The Freshman Phenom: Ben Simmons
On October 14th, 2013, the legend of Ben Simmons began. This was before he was the consensus top player. This was before NBA scouts dubbed him as the top player for the upcoming draft. Ben Simmons made the commitment to head coach Johnny Jones and the LSU Tigers on October 14th, 2013. Since then, the Aussie has exploded on the scene. Simmons attended the prestigious Montverde Academy in Florida. During his junior season, he helped the Academy to a 28-0 record and won the MVP at the NBA’s top 100 camp. His senior season he was named to the McDonald’s All-American game and win the Morgan Wootten Award, given to the best male McDonald’s All-American player in the classroom and on the court. These accolades would have earned Simmons many more offers from the elite programs in college basketball, but he decided on LSU a year before he could sign a letter of intent and stuck with them through the whole recruiting process. LSU has many strong ties to Simmons and while it was a shocker in the recruiting world, Simmons claimed LSU was where he was most comfortable as far as college. Already a top five player in most recruiting industries, his spectacular passing ability and ability to score anywhere inside the arc quickly got him to the top. He impressed in the two postseason all-star games, the aforementioned McDonald’s All-American game and the Nike Hoops Summit, scoring in double figures in each game. Many players crumble under under the pressure of being the top player on a program with not much else to offer. Simmons has more than delivered for this program. In fourteen games played for LSU thus far, Simmons has had a double-double in all but three of them. On December 2, he ripped North Florida for 43 points, 7 assist, and 14 rebounds. He opened conference play in Vanderbilt with his signature performance of the season, going 36-4-14. In his last performance on Tuesday, January 5th on the big stage vs. Kentucky, he secured a double-double and had emphatic dunks to seal the game. During his short time in a Tiger uniform, Simmons has put his full array of skills on display for the whole nation to see. He’s 6’10, yet he has the skill and vision of a point guard. From no look to pocket passes, he does it all. He can score exceptionally well inside of 20 feet. With jump hooks to dunks to crafty drives, Simmons can get his shot anyway he wants it. His jumpshot is still developing and defensively he can improve, but he has the capability to be better in those areas. He's still so good right now that Jay Bilas called him a “basketball prodigy” on the Kentucky/LSU broadcast. It's only a matter of time before Simmons gets to unleash his talent on the NBA.
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