Corey Simms Season 2004-05
#21Achievements
Selected to Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2004) by league sports writers
Outlook
After three solid seasons, senior Corey Simms looks to take his game to another level in 2004-05. Considered the Huskers' top man-to-man defender, Simms has made a name for himself throughout the Big 12 by shutting down opponents' top scorers.
While his defensive presence has already been established, Simms continues to expand his offensive game. Simms, who worked hard during the offseason to make a significant improvement in his shooting percentage, hopes to see his offensive numbers make a dramatic rise in 2004-05.
At 6-5, 205 pounds, Simms' size and strength provide a sturdy foundation for his slashing style to get to the basket. Also a tenacious rebounder, Simms provides the Huskers with a unique mix, as he played significant minutes on the wing and also saw some time at forward as a junior.
Along with his solid play, Simms' durability has helped him play in 88 career games over the past three seasons, including 39 starts. He leads all returning Huskers in games played, as he has seen action in all but one game during his career.
2004 Australian Summer Tour
Simms was productive for the Huskers as he averaged 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He averaged 13.5 points over the final two contests, when he combined to hit 12-of-15 attempts from the floor including a 7-for-7 effort in the first meeting with Cairns. He added 13 points and eight boards in the final game of the tour and finished hitting a team-best 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field.
2003-04 (Junior)
Simms continued his strong play as a junior when he started 13 contests and saw action in all 31 games while averaging 20.4 minutes per game. He contributed 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and hit a solid 45.4 percent from the field, one of eight regulars to average better than 45 percent shooting. Simms added 39 assists, 20 steals and nine blocked shots.
Simms solidified his reputation as one of NU’s strongest defenders as he routinely came off the bench during league play and forced opponents out of their game plan with his physical defensive play. Utilizing his strength and footwork, Simms' defensive ability helped him earn All-Bench Team honors as one of the league’s top reserves. He was also named NU’s top defender for the second straight season by his teammates.
Like the previous year, Simms came off the bench to start 2003-04 but quickly made his way into the top five. He started the second game of the year against Eastern Michigan and remained in the starting lineup for 13 contests, helping NU to a 9-4 record when on the floor for the opening tip.
Simms’ effort against Eastern Michigan was his best of the season. He paced NU to a 67-59 victory by adding 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds in a season-high 33 minutes. It was Simms’ first career double-double and second career double-digit rebound effort, and was one of three times during the campaign that he led the team in rebounding.
In the Huskers’ next contest against Arizona State, Simms came back with a 13-point, six-rebound effort while hitting 4-of-5 shots from the floor and 5-of-9 from the charity stripe. It was one of five contests that Simms hit at least four field goals in a game and one of 13 games where he at least 50 percent from the field. He added a career-high four steals against the Sun Devils, one of five games with multiple steals.
Simms’ 20 steals ranked fourth on the squad and marked his second straight season with at least 20 thefts. He tied for the team lead with at least one steal in five straight games, including three consecutive contests with at least two steals.
On the boards, Simms’ production was slightly down from his sophomore campaign but he still managed to rank fifth on the squad. Simms had at least five boards in nine contests and tied for second on the team with 42 offensive rebounds.
Simms picked up eight boards against South Florida to go along with seven points, two steals and two assists. It was the third time in the season's first four games that Simms had at least two assists and one of 10 times on the year. Simms had a season-high four assists without a turnover in the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. He also added four assists against Lipscomb.
In Nebraska’s biggest non-conference home win of the year, Simms poured in 12 points with five boards, two assists and a blocked shot while helping the Huskers to a 15-point victory over Tennessee. He hit all five of his attempts from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line while picking up one of his five double-figure scoring games on the year.
After a solid effort in non-league play, Simms’ offensive production tailed off at the beginning of Big 12 action. Over the first four conference games, Simms hit just 1-of-17 attempts from the floor, but he rebounded to hit 50.0 percent (15-of-30) over the final 12 league tilts. Simms’ best effort in Big 12 play came at home against Kansas State when he recorded 10 points and six rebounds, both conference season highs.
Simms rounded back into top form in the postseason. Including NU’s first-round game at the conference tournament and three NIT contests, Simms hit 14-of-26 field-goal attempts (53.9 percent) to end the year while averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in the final four contests. He picked up a season-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Oklahoma at the league tourney and added seven points, five boards, two assists and two steals in a home NIT win over Niagara.
