Marty Simmons

Martin Ray Simmons (born February 21, 1965) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is an assistant men's basketball coach at Clemson University, as position he had held since 2018. Simmons served as the head men's basketball coach at Wartburg College from 1996 to 1997, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 2002 to 2007, and the University of Evansville from 2007 to 2018. As a high school player, Simmons was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 1983. He played college basketball at Indiana University Bloomington and Evansville.

Marty Simmons
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamClemson
ConferenceACC
Biographical details
Born (1965-02-21) February 21, 1965
Lawrenceville, Illinois
Playing career
1983–1985Indiana
1986–1988Evansville
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1996Evansville (assistant)
1996–1997Wartburg
1997–2002Evansville (assistant)
2002–2007SIU Edwardsville
2007–2018Evansville
2018–presentClemson (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall282–248
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
CIT (2015)
GLVC (2006)
Awards
Illinois Mr. Basketball (1983)
IBCA Hall of Fame (1994)
UE Hall of Fame (1997)
100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament (2007)

High school

Simmons was born and raised in Lawrenceville, Illinois and attended Lawrenceville High School, graduating in 1983. While attending high school, Simmons led the Indians to consecutive 34–0 seasons and Illinois High School Association (ILHA) Class A state championships, becoming one of the most celebrated players in Illinois prep history. Because of Simmons' ability to "carry" his team the nickname of "Mule" was given to him during his junior year. His 2,986 career points were the third most in Illinois history when he graduated in 1983. Simmons played for coach Ron Felling, who went on to become an assistant coach at Indiana University.

In 2006, Simmons was voted as one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament, a group of former players and coaches in honor of the 100th anniversary of the IHSA boys basketball tournament.

College

After high school, Simmons spent his first two years of college playing for Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. During his freshman year, he was an integral part of the Hoosiers' Elite Eight run in the 1984 NCAA Tournament. His 1985 team at Indiana finished second in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). After Simmons' sophomore year, however, he transferred to the University of Evansville to play for former Indiana assistant coach Jim Crews. Crews made Simmons the team captain for the Purple Aces, even though he had to redshirt the 1985–86 season. When Simmons became eligible, he immediately helped turn around the Evansville program. During the 1986–87 he averaged 22.4 points per game and led Evansville to a first place tie in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. During his senior year, Simmons finished sixth in the nation in scoring at 25.9 points per game, and finished ninth in balloting for the Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year. Evansville posted a 21–8 record in 1988 and recorded a first-round win over Utah in the NIT. Simmons was named to the first team all-MCC in both of his seasons at UE. Despite playing only two seasons at Evansville, Simmons ranks 22nd all-time with 1,265 points.

Coaching career

After graduating from Evansville, Simmons played the 1988–89 season for the La Crosse Catbirds of the Continental Basketball Association. During the 1989–90 season, while playing for the Illinois Express, Simmons made the World Basketball League all-star team.

After being a part-time assistant coach for Evansville from 1990 to 1996, Simmons became the head coach at Wartburg College, an NCAA Division III school in Waverly, Iowa for the 1996–97 season. Simmons returned to the University of Evansville the next season as a full-time assistant coach, and stayed at Evansville until becoming the head coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in April 2002. In 2007, after five years of coaching while producing a record of 88–59 for the Cougars, Simmons once again returned to Evansville, this time as head coach. He coached the Aces for 11 seasons, compiling a record of 184–175 before being fired following the 2017–18 season. In July 2018, Simmons accepted an assistant coaching position under his longtime friend, Brad Brownell, for the Clemson Tigers.[1] The two coached together at the University of Evansville from 1991 to 1992.

Honors

Simmons was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame in 1994,[2] and the University of Evansville Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2007, Simmons was voted one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament, recognizing his superior performance in his appearances in the tournament.[3]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wartburg Knights (Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1996–1997)
1996–97 Wartburg 10–147–9T–7th
Wartburg: 10–14 (.417)7–9 (.438)
SIU Edwardsville Cougars[4] (Great Lakes Valley Conference) (2002–2007)
2002–03 SIU Edwardsville 9–185–15T–9th
2003–04 SIU Edwardsville 16–1211–9T–5th
2004–05 SIU Edwardsville 23–915–52ndNCAA Division II First Round
2005–06 SIU Edwardsville 25–814–5T–1st (West)NCAA Division II Elite Eight
2006–07 SIU Edwardsville 15–1210–95th (West)
SIU Edwardsville: 88–59 (.599)55–43 (.561)
Evansville Purple Aces[5] (Missouri Valley Conference) (2007–2018)
2007–08 Evansville 9–213–1510th
2008–09 Evansville 17–148–10T–5thCIT First Round
2009–10 Evansville 9–213–1510th
2010–11 Evansville 16–169–96thCBI Second Round
2011–12 Evansville 16–169–9T–3rdCBI First Round
2012–13 Evansville 21–1510–84thCIT Semifinal
2013–14 Evansville 14–196–12T–8th
2014–15 Evansville 24–129–95thCIT Champion
2015–16 Evansville 25–912–6T–2nd
2016–17 Evansville 16–176–128th
2017–18 Evansville 17–157–11T–7th
Evansville: 184–175 (.513)82–116 (.414)
Total:282–248 (.532)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

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References
  1. "Ex-Evansville coach Simmons to join Clemson". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  2. 1994 IBCA Hall of Fame Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "100 Legends of Boys Basketball Tournament". Illinois High School Association. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  4. "SIUE Men's Basketball - Coaching Records". SIUE Cougars. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  5. "2007-08 thru 2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedules". University of Evansville. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Bruce Douglas		 Illinois Mr. Basketball Award Winner
1983		 Succeeded by
Brian Sloan
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