“I think Jaaron is one of the best point guards in the nation. Period,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. “At any level.”
Simmons scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds Saturday in a 95-75 victory against Bowling Green at the Convocation Center. He shot a season-best 10 of 12 from the field and made 3 of 4 3-pointers.
“He’s very strong,” Bowling Green coach Michael Huger said. “When you see him on film, it doesn’t really do him justice. It’s like seeing guys in the movies and then seeing them in person. He’s the best point guard in the league by far in my opinion.”
Simmons is a big reason OU’s season hasn’t fallen apart since it lost the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, 6-9 forward Antonio Campbell, for the season with a broken foot.
The Bobcats (17-8, 9-5) are 6-4 without Campbell and have won three straight games. Simmons know people outside the Ohio locker room gave up on them when Campbell went down.
“They’re slowly coming back,” Simmons said.
The Bobcats trail Akron by three games in the Mid-American Conference East Division with four games left in the regular season. Ohio beat Akron 85-70 on Feb. 4 in Athens, giving it hope it can make a run in the MAC tournament and snag the conference’s automatic NCAA bid.
Simmons scored a career-high 38 points against Akron. That prompoted Akron coach Keith Dambrot to provide bulletin-board material for Simmons to use the rest of the season.
“We lost at Ohio when Jaaron Simmons gets 38,” Dambrot said last week after a 70-67 loss to Kent State. “I’m not sure if you don’t guard Simmons at all at the 3 line, he can get 38. That’s not an absurd statement. It’s a fact. It’s just one of those games.”
Simmons took the high road when asked about Dambrot’s comments Saturday.
“He lost. He was upset,” Simmons said. “I never let a man take my confidence. It’s as simple as that.”
Simmons averages 15.4 points per game. He should hit the 1,000-point milestone in Ohio’s next game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Miami University. He has 991 points in one season at Houston and two at Ohio.
“Jaaron can score about as much as he wants any night of the week,” Phillips said. “I think he chooses to get his teammates involved.”
Simmons left Houston after the 2013-14 season when coach James Dickey resigned. He said it wasn’t a hard decision. Ohio had just hired Phillips, who needed to replace three recruits Ohio lost when it lost coach Jim Christian to Boston College.
It has turned out to be a good match. Simmons loves life in Athens. His parents, Aaron and Sarita, and brother, Camaaron, come to every home game and will make it to all but one MAC road game.
“This is a great place,” Simmons said. “Coach Phillips is my type of guy, a laid-back players coach, a point guard coach for sure. I love it here. The fans are crazy. It’s a great college atmosphere.”
Simmons adapted to his new home fast. OU has a party-school reputation. Simmons said he’s not into all that. He’ll go out from time to time but said he and his teammates have tunnel vision.
“We’re great at that,” Simmons said. “I’ve been on teams that haven’t been great at that or certain people haven’t been great, but this year’s team and last year’s team and even the year before that, we’ve been mature. We stick to business. That’s what I love about this team.”
Simmons makes Phillips’ life easier. He’s the type of leader who offers words of encouragement to a teammate who had a rough day of practice or who just got chewed out by the coach during a game.
“He’s the leader every coach would want,” Phillips said.
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