Most people think that the history of UMBC basketball began in 2018 when the Retrievers upset #1-seed Virginia in the NCAA tourney…but most people are wrong. Larry Simmons played at UMBC back in the 1980s and finished his career with a school-record 1805 PTS. He finished 3rd in the nation with 90.2 FT% as a junior, was named to the D-1 All-Independent Team as a senior, and even played 2 years of varsity soccer during his free time. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Larry about playing multiple sports and being a great scorer. Today marks the 33rd anniversary of Larry breaking the school’s scoring record on February 17, 1990, so we take this time to remember his remarkable accomplishment.
You grew up in Indiana: what made you choose UMBC? That is very simple to answer: Coach Jeff Bzdelik. I had received many offers but narrowed my choices down to 5 schools. I visited Alabama, Northwestern, UNC-Wilmington, Ball State, and UMBC. Most of the larger schools had upperclassmen so I knew that I would have to probably redshirt during my 1st year. Being the competitive person that I am, I wanted the opportunity to play right away and make a significant impact at the school I was going to go to, plus I wanted to make sure it was a great fit with the coach who was going to be leading the program. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with Coach Bzdelik before I made my decision. I knew I could trust that my aspirations to play D-1 basketball and his desire to excel as a D-1 head coach would be a perfect fit at UMBC as they were entering D-1 for the first time in 1986.
What made Bzdelik such a good coach, and could you have ever imagined that he would keep going strong in the NBA for the next 3 decades? I absolutely could see him coaching to this day! His love for the game of basketball is unquestioned. His passion/dedication/ability to have a strong connection with all of the players that he coached was an incredible asset. He had an incredible desire to see his players not only excel on the basketball court but also in life.
You played both basketball/soccer in college: which sport were you best at and which 1 did you enjoy the most? That is a very hard question to answer as I absolutely love both sports. I think that if they would have let me play soccer for the 1st 2 years then I might have had a chance at being the leading scorer in both soccer AND basketball! I was All-State in basketball/soccer/football and enjoyed playing all sports. However, basketball and soccer were definitely my 2 favorites, by far.
As a junior you finished #3 in the nation with 90.2 FT%: what is the secret to making FTs? It took many years of being taught the correct fundamentals and practicing every day how to shoot the basketball. I would spend extra time at every practice shooting hundreds of free throws and jump shots. I was also fortunate enough to grow up in the town of Noblesville, IN, which had a great high school basketball program. Noblesville had a great high school coach named Dave Nicholson who was very passionate about focusing on the fundamentals of basketball so we worked on free throws every night. I believe that Scott Haffner, 1 of my high school teammates (who ended up making it to the NBA) was 1 of the best in the nation that year as well (90.1 FT%)!
Your PPG/SPG/FG% increased during each of your 4 years on campus: how were you able to keep improving every single year? With a lot of hard work and off-season practice! I cannot tell you how many days/afternoons/nights that Bobby Mills and I were out practicing our shooting, playing 1-on-1, looking for pick-up games, etc. I also think that as I matured throughout my 4 years of playing D-1 basketball: the game started to slow down for me. I was able to see/understand what was happening quicker and my ability to perform steadily improved each year.
In 1990 you were named an All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was an awesome honor for all of the hard work I had put in during my entire life. Just being blessed to play D-1 basketball and then to be recognized for all of the hard work/dedication I had put in over the years as an All-American felt amazing. I never had the opportunity to play in a conference as UMBC was just entering D-1, so that made the honor even more special!
In 1996 you were inducted into your school’s Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I have been very fortunate to be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Silver Anniversary Team, the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame, the Hamilton County Basketball Hall of Fame, and Noblesville’s Athletic Hall of Fame. I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to play both basketball and soccer at UMBC. To be recognized for all of my hard work at such a great institution is right there at the top: Go Retrievers!
You remain the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? Did I ever think that I would be the all-time leading scorer at UMBC when I 1st started: absolutely not! All I knew was that if I worked hard every day to improve my game, I would be given the same opportunity as every other player who was on the team. I was fortunate enough to never miss a game during my 4 years of playing at UMBC but I am amazed that the record has lasted this long. I was so rooting for Jairus Lyles to break the record with the amazing run UMBC had in the 2018 NCAA tourney! Since we were not in a conference during my 4 years at UMBC we only played 28 games/year. Now that UMBC is in the America East and has a conference tournament they can play 32+ games/year. They also had an incredible coach in Ryan Odom who developed a formidable program so I am sure that someone will break the record.
You also have the most STL in school history: how did you balance your offense with your defense? I have always been a very competitive person: if my opponent had the ball then I wanted it! I think that playing both basketball/soccer gave me the ability to see offenses/defenses/plays before they happened. I believe this gave me the ability to put myself in situations where I had the opportunity to steal the ball from the opposing player. I have never really believed in luck: I believe that if you work hard, have the right fundamentals, and put yourself in the right situation then success will happen.
What have you been up to since retiring from basketball, and what do you hope to do in the future? It is hard to believe that it has been almost 3 decades since I graduated from UMBC! I have been working in the world of banking for most of that time and am currently back home again in the great Hoosier state of Indiana! I have coached both youth basketball/soccer for the last quarter century and my wife made me “officially” stop playing both sports when I turned 50: wow, life goes fast! I have 4 beautiful children/2 grandchildren and just plan on watching them all grow up. Who knows: maybe I will go into coaching high school basketball here in Indiana?!