West Texas A&M University Athletics

From 1967-69, Simmons played the No. 1 singles position at West Texas A&M and was the Buffaloes team captain before earning his undergraduate degree.  Simmons, an Amarillo native and a New Braunfels resident since 2008, is a 1964 Palo Duro High School graduate. He was the 1965 Globe-News male tennis player of the year, after a strong college debut at AJC. He reached the finals of the Western Junior College singles and doubles draws, falling in the singles final to defending champion Robert Rivera of national JUCO champion Odessa JC.
 
He was inducted into the prestigious ITA College Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998 as the young coach inducted into the HOF. He was named ITA NCAA Coach of the Year in 1988 and coached LSU for 15 seasons with 13 NCAA appearances and a 278-105 record.  Simmons reached the Elite Eight five times and was SEC champions in 1985, while earning SEC Coach of the Year honors twice (1988, 1997).  He was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
To his credit, he had 37 All-SEC honorees, 24 All-Americans, 19 Academic All-Americans, one NCAA singles champion (1989) and an impressive 128-42 record in SEC play, along with an all-time record of 492-197 in 26 years of coaching.