NCAA Riches to NBA Rags: No. 5, Lionel Simmons
NCAA Riches to NBA Rags is The Dagger's countdown of the best college basketball players who went on to have disappointing NBA careers. For an explanation of the criteria used in compiling this list, check out our introductory entry. Today we reach No. 6: Lionel Simmons of LaSalle.
On a list of famous Lionels, former LaSalle star Lionel Simmons would be far down the rankings, below Ritchie, Messi, Barrymore and even Hutz. A majority of college basketball fans under 30 have probably never heard his name. A majority of college basketball fans over 30 have probably long forgotten it. But in 1990, Lionel Simmons was the best player in the land.
As a senior, Simmons was the consensus national player of the year after leading LaSalle to a 30-2 record and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. (They lost in the second round to Clemson.) The L-Train, as he was known, led the country in scoring that season and finished his career as the third most prolific scorer in NCAA history (behind only Pete Maravich and Freeman Williams). He still holds the NCAA record for most consecutive games scoring in double figures (115). And only five players had more rebounds than his 1,429.
LaSalle hasn't made the NCAA tournament since the year after Simmons graduated, but the Explorers have a rich basketball tradition going back to its national title in 1954. Simmons was the third LaSalle player to win national player of the year honors, which ties the Big 5 school for third all-time behind Duke and Ohio State (and tied, amazingly, with UCLA).
Simmons went No. 7 in the 1990 NBA draft and had a solid start to his career with Sacramento, earning all-Rookie honors and averaging over 15 points per game in his first four years in the league. But injuries killed his production and by 1997 he was out of the NBA.
NCAA Riches to NBA Rags countdown:
No. 6 -- Juan Dixon
No. 7 -- Billy Owens
No. 8 -- J.R. Reid
No. 9 -- Adam Morrison
No. 10 -- Danny Ferry
