Men's Basketball | November 18, 2016

| L-Train's Next Stop is College Basketball Hall of Fame - Dick Jerardi, Philadelphia Daily News |

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - La Salle men's basketball great Lionel Simmons was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Kansas City's Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland on Friday evening. Simmons, who starred for the Explorers from 1986-90 and ranks as one of the top scorers in NCAA history, was joined by five former players and two ex-coaches in the CBE Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

Simmons' prolific collegiate career began with an 18-point outing against Penn State on Nov. 28, 1986 in a tournament held in Miami, Fla. During his freshman campaign, the versatile forward averaged 20.3 points and 9.8 rebounds as the Explorers went 20-13 and advanced all the way to the finals of the National Invitation Tournament. The run to Madison Square Garden was an impressive one for Simmons, as he scored 23.4 points per game to help La Salle defeat Villanova, Niagara, Illinois State, and Arkansas-Little Rock before falling to Southern Miss in the championship game.

As a sophomore, the Philadelphia native upped his production to 23.3 points and 11.4 rebounds per contest as the Explorers continued to win at an impressive clip. La Salle ran through the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference undefeated at 14-0, and won three straight games at the MAAC Tournament to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Explorers earned a No. 13 seed in the Midwest region and squared off against No. 4 Kansas State, who was ranked 20th nationally heading into the game. Simmons, who was named MAAC and Big 5 Player of the Year at season's end, put up 20 points and 10 rebounds against future Sacramento Kings teammate Mitch Richmond, but La Salle dropped a 66-53 decision.

Statistically speaking, Simmons had the best season of his La Salle career as a junior in 1988-89. The 6-7 small forward averaged 28.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and nearly two blocked shots per contest as he once again earned Big 5 and MAAC Player of the Year accolades. He was named MVP of a pair of in-season tournaments, helping the Explorers to wins over Georgia Southern and Austin Peay at the Acme Boot Classic in Tennessee and victories over Penn and Long Beach State at the Jostens Classic at the Palestra. But it was a mid-February game against No. 12 Florida State that really stood out, as Simmons helped the Explorers upset the nationally-ranked Seminoles with 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

The 1989 MAAC Tournament once again saw La Salle earn three victories to secure another trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Explorers defeated their three opponents by an average of 19.3 points per game and Simmons was a big part of it. The tournament MVP averaged 28.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 3.3 assists per game, as La Salle earned a No. 9 seed in the Southeast region of the NCAA Tournament. Simmons was again brilliant in the opening round of NCAA's, scoring 26 points and grabbing 16 boards but the Explorers fell to Louisiana Tech, who was led by future lottery pick Randy Woods and longtime NBA player P.J. Brown, 83-74.

Simmons and La Salle had already proven that it could compete against high-level opponents over the previous three seasons, but 1989-90 saw the Explorers ramp it up to another level. La Salle went 30-1 in the regular season with their sole loss coming to high-powered Loyola Marymount, 121-116. The Explorers picked up wins over such name opponents as Fresno State, DePaul, Villanova, Ohio State, Florida and Notre Dame, and went undefeated in Big 5 play to earn the school's first outright Big 5 championship since 1974-75.

Individually, Simmons continued to score at a nearly unprecedented pace and registered his 3,000th career point on February 22, 1990 against Manhattan at the Civic Center. He was named the Big 5 and MAAC Player of the Year for the third straight season, and added a slew of national awards to his resume. The Associated Press, United Press International, United States Basketball Writers Association and a number of other organizations named him the National Player of the Year. The Explorers once again took the MAAC Tournament for the third consecutive season and was seeded fourth in the East region of the NCAA Tournament.

Facing a Southern Miss team that had defeated them in the NIT championship game in Simmons' freshman campaign, the Explorers avenged that loss and earned a 79-63 victory behind a 32-point, 16-rebound performance from Simmons. With a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line in its next contest, La Salle took on No. 17 Clemson, featuring a frontcourt led by future Lakers standout Elden Campbell and eventual Pacers big man Dale Davis. The Explorers came out of the gates quickly, sprinting out to a 41-22 lead following a slam from Simmons. The advantage was 43-27 at halftime and was still double figures following a three-point play from Simmons with 12:36 on the clock. But Davis and his teammates proved to be too much, coming back for a 79-75 win to dash La Salle's hopes and end the fantastic collegiate career of Simmons.

