Troy Simons (born July 3, 1996) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played college basketball for

Polk State College Polk State College (PSC) is a public college based in Winter Haven, Florida, United States, and is part of the Florida College System. Established in 1964, PSC operates its main campuses in Winter Haven and Lakeland, with additional education c ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, ...

Early life and high school career

Simons grew up in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and attended four high schools: Brashear, University Prep, Imani Christian Academy, and Renaissance Academy Charter School in

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek an ...

. He was a two-sport athlete, playing wide receiver on the football team in addition to basketball. Renaissance Academy Charter School closed during the fall of his senior year. When Simons attempted to transfer back to University Prep, he was ruled ineligible and missed his senior season of basketball. He considered attending prep school at

Montverde Academy Montverde Academy is a private college preparatory school in Montverde, Florida, United States, located in the Greater Orlando area. The school is widely known for its athletic programs, particularly soccer and basketball. History The school ...

, but instead chose

after his mentor Rico Abbondanza sent film to coach Matthew Furjanic Jr.

College career

Simons played two seasons at Polk State. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game as a freshman. As a sophomore, he led the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

in scoring with 26.3 points per game while also posting 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, shooting 41 percent from three-point range. He was named first team All-

Suncoast Conference The Suncoast Conference (SCC), hosted by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), is one of four conferences within Region 8 of the NJCAA. It is composed of four state colleges within the state of Florida, and is administered by ...

and to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII All-State Team and participated in the 2017 NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game. Simons initially committed to Middle Tennessee State before his sophomore season before de-committing and signed with

in March 2017 over offers from

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Due to a communication issue, he changed his commitment to

. Simons scored a season-high 24 points on November 14, 2017, in a 103–71 win against

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. On January 5, 2018, he was issued a one-game suspension by the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

after receiving a technical foul and ejected against

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

. As a junior, Simons averaged 9.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game and led the Lobos with 52 steals. After the season, Simons transferred to

. He posted a season-high 27 points on February 15, 2020, in an 87–72 win against

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Simons averaged 12.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a senior, shooting 39 percent from three-point range.

Professional career

On September 11, 2020, Simons signed his first professional contract with

Tigers Tübingen Tigers Tübingen is a basketball team from Tübingen, a college town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany, playing in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the country's first tier league. Founded as SV 03 Tübingen, is affiliated with the multi-spor ...

of the

ProA The ProA is the German basketball league system, second-tier Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 16 teams. Officially the ProA is part of the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consists of the t ...

. He averaged 11.3 points per game as a rookie. For the 2021–22 season, Simons joined Kharkivski Sokoly of the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) () is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 clubs. It is a tier above the Ukrainian Higher League and allows for o ...

. In February 2022, he left Ukraine and joined the Plymouth City Patriots of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

. Simons re-joined the Plymouth City Patriots for the 2022–23 season, but left the team in January 2023 to play out the season with

U.D. Oliveirense União Desportiva Oliveirense (UDO), commonly known as Oliveirense, is a Portugal, Portuguese sports club from the city of Oliveira de Azeméis, in Aveiro District. The club was founded on 25 October 1922. The main football (soccer), football te ...

of the Portuguese League. In January 2024, Simons joined

Killester Killester () is a small residential suburb of Dublin, Ireland on the Northside of the city in the Dublin 3 and Dublin 5 postal districts. It was the site of a church and convent or monastery centuries ago, and later a small village developed. ...

of the Irish

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. He helped the team reach the Super League final in April 2024 and was named to the All-Star Third Team. He averaged 21 points per game.

References

External links

Kent State Golden Flashes bioNew Mexico Lobos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Troy 1996 births Living people American men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Ireland American expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine Basketball players from Pittsburgh Shooting guards Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Polk State College alumni Plymouth City Patriots players New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball players Tigers Tübingen players 21st-century American sportsmen