Washington Huskies Basketball: 2012-2013 Desmond Simmons Evaluation

Feb 20, 2013; Tucson, AZ, USA; Washington Huskies forward Desmond Simmons (30) shoots the ball during the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Statistics: 23.9 minutes, 4.9 points (38.8 FG percentage, 35.3 3-point), 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists per game

What He Did In 2012-2013: Regress seems like a harsh word for Simmons, even though that has been thrown around to describe him last season. More accurate, I think, is that his development stalled.

After redshirting, he burst onto the scene two seasons ago and blew everybody’s expectations out of the water. He was a fringe 3- or 4-star recruit out of high school and made an immediate impact. Enough so, that he worked his way into the starting lineup during his sophomore season.

Unfortunately, Simmons showed little progress from the season before and eventually lost his starting role to Shawn Kemp Jr., who, unlike Simmons, improved drastically from the season before.

He earned about six minutes more per game last season, but averaged similar numbers. His point totals remained stagnant while getting about two more rebounds per game. The hustle was still there, as he, along with Andrew Andrews, was the heart of the team. The lack of improvement in scoring most likely came from a shooting percentage that dropped close to four points compared to his freshman season.

Coming into school, this is about what we expected from Simmons: a solid role player that brings heart and hustle to every game; however, he was so impressive his first year on the court that we expected him to become an instant star last season. These were pretty high expectations that were somewhat granted, but difficult to attain. Hopefully, by the time Simmons leaves UW, he will have met these, though.

What To Expect From Him In 2013-2014: With the possible addition of Mike Moser, along with Perris Blackwell and Gilles Dierickx, to a backcourt that already has Shawn Kemp Jr. and Jernard Jarreau, Simmons may have missed his shot to start. There’s nothing stopping him from earning that role with an impressive set of practices or a few good games, but there won’t be a wide open role for him to fill next season. If he wanted to guarantee himself that spot, he should have stepped up last season.

Regardless, Simmons is going to be a redshirt junior, in his fourth season under Lorenzo Romar. What seems to be the path for most Huskies is that their junior season acts as a stepping stone to a breakout senior season. Those Dawgs don’t normally play nearly 18 minutes per game their freshman season, though.

Last season could have been that stepping stone, rather than this season. If it is, that will give the Huskies potentially three or four players in the frontcourt with the capability of averaging at least 10 points and 6 rebounds. That’s intimidating. But it only happens if Simmons continues his development.