For his career, Simmons closed with 3,217 points to rank third in NCAA history, and also grabbed 1,429 rebounds to stand second in La Salle's record book behind all-time great Tom Gola. Simmons holds the single-season (77) and career (248) blocked shots records and is second in career steals with 239. He would go on to be drafted No. 7 overall by the NBA's Sacramento Kings and played seven seasons in the league, averaging 12.8 points per game. 

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016  
Mark Aguirre, Player, DePaul University

• AP, USBWA, UPI and Sporting News National Player of the Year (1980)
• James Naismith Award winner (1980)
• Two-time consensus first-team All-American (1980, 1981)
• Led DePaul to the Final Four as a freshman in 1979.
• Selected No. 1 in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks.

Bob Boozer, Player, Kansas State University

• Two-time consensus first-team All-American (1958, 1959)
• Led K-State to the Final Four in 1958 and No. 1 ranking in the final regular-season poll in 1959.
• Averaged 25.2 points per game—the second most in school history.
• Selected No. 1 in the 1959 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals, but delayed going pro in order to compete on the gold-medal and Hall of Fame 1960 Olympic men's basketball team.

Doug Collins, Player, Illinois State University

• Averaged 29.1 points per game over the course of his three-year career.
• Named both an All-American and Academic All-American at the finish of each of his seasons, including becoming ISU's first consensus first-team All-American in 1973.
• Illinois State's first recipient of a full basketball scholarship
• School record holder for career points (2,240)
• Selected No. 1 in the 1973 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Hugh Durham, Coach, Florida State University, University of Georgia, Jacksonville University

• First and only coach in NCAA Div. I history to lead two different schools to their lone Final Four appearance (Florida State, Georgia).
• First and only coach in NCAA Div. I history to be the all-time most successful coach at three universities (Florida State, Georgia, Jacksonville).
• Recruited and coached Florida State's first African American basketball scholarship athlete in1966-67.
• Coached fellow inductee Dominque Wilkins at Georgia (1979-82).
• Came out of retirement at age 60 to help rebuild the Jacksonville program, transforming it into a conference contender.

Mike Montgomery, Coach, University of Montana; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley

• Took over a Stanford program that had been absent from the NCAA Tournament for more than 40 years and returned the Cardinal to the Tournament within three seasons.
• Reached the NCAA Tournament 12 times at Stanford with 10-straight second-round appearances and a trip to the 1998 Final Four.
• Naismith College Coach of the Year (2000)
• Four-time Pac 12 Coach of the Year (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004)
• Recorded 25 winning seasons out of 26 as a head coach at Montana, Stanford and Cal.
• John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Lifetime Achievement Award (2004)

Lionel Simmons, Player, La Salle University

• Only player in NCAA history to score more than 3,000 points and record 1,100 rebounds.
• Scored 3,217 career points—the third most in NCAA history.
• Naismith, Wooden, AP and NABC College Player of the Year (1990)
• Consensus first-team All-American (1990)
• NCAA record for most consecutive games with double-figure scoring (115).

 Jamaal Wilkes, Player, UCLA

• Part of the record-setting UCLA 88-game win streak (1971-74)
• Three Final Four appearances with two national titles (1972-74)
• Two-time consensus first-team All-American (1973, 1974)
• Three-time first-team Academic All-American (1972, 1973, 1974)
• Member of the 1971 UCLA 20-0 freshman team with Greg Lee and Bill Walton

 Dominique Wilkins, Player, University of Georgia

• Second-team All-American (NABC, UPI) and third-team All-American (AP) in 1982
• SEC Player of the Year (1981)
• Averaged 21.6 points per game in his three collegiate seasons (1979-82)
• Selected No. 3 overall in the 1982 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.
• Coached by fellow inductee Hugh Durham at Georgia.
• Went on to a legendary NBA career with nine All-Star selections, seven All-NBA Team selections and one NBA scoring title (1986).