2002-03 (Sophomore)
Simms made his first career start in NU's third game of the season and was in the opening lineup in 26 of NU's 30 games. Simms finished the season averaging 7.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 30.7 minutes per game. He was one of only three players on the squad to average at least 30 minutes per game, while finishing second on the team with 891 minutes played.
Defensively, Simms was third on the squad with 23 steals and eight blocked shots, including five in league action. His effort on the defensive side of the court led to his teammates voting him NU's outstanding defender in 2003. He also dished out 39 assists against 45 turnovers, the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9-to-1) among those Huskers who played at least 20 games.
Simms' improvement from his rookie campaign was immense, as he more than doubled his first season's scoring and rebounding totals. He hit 46.1 percent from the floor for the year and better than 50 percent from the field in 14 contests. Simms was third on the team in rebounding ? and first among guards ? after recording 15 games with at least five boards. He chipped in a career-high 10 rebounds at South Florida and had three other contests with at least eight rebounds.
Simms ended the non-conference slate on a solid note, scoring double-figure points in three straight games, and averaged 3.0 assists per game over the last five contests before Big 12 play. Simms ended the non-league schedule with a career-best 20 points against Lipscomb, and finished the season with seven double-figure scoring efforts. He set career highs with eight field goals and 12 field-goal attempts against the Bisons and nearly made it a double-double by collecting nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
During conference action, Simms' productivity went down a bit, as he was required to do more defensively. He still averaged 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds while leading the team in field-goal percentage at 43.2 percent. His playing time also went up during the league portion of the schedule, as he logged 31.1 minutes per game, third-highest on the team.
Simms scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting at Iowa State for his best scoring night in league play. He also had 10 points against Texas A&M and 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor against Texas.
2001-02 (Freshman)
Simms was one of just two true freshmen to play in all 28 contests, but he did not make a start. He averaged 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds during the season as one of the first Huskers off the bench.
Simms found plenty of playing time early in the year, as he recorded at least 13 minutes of action in each of the first nine games. He hit 48.6 percent (17-of-35) from the floor in those nine contests, but was limited to just 36.7 percent (29-of-79) for the year.
Simms had one of his best all-around games against UT-San Antonio with nine points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and one assist. On the road, he helped the Huskers to a victory over Texas A&M by scoring a season-high 10 points while continually drawing fouls driving to the basket. He capitalized by hitting 8-of-10 attempts from the charity stripe.
High School
Playing for Normandy High School under coach Malcolm Hill, Simms averaged 22 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.1 steals per contest as a senior, earning first-team Class 4A all-state and all-metro accolades. Simms earned St. Louis Suburban North Conference Player-of-the-Year honors following his junior and senior seasons and was tabbed a second-team All-American by Street and Smith’s following his senior campaign.
A strong defender, Simms was third in his conference in blocked shots while leading the Vikings to a 24-3 record during his senior season. He scored a personal-best 42 points in a contest as a senior.
During summer AAU league play, Simms averaged 19 points per game while helping the St. Louis Eagles to an impressive 38-4 record and a third-place finish at the national tournament. Simms was selected to play in the Missouri Hall of Fame Game and the public vs. private schools all-star game following his senior season.
Simms was named a scholar-athlete at his high school after lettering four times in basketball and three times in football, and regularly placing on the school honor roll.
Personal
Corey is the son of Latonia and Kenny Dallas and has one sister, Candice. He was born on March 17, 1983. He is majoring in sociology at Nebraska and is on pace to graduate in May 2005. He chose Nebraska after receiving interest from Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.
Career Highs
Points 20 vs. Lipscomb (1/7/03)
Field goals 8 vs. Lipscomb (1/7/03)
Three-point field goals 2 vs. Savannah State (1/2/02)
Rebounds 10 two times (last vs. Eastern Michigan 11/29/03)
Assists 5 vs. Eastern Washington (12/31/02)
Steals 4 vs. Arizona State (12/3/03)
Blocks 3 vs. Texas-San Antonio (11/28/01)
Minutes played 41 vs. Colorado (1/18/03)