Post by jhb on May 20, 2021 8:50:44 GMT -5
Lionel Simmons
SF
6'7"
210
21
La Salle
Lionel Simmons is one of the most decorated players in this class of prospects. This year's Naismith and Wooden Award Winner, he was also a 1st Team Consensus All-American, the USBWA Player of the Year, UPI Player of the Year, Rupp Trophy Winner, NABC Player of the Year, MAAC Player of the Year, and AP Player of the Year. And that's just his award resume from his senior year! He also was a previous 2-time winner of the MAAC POY award before his final season and was already a 2nd Team Consensus All-American as a Junior. In his final season, he helped navigate La Salle to an undefeated season within the Metro Conference and a 30-2 overall record before making it into the tournament as a #4 seed and getting edged out by #5 seed Clemson in a very tight second round matchup where Simmons shot 12-21 from the field for 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
As a player, Simmons has shown that he has the ability to score at all levels. He has a fairly advanced face-up game, he can work the dribble drive, and he can work with his back to the basket. He can move with and without the ball to find opportunities for himself and others. He has a pretty good handle and at times acted as a second facilitator for his team. He has a good jumper and hit 41.5% of his threes in college, but he focused more on attacking the rim with his offense than shooting from deep. He had some struggles with his consistency at the free throw line (where he's a frequent visititor) in his senior season but overall hit 72.2% of his attempts in his college career. Defensively, Simmons was an absolute monster and was one of the rare players who could be the lead guy as a scorer and also go to the other end and guard the opponent's best player. He racked up a ton of steals and blocked shots and he used his length tremendously to be disruptive. He was also a dominant force on the boards, playing much bigger than his 6'7" frame to go up and average over 11 rebounds per game in his final 3 seasons in college.
Front offices should temper their expectations for him to be such a box score stuffer at the next level when he won't be accumulating stats against weak Metro Conference opponents in 70% of his games, but Simmons has shown that he can go toe to toe with the big boys as well in his non-conference and postseason appearances.