Simmons is Ivy Bound
Lost amidst the shuffle of a busy weekend that featured both the HoopHall Classic as well as a pair of BABC events was that Mass Rivals forward and former Cushing Academy product Jarrod Simmons had committed to the University of Pennsylvania.
Simmons spent three seasons at Cushing before returning home to Pittsburgh where he is currently spending his senior season at Area Moon High School. As a junior, he was instrumental in the Penguins' run back to the finals as he established himself as one of the most improved big men in the region.
He was also part of the Rivals team that won four different championships this summer, including both the Adidas Gauntlet Finale as well as the Adidas Invitational, finishing a perfect 22-0 in tournament play.
Simmons earned scholarship offers from the likes of Texas, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Providence, Temple and others during the course of his high school career but ultimately his final list consisted primarily of Ivy League schools as he was intent to pursue the best education possible.
He is the fourth player to commit to Penn in the class of 2017, joining a pair of Team Takeover perimeter products in Jelani Williams and Eddie Scott, as well as 7-foot-3 center Mark Jackson. The Quakers, led by former Boston College head coach Steve Donahue, have plenty of New England roots on the roster as A.J. Brodeur has established himself as one of the best frehmen in the Ivy League this year while other former NMH grads Collin McManus and Jackson Donahue are also on board along with Cheshire Academy alum Ray Jerome and former New Hampton School forward Max Rothschild.
The Mass Rivals 2017 class now has players committed to UConn, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Penn, Brown, Yale, and Franklin Pierce.