Desmond Simmons

In case you missed it, here’s part I of our Desmond Simmons interview (you can also scroll down).

In today’s portion, Desmond talks about his summer in AAU ball. Some of the media coverage about Desmond’s summer alluded to some unexpected struggles on the court, and we discuss that in the portion of the interview below.

Montlake Madness: What college team did you grow up rooting for?

Desmond Simmons: I never really had a team in college basketball. I just watched it. I had my select players that I loved to watch. I never had a particular college I was rooting for. Just favorite players I loved watching play.

MM: Give me an example of players you’ve enjoyed watching.

DS: I loved to watch Blake Griffin last year. Jerryd Bayless was fun to watch…

MM: Have you played with or against any of the current Huskies?

DS: I played against Clarence Trent his sophomore year, which was my freshman year, in a basketball tournament in San Diego.

MM: What was it that ultimately made you choose UW?

DS: I would say how down to earth Coach Romar was. That pretty much sealed my deal. I went up there and saw the campus and the campus is beautiful, and the school is nice itself. The Pac-10…

But, I think it was just talking to Coach Romar. Just how honest he was. And how down to earth. He wasn’t trying to sell me anything. He was real honest and straightforward with me about everything and he just told me he wasn’t promising me anything and that I had to come in and work. And, if I earned minutes, then I’d get minutes. As honest as he was with me, I respected that a whole lot. And, I heard a lot of good things about Romar prior to going up to visit, and people were telling me a ton of stuff about how great of a coach he is and just how good of a person he is. And, when I met him, he was everything that everybody told me. So, he wasn’t just giving me a bunch of hot air.

MM: Did you feel that there were others during the recruiting process that were maybe more “full of hot air”? Or, making promises they might not be able to keep?

DS: I mean, I felt that most of the coaches I was talking to were pretty sincere. I was talking to Oregon State for a while. And, Coach (Nate) Pomeday and Coach Robinson, they seemed real sincere about what they were talking about. I don’t think they were just blowing smoke up my butt. But, I think that I got a better vibe from Coach Romar than the other coaches I had met with.

MM: I’ve heard that this summer in AAU ball was a little bit of a mixed bag for you. There were times you played really well, and times you struggled a little too. Tell me a little about how you feel the summer went and how your game progressed.

DS: I played probably more on the wing than I ever have in my AAU career. So, there were ups and downs with that, because I’m still learning, still currently learning, how to become a wing player. So, you know, I mean I played a lot on the wing this year, so there were a lot of kinks I needed to work out. A lot of things I learned from myself sometimes the hard way that, y’know… Things like making plays from the wing, things like that. So, it was kind of an up-and-down… I had some ups and downs in some tournaments this year. And, probably just because of playing on the wing more than I ever have before, so it was something new.

MM: Are you going to play on the wing for your high school team this year?

DS: I’ll play on the wing, probably, all year.

MM: Is that a decision you make with your coach with an eye on your future?

DS: Me and my coach have discussed it. My freshman year, going into Salesian High School, we had discussed that eventually I was going to work my way to the wing. Last year, he intended to play me on the wing more, but I ended up playing in the post more than on the wing. Next year, we’re going to focus on me playing on the wing in practice, and during the season. It was also something about, since I was going to Washington next year, I would have to get used to playing on the wing, so it wouldn’t do me any good playing in the post my senior year and then heading to Washington to play on the wing.

Thanks for coming!

There’s been a lot of focus lately on which of the still-uncommited top basketball players the Huskies might entice to come to UW, so it’s been easy to forget that we’ve got one guy we know is coming to Montlake in 2010.

Desmond Simmons is a 6’7″ forward from Salesian High School in the Bay Area. We were thrilled to catch up with him recently and talk basketball, UW, and about some of the difficulty he had during AAU ball this summer. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to get the whole interview, but here’s part I:

Montlake Madness: Introduce yourself to the Husky fans. We want to know more about you.

Desmond Simmons: On the court, I play really hard. A lot of energy. Dive for loose balls, rebounding, crashing. A lot of energy. Off the court, I would say I’m a pretty laid-back kind of mellow person. A lot of people say I’m a mellow kind of guy. That’s me off-the-court — just a real chill person.

MM: What do you like to do when you’re not playing ball?

DS: I listen to a lot of music. I like all kinds of music. I like to draw. I’ve been drawing since I was little. It’s a big hobby of mine.

MM: What kind of stuff do you draw?

DS: I draw a lot of cartoon characters. Sometimes I draw pictures of sports players, like I take a picture of an actual athlete and I just draw it out on a big poster board or something.

MM: What college or pro player does your game resemble the most?

DS: Some people tell me, I would say, someone like Boris Diaw, an inside-out kind of guy with range. I guess Boris Diaw to some extent.

MM: Are you more of a post player or a wing man? I know Boris Diaw is kind of a hybrid, but where do you think you fit in on the Huskies?

DS: Kind of like Boris, a little bit of both: inside and out. Most of my basketball career, I’ve been playing the post, but the last, I would say, since freshman and sophomore year, I’ve been getting out on the wing more. So, I mean, for the Huskies, I would be, uh, a guard with multiple positions. So, I could probably guard some posts, guard some guys on the wing. Play some post, play some wing. A little bit of both.

MM: Have you watched Quincy Pondexter play much?

DS: Yes.

MM: So, compare your games, since you’ll be coming in after he’s leaving. I know some people are going to hope you come in and fill a similar role to some degree.

DS: Well, Quincy Pondexter is an exceptional player. I like his game a lot, because he also goes inside-out. And so, I guess, his mid-range and my mid-range are kind of alike. He has a good mid-range game. I think my mid-range game is pretty decent.

MM: How often are you in touch with coaches or players at UW at this point?

DS: I talk to Coach Romar and Coach Fortier pretty often. I call them up a little bit here and there. I’m in touch with them very frequently. Maybe a couple of times a week. I call Coach Fortier maybe twice per week. He’ll probably give me a call once or twice a week.

MM: Have they given you stuff they want you to focus on between now and next season? Areas of your game they want you to strengthen?

DS: Yeah. They’ve told me to work on getting consistent with my jump shot. Getting consistent where I can knock down open jump shots. And my ball-handling is improving, but making it more sound. Getting bigger, getting stronger. That’s always something you need to work on because you think you’re strong in high school, but when you get to college, it’s a whole different game.

MM: What are you most looking forward to about playing at UW?

DS: I heard the fans are real crazy out there. They get a lot of fan support out there. It’ll be nice to play in front of a big crowd every night (we’re) at home. That’s something to be excited about.

I’m also just looking forward to getting better. Just going to the next level. It’s something exciting itself, y’know, moving on to college, Division I basketball, playing in the Pac-10. Playing against UCLA, USC, Arizona. You know, that’s just really exciting. . .

***

Tomorrow, part II, in which Desmond discusses some of the much-talked-about struggles he had in some of his AAU tournaments this summer.

Thanks for coming!