- Marty Simmons
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Marty Simmons Sport(s) Basketball Current position Title Head coach Team Evansville Biographical details Born February 21, 1965 Place of birth 
Lawrenceville, IllinoisPlaying career 1983–1985
1986–1988Indiana
EvansvilleCoaching career (HC unless noted) 1990–1996
1996–1997
1997–2002
2002–2007
2007–presentEvansville (asst.)
Wartburg
Evansville (asst.)
SIU Edwardsville
EvansvilleAccomplishments and honors Awards Illinois Mr. Basketball (1983)
IBCA Hall of Fame (1994)
UE Hall of Fame (1997)
100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament (2007)Marty Simmons (born February 21, 1965) is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Evansville. He was elected Mr. Illinois Basketball in 1983. He started his collegiate basketball career at Indiana University, before finishing up at the University of Evansville.
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High school
Simmons was born and raised in Lawrenceville, Illinois and attended Lawrenceville High School, graduating in 1983. While attending high school, Simmons lead the Indians to back-to-back IHSA Class A state championships and became 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 legendary IHSA coach Ron Felling, who went on to become an assistant coach at Indiana University.
College
After high school, Simmons spent his first two years of college at IU. 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 Aces’ team captain, even though he had to redshirt the 1985-86 season. When Simmons became eligible, he immediately helped turn around the UE 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.
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 1990-1996, Simmons became the head coach at Division III Wartburg College (Iowa) for the 1996-1997 season. Simmons returned to the University of Evansville the next season as a full-time assistant coach, and stayed at UE until becoming the head coach at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in April of 2002. In 2007, after five years of coaching while producing 88 wins and 59 losses for the Cougars, Simmons once again returned to UE, this time as the head coach.
Recognition
Simmons was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame in 1994[1], 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.[2]
Head coaching record
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Great Lakes Valley Conference) (2002–2007) 2002-2003 SIU Edwardsville 9-18 5-15 T-9th 2003-2004 SIU Edwardsville 16-12 11-9 T-5th 2004-2005 SIU Edwardsville 23-9 15-5 2nd NCAA Division II 1st Round 2005-2006 SIU Edwardsville 25-8 14-5 T-1st West NCAA Division II Elite Eight 2006-2007 SIU Edwardsville 15-12 10-9 5th West SIU Edwardsville: 88-59 55-43 Evansville (Missouri Valley Conference) (2007–present) 2007–2008 Evansville 9-21 3-15 10th 2008–2009 Evansville 17-14 8-10 T-5th CIT 1st Round 2009-2010 Evansville 9-21 3-15 10th 2010-2011 Evansville 15-14 9-9 6th Evansville: 50-70 23-49 Total: 138-129 National Champion Conference Regular Season Champion Conference Tournament Champion
Conference Regular Season & Conference Tournament Champion Conference Division ChampionReferences
External links
- Marty Simmons profile at gopurpleaces.com
SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball head coaches Harry Gallatin (1968–1970) • Jim Dudley (1970–1981) • Tom Pugliese (1981–1983) • No team (1983–1984) • Larry Graham (1984–1992) • Jack Margenthaler (1992–2002) • Marty Simmons (2002–2007) • Lennox Forrester (2007– )
Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball head coaches G. B. Schnurr (1919–1920) • Clem McGinness (1920–1921) • Harlan Miller (1921–1922) • Charles Holton (1922–1923) • John Harmon (1923–1930) • Bill Slyker (1930–1943) • Emerson Henke (1943–1946) • Arad McCutchan (1946–1977) • Bobby Watson (1977–1978) • Dick Walters (1978–1985) • Jim Crews (1985–2002) • Steve Merfeld (2002–2007) • Marty Simmons (2007– )
Current men's basketball head coaches of the Missouri Valley Conference Geno Ford (Bradley) • Greg McDermott (Creighton) • Mark Phelps (Drake) • Marty Simmons (Evansville) • Tim Jankovich (Illinois State) • Greg Lansing (Indiana State) • Paul Lusk (Missouri State) • Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa) • Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois) • Gregg Marshall (Wichita State)
Categories:- American basketball coaches
- Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball coaches
- Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball players
- Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players
- Living people
- People from Lawrence County, Illinois
- SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball coaches
- 1965 births
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