Villanova is back in the NCAA tourney title game for the 1st time since winning it all in 1985. 1 of the keys to their success is their beautiful balance: if you try to shut down Ochefu or Hart, then you will just get burned by Jenkins or Brunson or someone else. Another Big 5 team who has made a postseason title game since 1985 was La Salle way back in the 1987 NIT, but they used a little less balance to get there. There are only 2 men in the history of D-1 basketball who made 1200+ FG and 600+ FT: Pete Maravich and Lionel Simmons. After winning a Philly Public League championship in 1986, Simmons led La Salle to the NIT title game as a freshman before a 4-PT loss to Southern Miss. Simmons was nothing if not consistent: he still holds the D-1 record for most consecutive games in double figures with 115. A 3-time conference POY who was also named national POY in 1990, he was finally elected to the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame last month. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel recently got to chat with Simmons’ former coach Speedy Morris about the Explorers’ magical 2-loss season in 1990 and how good his star could have been if he had remained healthy.
In the 1986 Philadelphia Public League boys’ title game Simmons had 21 PTS/18 REB to lead South Philadelphia High School to a 2-PT win over University City: how dominant was he in high school, and how did you get him to come to La Salle? He was the player of the year in the city. I got the job late but was friends with his high school coach Mitch Schneider, which probably helped a lot. We met for dinner 1 night and I told Simmons that I would not promise him a starting spot: my assistant at the time (Fran Dunphy) started to kick me under the table because he thought that Simmons was better than anyone we had!
In the 1987 NIT title game he scored 34 PTS in a 4-PT loss to Southern Miss: was it just 1 of those nights when the entire Golden Eagles team was in the zone (11-24 3PM)? They had a good night but we still had a chance to win at the end despite trailing most of the game. Our PG had an open 3 to win the game but he passed the ball to Tim Legler and it got stolen.
After he allegedly turned down a $2 million offer to leave after his junior season, your team only lost 2 games during the 1990 season:
He had 34 PTS/19 REB in a 5-PT loss to Loyola Marymount: how unstoppable were the Lions with Bo Kimble/Hank Gathers (who each had double-double)? I actually thought that we were a better team. I got criticized for trying to run with them but we had a lot of great players including Doug Overton. Lionel shot a couple of air balls in the 1st half, which was very uncharacteristic for him. Gathers was a great player and Kimble had just won a game against St. Joe’s 2 nights earlier with a half-court shot at the buzzer (en route to setting a school record with 54 PTS).
In the NCAA tourney he scored 28 PTS in a 4-PT loss to Clemson: how were the Tigers able to overcome a 19-PT deficit? We were up by 16 PTS at the half and our press was bothering them but in the 2nd half we just could not make a shot. They also dominated us on the boards with future NBA players Dale Davis/Elden Campbell. It was 1 of the most disappointing losses of my career: I think that if we had won that game then we could have beaten UConn in the Sweet 16.
He was a 3-time conference POY/2-time All-American/1990 national POY: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? It was such a great run he had. He shot about 50% for his career so it did not take a rocket scientist to know that if he missed 1 shot he would probably make his next shot! He was difficult to guard and he made everyone around him better.
He remains the #3 all-time scorer in D-1 history with 3,217 career PTS: what was his secret for being such an amazing scorer? He was a good player who did not take bad shots. He was not a highlight film dunker or very fancy: he was a coach’s dream.
His 1429 career REB is #7 since the NCAA split into 3 divisions in 1973: how was he able to grab so many REB despite standing only 6’7”? He had a great nose for the ball, good positioning, and a great 1st step. Rebounding is about commitment and he was committed to getting the ball.
After shooting 4-14 (28.6%) from 3-PT range during his 1st 2 years he shot 52-121 (43%) during his final 2 years: how was he able to develop into such a good 3-PT shooter? He was always working on his game and got better every single year.
He was drafted 7th overall by Sacramento in the summer of 1990 and was runner-up to Derrick Coleman for 1991 NBA ROY after scoring 18 PPG: how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? He did a little of everything and was the best player that you never heard of because he played for a bad Sacramento team (who never had a single 40-win season from 1984-1999).
He retired in 1997 due to chronic injuries and later said that he felt scared because “not many people retire at 29 with no real responsibilities”: how good a player would he have been if he could have remained healthy, and what has he been up to for the past 2 decades? I think that he could have been a Hall of Famer: his stats speak for themselves and he scored 17 PPG during his 7-year career. He is in the area a lot and owns a tavern so he is doing quite well. He is a good guy who does some charitable work for kids every year and is also good to his mother.
Last month he was elected to the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I thought that he should have been inducted a couple of years ago. He was 1 of the best to ever play in the Big 5 and at La Salle, which says a lot.