MUNCIE, Ind. -- Bob Simmons, who spent the previous five seasons at Lehigh University, has been named an assistant men's basketball coach at Ball State University, according to first-year BSU head coach Billy Taylor.
Simmons, who was a member of Taylor's staff at Lehigh, begins his duties at Ball State immediately.
“Bob has a tremendous work ethic and passion for the game,” Taylor said. “He was with me for five years at Lehigh, and I am thrilled he has joined us at Ball State. Bob is a person of high character and high intensity. He loves to coach the game of basketball. In all of my years around the game, I have never met anyone who works as tirelessly as Bob Simmons. Our progam and student-athletes will benefit greatly from Coach Simmons.”
Simmons, who helped Taylor and Lehigh to the Patriot League Championship and NCAA Tournament in 2004, had been the head coach at Delaware Valley College for two years before joining Taylor's staff at Lehigh in 2002.
Simmons served as an assistant coach at Lebanon Valley College, where he managed a variety of areas, including recruiting, scouting, academics, strength and conditioning, player development and camps.
In his four years at Lebanon Valley, the Flying Dutchmen posted a 78-35 record (.690 winning percentage) and qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs each year. Lebanon Valley reached the NCAA Division III playoffs in both 1997 and 1999 and captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region championship in 1998 and 2000.
While at Lebanon Valley College, Simmons coached Andy Panko, the school's all-time leading scorer, a three-time All-American and two-time Division III National Player of the Year (as named by the Basketball Hall of Fame, Basketball News, Basketball Weekly and Basketball Times). Panko is now playing professionally in Spain and has a spot in the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., for scoring 25 consecutive points in a game. Simmons also helped to produce one ECAC Player of the Year (Steve Horst), two MAC Players of the Year (Panko, Horst) and one Academic All-American(Horst).
Prior to coaching at Lebanon Valley, Simmons was an assistant coach, the director of athletics and camp director at his alma mater, Bishop Hafey High School in Hazleton, Pa.
Simmons played at Wilkes University for Ron Rainey, Sr., and later served as a student assistant coach for the 1992-93 season. He also spent part of two summers as head coach of a team of Division III All-Stars that traveled to Europe to face semi-professional competion in 1999 and 2000, and he spent one summer as an assistant coach of a Division II All-Star team that traveled to South America.
Simmons earned his bachelor's degree from Wilkes in organizational communications and secondary education in 1993. He and his wife Deb have one daughter, Hanah.
