ABILENE – ACU men's basketball head coach
Joe Golding announced Friday afternoon that the Wildcats have dipped into their Arkansas network to add another player after Airion Simmons signed a binding national letter-of-intent beginning with the 2019-20 season.
The Wildcats have two players on their current roster from the Natural State: senior point guard
Jaylen Franklin and junior guard
Trey Lenox. Simmons, in fact, is from the same high school as Franklin: Parkview High School in Little Rock. Simmons is a 6-6 power forward who will add size and bulk to the interior of the Wildcats' squad.
"We're excited to get another player from the state of Arkansas and Parkview High School," Golding said. "Airion has been very well coached in high school by Arkansas legend Al Flanigan, and he has played high-level AAU basketball for great program in the Hawks.
"He's a very versatile athlete that can play inside and outside and is a great passer," Golding said of Simmons. "More importantly than all of that is that he knows how to win. He's a winner with great character."
Simmons has helped Parkview to state championships in 2016 and 2018 and is the No. 4-ranked player in the state of Arkansas by ArkanasBasketballRatings.com. His high school teams have an overall record 79-17 over the last three seasons going into his senior season in 2018-19. As a junior he averaged 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game as he helped Parkview win the state championship last spring.
Over the summer he played on the Adidas Gauntlet Circuit for the Arkansas Hawks and was coached by Bill Ingram. He averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds on the circuit. Simmons plans to study kinesiology and wants to become an athletics trainer.
