Game Watched: vs Shawnee, January 4th

The unsigned senior was a force to be reckoned with her strong performance in a double overtime victory for Rogers.  She consistently showed her great touch around the rim with quality finishing. When she got established down low and the defender sealed on her back, it felt like an automatic two points for the senior. Simmons was also active on the offensive glass, using her height and strength advantage to either tip rebounds to herself or outmuscling the opponent for positioning.  In the second overtime, she scored the late go ahead bucket that helped the Lady Ropers to a victory.

I’ve written about Nellie several times before, but the fact that she’s heading into her senior season at Will Rogers and hasn’t found a home at the next level yet is borderline criminal. She is a phenomenal big who moves well and has really soft hands for receiving the ball inside. She uses her size well to get position and keep defenders off of the ball while she gets in position and almost always scores. Despite her size, she gets up and down the court well and when used properly by a coach that’s a good game manager, she will be a game changer for some team. She has plenty of skills under the rim and can even step out and shoot on occasion. Simmons is a prospect and somebody needs to take the opportunity to offer her very soon.