Eastern Illinois head coach Matt Bollant is quickly building his coaching staff a day after landing two recruits for the 2017-18 season. A former recruit is the first hire for Bollant as he welcomes Kyley Simmons to the Panthers women’s basketball staff.
Simmons played at Illinois under Bollant averaging 12.3 points, 3.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds as a senior. She started all 30 games for the Illini and ranked fifth in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made. She was a recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2015. Simmons began her collegiate playing career at Missouri where she earned Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors in 2012. She started all 31 games as a freshman for the Tigers and led the team in assists with 111.
Last season Simmons began her coaching career at the University of Sioux Falls working for coach Travis Traphagen. She helped coach the team to a 22-8 record including advancing to the Northern Southern Intercollegiate Conference Championship game. A talented young recruiter, Simmons helped land one of the top classes in the NSIC for the 2017-18 season with nine recruits.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in food science and nutrition from Illinois in 2016. A native of Brookings, S.D., Simmons also lived in both Sioux City Iowa, and Red Oak, Iowa before graduating from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She set the Lewis Central HS record for career assists, season points and assists along with single game points and assists. She was third all-time in school history in career steals and points. She was named to the Iowa All-State team and All-District teams.
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