numerous coaching friends. Connor has played and worked for some high character coaches that we have a lot of respect for. He understands our region, mission and vision.”
Wheeler was a standout at Carbondale and Du Quoin High School and played his final two years in college at SIU Edwardsville. He also played one season for Saluki alum Kyle Smithpeters at John A. Logan College and returned to JALC as a volunteer assistant after graduating.
Wheeler joins SEMO Basketball Staff
