Tuesday marked the halfway point of the Mid-American Conference season, but the race for freshman of the year is as uncompetitive as a Russian presidential election.
MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher can put the trophy in the mail and send it to Savage Arena in care of Javan Simmons.
The redshirt freshman continued his sterling rookie campaign with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting, pairing his offense with six rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and a team-best plus-minus rating of plus-25 in Toledo’s 88-63 takedown of Western Michigan.
“I think [it’s over], but there are 11 other guys who vote on that,” UT coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “And I only get one vote, and I can’t vote for him.”
The acclaim for Simmons doesn’t come at the detriment of fellow freshmen. Miami (Evan Isparo, Mekhi Cooper, Reece Potter), Buffalo (Ryan Sabol, Anquan Boldin, Jr.), and Eastern Michigan (Arne Osojnik) have first-year players whose resumes put them on the freshman of the year short list. But Simmons is the only one averaging double-figures scoring, and his impact on a team tied for first place significantly elevates his value.
The Gahanna, Ohio, native has started all 21 games for the Rockets (14-7, 8-1) and is averaging 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks. He leads UT with a 58.5 shooting percentage.
“I’d be lying to you if I said [freshman of the year] wasn’t a goal,” Simmons said. “But we’re trying to win a MAC championship. We’re trying to go for four. We’re trying to go to that [NCAA] tourney. That comes before any personal goals.”
Seven Toledo players have been voted the MAC’s freshman of the year, two under Kowalczyk — Juice Brown and Ryan Rollins.
Looking backward doesn’t interest Kowalczyk, but redshirting Simmons has produced a what-if scenario regarding last year’s NCAA tournament. The Rockets opted to sit Simmons in favor of AJ Edu, who was coming off multiple knee injuries. The 6-foot-10 Edu averaged 2.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 12.3 minutes.
In the MAC championship game against Kent State, he had two blocks in 11 minutes and didn’t attempt a shot. The rosters are different and the stakes aren’t comparable but, earlier this month, Simmons had 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting at Kent State, with three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot in a resounding 89-75 win.
“By Christmas, he was clearly a guy who could have helped us,” Kowalczyk said. “But how do you tell his family that we’re just going to give away 13 nonconference games? They matter.”
The redshirt year was “immensely” beneficial for Simmons, according to Kowalczyk. Simmons concurred, as did Ra’Heim Moss, who also redshirted during his first season at Toledo and grew from the experience.
The person Simmons praised for increasing the timeline of his growth might surprise some folks.
“That was the toughest year of my life,” he said. “You practice and work out for games and you’re like, ‘Ahh, I miss this.’ What I love to do was taken away from me. But I also learned from Seth [Millner], JT [Shumate], and AJ.
“AJ Edu doesn’t get enough credit for my development. He taught me how to work out and how to work. He would do his warm up and I would follow him.”
Despite his youth and the veteran presence of Moss, Dante Maddox, Jr., and Tyler Cochran, Simmons is not out of place as a team leader. He plays with emotion, which energizes his teammates (and Savage Arena). Sitting out and observing his older teammates — Kowalczyk encouraged Simmons to quietly tag along with Millner — helped prepare him to lead as a 19-year-old on a MAC title contender.
“He’s very unselfish,” Moss said. “He asks questions. He does what he’s asked. He competes every night. I love that about him.”
Assistant coach Jeff Massey was another source of instruction for Simmons. One of the most valuable bits of advice was training Simmons not to cede any ground in the rough and tumble MAC. When somebody hits you for the first time, Massey told Simmons, they need to know it’s going to be a long night.
“I’m a physical player. That’s what I pride myself on,” Simmons said. “It’s been instilled in me at a young age to be the most physical player and the most dominant player on the court. I see myself as a dominant force.
“Every time I step on the court, no matter who I’m playing, I could be playing against Zach Edey, I’m going to try and dominate him. I don’t know how well it’s going to go, but I’m going to try and impose my will on whoever I want to. I play with a lot of fire and passion.”
In KenPom’s rankings, Simmons has the No. 121 offensive rating in the country. His true shooting percentage is just outside the top 100, and his effective field-goal percentage ranks in the top 150. The 2023-24 season is unfolding better than most could have imagined, even an ultimate competitor like Simmons.
Natural talent can be crossed off the checklist. But wanting desperately to unleash that flair only to spend months battling uphill with no games in sight helped mold Simmons into a fierce, unmistakable force. On the flight home from Northern Illinois last week, with most of the plane sleeping following a long night, Simmons was watching video of practice on his iPhone.
“Javan Simmons is one of the top-five most coachable guys I’ve been around,” Kowalczyk said. “If you tell him one thing, he’s going to put it into action. Some guys think coachability is acknowledging something and not being disrespectful. When you try to change something and they believe in the change and do the change, that’s coachability. Not looking someone in the eye and saying, ‘Yes, sir.’ I couldn’t care less about that.”
Western Michigan coach Dwayne Stephens saw enough of Simmons on Tuesday to make an obvious yet frightful statement.
“He has a chance to be a heck of a player in this league for a long time,” Stephens said.
First Published January 31, 2024, 3:08 a.m.
