Oakdale, NY- Connie Simmons of the
Dowling CollegeWomen's Basketball team was recently the topic of a
feature article by Dylan Butler on the New York Post website.
See the article below or follow the link HERE
:
-Dylan Butler, New York Post Online, 2/11/10
Every time she steps on the basketball court, every time her name is mentioned over the public address system at Dowling College, Connie Simmons is honoring her grandfather's legacy.
Before there was Kobe Bryant, before there was LeBron James, even before there was Moses Malone, there was Connie Simmons.
Simmons is the second player to ever make the jump from high school to the NBA, making the leap from Forest Hills HS in 1946.
The 6-foot-8 forward had planned to play at Holy Cross with Bob Cousy, but instead he joined his brother, Johnny, on the Boston Celtics. He averaged 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in a 10-year career that also included stints with the New York Knicks, Baltimore Bullets, Syracuse Nationals and Rochester Royals. He won titles with the Bullets (1948) and Nationals (1955) and reached the finals three times with the Knicks (1951-53).
And now his granddaughter is keeping his name alive.
"I've got to follow that tradition," the Dowling guard said. "It's really cool. It's nice to look up to that and try to follow in his footsteps."
Connie never saw her grandfather play, in fact never met him because he died on April 15, 1989, three years before she was born.
Instead the versatile 5-foot-10 freshman has been introduced to her grandfather through tapes, books and visited a display at the Basketball Hall of Fame that included her grandfather's memorabilia.
But her biggest thrill was playing in an AAU event at Forest Hills last year.
"I told her that the last time a Connie Simmons played on this court it was something special and she wound up having 30 points that game," Connie's father, Neil, said. "She kept the name going."
"It was one of the best games I've ever had," Connie added. "It was exciting."
Connie Simmons is an old-fashioned basketball player, much like her grandfather of the same name,
Like her grandfather, Connie has won a championship, leading Syosset HS to the Class AA Section 8 title last year. She scored 1,145 points in her high school career, living in the same house her grandfather bought when he was traded to the Knicks in 1949.
According to Neil, a coach with the Long Island Lightning, Connie has some of her grandfather's attributes.
"She gives 110 percent, she's tough and doesn't back down, she creates for herself and her teammates," he said. "She likes old school basketball."
Dowling coach Joe Pellicane knows a thing or two about old school basketball. He grew up playing in the parks of Brooklyn where "if you lost, you sat for two hours to get back in the game."
"Connie is one of those kids - she's tough, she's smart, she's a basketball player," said Pellicane, who played for Frank Layden at Dowling. "For me, being an old school guy, that's the highest compliment I can give you."
Simmons is enjoying a stellar freshman year with the Golden Lions. She is averaging eight points and 4.4 rebounds per game, starting 11 of the 19 games she has played. She has aspirations of following in her father's footsteps, playing professionally and keeping the Connie Simmons name alive.
"I fit into his style of basketball," Connie said. "I'm not the quickest, the strongest or the tallest, but I know how to play the game."
She should, it's in her blood.
