Simmons climbing toward fifth star
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- One of the fast rising prospects in the class of 2016 is Kobi Simmons. Currently a four-star prospect, the rising junior is on the fast track to five-star status.
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After a strong sophomore season at Alpharetta (Ga.) St. Francis, the 6-foot-5 Simmons has taken his show on the road during the grassroots season. Whether with his summer team the Atlanta Celtics or at national camps like last weekend's NBPA Top 100, Simmons has outplayed his No. 28 overall national ranking.
"It has gone to a new level," Simmons said about his game. "After high school, I came out and saw where everybody was. I thought I could do better and I came out and put the work in and have kind of blown it out. I'm going to keep working my way to the top and not stopping."
Simmons has always been an outstanding open floor player who can finish in transition or attack off the dribble. His jumper has gotten more consistent and he has also improved his distributing.
"I have a better IQ and get my teammates more involved now," said Simmons. "I'm getting stronger, I'm knocking down more shots and I'm finishing more in the lane."
Because of his size, Simmons can slide off the ball and play as a ball-handling shooting guard. But, he feels most comfortable with the ball in his hands and feels that the schools recruiting him have a good sense for that.
"Mainly schools just want me to get there," Simmons said. "They know I play point guard, though, and they know I'm a scoring guard. All the coaches accept that I'm a scoring guard but they think I have a high IQ too."
With interest coming in from all across the country, Simmons says that he doesn't yet have a defined list of programs. He said he has spoken with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Missouri about fitting in some visits before he begins his junior year of high school and that the Kansas visit could happen before June ends.
Outside of that, Simmons is taking it very easy with his recruitment and is in no rush to make any kind of college choice.
"We have little conversations here and there with what (my parents) think about the schools," Simmons said. "But we won't really know until we start to get where we can narrow it down and take official visits."
Eric Bossi is the national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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