Bob Simmons completed his sixth season at Ball State and his fourth as Billy Taylor's associate head coach in 2012-13. Simmons previously spent five seasons with Taylor at Lehigh.

Simmons layed a pivotal role in guiding the Cardinals to top-3 finishes in the Mid-American Conference West Division in five straight seasons. He helped the 2010-11 team to a 19-13 record, marking the 11th most wins in a single season in Ball State history.

The 2012-13 Ball State team posted wins in seven of its final eight regular-season games to grab the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. The Cardinals finished the year 15-15 overall and 8-8 in the league.

Ball State's top assistant, Simmons was instrumental in Ball State's recruiting efforts in his time in Muncie with a large number of his recruits contributing immediately. Five Cardinals were named to the MAC All-Freshman Team in his time with the program -- Aaron Adeoye (2012), Chris Bond (2011), Jauwan Scaife (2010), Jarrod Jones (2009) and Melvin Goins (2008).

During the 19-win campaign in 2010-11, the Cardinals received strong contributions from their freshman class, which combined to play 122 games and score 699 total points.

Jones, one of the early recruits for Simmons and Taylor, concluded an outstanding career in 2011-12 ranked sixth on Ball State's all-time scoring list and third on the school's all-time rebounding chart. He earned all-conference honors four times.

Jones was part of a 2008-09 freshman class that was ranked among the top 80 in the country by hoopmasters.com. The Cardinals' class was the only one in the MAC to be rated that high. Simmons helped tutor Jones to MAC Freshman of the Year honors as the forward scored 346 points, the fourth-most by a Ball State freshman, and grabbed 227 rebounds, the third-most by a Cardinals rookie.

Simmons has helped Taylor turn the Ball State program in the right direction, starting with an eight-game turnaround during their second season in 2008-09. That year, the Cardinals were picked to finish fifth in the MAC West Division but tied for the division title with a 7-9 league record. The Cardinals received the number two seed and the first-round bye in the MAC Tournament.

In 2009-10, Simmons helped the Cardinals improve to 15-15 overall and finish second in the MAC West, one game out of the top spot, with an 8-8 league mark. That season helped set the stage for the 19-win campaign a year later.

Prior to Ball State, Simmons helped Taylor and Lehigh to the Patriot League Championship and the NCAA tournament in 2004. He had been the head coach at Delaware Valley College for two years before joining Taylor's staff at Lehigh in 2002.

Prior to his stop at Delaware Valley College, 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 Middle Atlantic Conference 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 competition 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 two daughters, Hanah and Isabella.

Name	Title	Phone	Email Address
Billy Taylor	Head Coach	765-285-8141
Jay Newberry	Assistant Coach	765-285-8141	jaynewberry@bsu.edu
Joseph Price	Assistant Coach	765-285-8141
Bob Simmons	Assistant Coach	765-285-8141	rcsimmons@bsu.edu
Matt Laur	Director of Basketball Operations

Ball State University Athletics

2008-09 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff