You may have noticed the Missouri Southern Men’s Basketball team having a bit more fun this year. As anyone who grew up in the MTV culture would say, “a little less short shorts, a little more And-1”.

The fact that this year’s team is having measurably more success can be traced right back to Head Coach Robert Corn.

That may seem a little obvious to some students at MSSU. He calls the plays and runs the practices. Of course their success can be linked back to him. It is the thing Coach Corn is letting his players do off the court that is generating a new era in the Lions this year.

Prior to the 2007-08 season, you could identify a male basketball player by his well kept hair, clean shaven face and his moderate and respectable dress. This year things are getting hairy, quite literally.

Corn is allowing his players to compete with beards, wristbands, baggy shorts and in the case of TJ Britton, beads in their hair. Why would this lead to anything different than before? The Mens basketball team finally has time to relax.

They don’t have to worry about looking the part of a basketball player anymore. This has allowed the Lions to settle into their own identity as players. Focusing on their individual strengths and having a little more fun.

When the ball gets reversed around the perimeter to Tony Webb, everyone in the stands knows he is looking for ‘Big Cuz’ TJ Britton on the alley-oop. The crowd reacts to it accordingly, standing up out of every seat in the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center and making major noise.

The fans cheer to intensity and showmanship of the Lions and they delive time and again, getting into the opposition’s heads and bringing the homecourt advantage back to Southern.

It took a little while to figure out, but Coach Corn has finally got the men’s squad thinking less about basketball and more about the game and how truly fun it can be.