Jennie Simms
Personal information
Born (1994-04-21) April 21, 1994 (age 29)
Accokeek, Maryland, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Israel
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Career information
High schoolRiverdale Baptist School
(Upper Marlboro, Maryland)
College
WNBA draft2017: 2nd round, 18th overall pick
Selected by the Washington Mystics
Playing career2017–present
PositionGuard
Number25
Career history
2017Washington Mystics
2017Indiana Fever
2017Hapoel Petah Tikva
2017-2018Elitzur Ramla
2018-2019Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
2019-2020Nissan Al-Qazeres Extremadura
2020-2021A.S. Ramat Hasharon
2022-2023Phoenix Mercury
2023-presentElitzur Ramla
2023Washington Mystics
Career highlights and awards
  • AP Honorable Mention All-American (2017)
  • Conference USA Player of the Year (2017)
  • 3x First Team All-Conference USA (2015, 2016, 2017)
  • 3x Conference USA All-Tournament Team (2015, 2016, 2017)
  • Conference USA Newcomer of the Year (2015)

Jennie Simms (born April 21, 1994) is an American -Israeli professional basketball player who plays for the Israel women's national basketball team. She played college basketball for 3 seasons at Old Dominion and 1 season at West Virginia. Simms was drafted by the Washington Mystics of the WNBA in the 2017 WNBA draft. She has played for the Mystics, Indiana Fever, and the Phoenix Mercury.

College career

West Virginia

Simms was rated as the 87th overall incoming recruit by ESNPU HoopGurlz 100 and committed to play for West Virginia.[1] Simms played in 8 games for the Mountaineers during her freshman year and averaged 3.1 points. Her last game was on December 4, 2012. She ultimately decided to transfer from West Virginia stating that "I was really miserable there. I was homesick, and it made me get sick."[2]

Old Dominion

Simms decided to transfer to Old Dominion and sat out the 2013–2014 season due to NCAA Transfer Rules.[3]

During her first season competing at ODU, Simms was named the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year.[4] Simms was a scoring threat for the Monarchs. She dropped 45 points against Florida International.[5] She finished the 14–15 season averaging 19.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.

In the 2015–16 season, Simms continued to be a tough player for other teams. Simms became the 6th player in ODU history to score 1,000 career points in just two season.[6] She also led the entire league in scoring at 22.2 points, while also finishing in 5th for overall field goal percentage at .460.[7] Simms was suspended from the team in late November after an incident involving another teammate during a tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and was reinstated in late December.[8] Simms was named to the C-USA All-Conference First Team for the 2nd year in a row for her efforts.

In her senior season, Simms increased all her major statistical categories. She averaged 26.0 points, 8.0 points, and 4.2 assists. Simms was named the C-USA Player of the Year, becoming the first ODU player to win the award since 2002.[9] Simms' scoring continued to increase, as she was the 2nd leading scorer in the entire nation. Her scoring average of 26.0 broke a ODU school record previously held by Anne Donovan since 1980–1981.[10]

College statistics

Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 West Virginia 8 25 .333 .429 1.000 1.6 0.4 0.4 0.1 3.1
2013–14 Old Dominion Redshirt
2014–15 Old Dominion 34 657 .426 .388 .695 8.1 2.4 1.1 0.7 19.3
2015–16 Old Dominion 31 663 .430 .277 .715 6.7 3.6 1.5 0.7 21.4
2016–17 Old Dominion 31 806 .474 .382 .796 8.0 4.2 1.6 0.7 21.4
Career 104 2151 .443 .351 .741 7.1 3.2 1.3 0.7 20.7

Professional career

Washington Mystics

In the 2017 WNBA draft, Simms was taken 18th overall by the Washington Mystics.[11] Simms played in 10 career games for the Mystics in 2017, scoring a high of 4 points on June 9, 2017, against the Minnesota Lynx. On July 27, 2017, the Mystics waived Simms from their roster.[12][13]

Indiana Fever

In August 2017, the Indiana Fever signed Simms to help out as they were down multiple players to injury.[14] Simms played in 4 games to finish out the 2017 season with the Fever. She scored a new high of 9 points against Minnesota.

Simms re-signed with the Fever as a training camp contract for the 2018 season, but ultimately didn't make the team and was waived on May 4, 2018.[15][16]

Phoenix Mercury

Simms since a training camp deal with the Phoenix Mercury on March 18, 2022.[17] She was cut just before the 2022 season opener, but was brought back on a Hardship Contract, as the Mercury were missing players due to injury and Overseas commitments.[18][19] On May 10, 2022, Simms was released from the hardship contract. Simms returned to the Mercury on June 9, 2022, on another hardship contract.[20] She was released from her hardship on June 23, 2022, after Sophie Cunningham returned from her injury. She was once again brought back on June 27, 2022, when the Mercury signed her again.[21]

Simms went to the training camp with the Mercury for the 2023 season, but was ultimately cut during camp and did not make the team.[22] Simms returned to the Mercury on June 22, 2023, when she signed a hardship contract.[23] Sims was released on July 20, 2023 from the Mercury.[24]

Washington Mystics

Simms returned to the Mystics in 2023, after signing a 7-Day Contract on August 13, 2023.[25] Simms was released from her hardship contract on August 17, 2023.

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017 Washington 10 0 5.0 .167 .000 .800 1.1 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.3 1.2
Indiana 4 0 13.5 .308 .333 .500 1.3 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.8 2.8
2022 Phoenix 23 4 13.2 .476 .211 .789 2.2 0.9 0.5 0.0 1.0 3.4
2023 Phoenix 6 0 11.7 .286 .000 .714 2.2 0.5 0.3 0.0 1.0 2.2
Career 2 year, 3 teams 43 4 11.1 .392 .182 .763 1.9 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.8 2.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2022 Phoenix 2 2 24.5 .267 .200 .200 3.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 5.5
Career 1 year, 1 team 2 2 24.5 .267 .200 .200 3.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 5.5

References

  1. ^ "2012 Women's College Basketball Team Recruiting Rankings". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  2. ^ Johnson, Dave (19 February 2017). "Love of Basketball: Forget the numbers, Jennie Simms is having fun". dailypress.com. Daily Press. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Minium, Harry (2 June 2013). "ODU gets big in recruiting with transfer from WVU". pilotonline.com. Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  4. ^ "Jennie Simms Named Conference USA Newcomer of the Year". odusports.com. ODU Athletics. 9 March 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  5. ^ "Jennie Simms makes history with 45 points in 80-67 ODU win at FIU". augustafreepress.com. Augusta Free Press. 30 January 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  6. ^ "Jennie Simms". odusports.com. ODU Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  7. ^ "2015-2016 Women's Basketball Conference Statistics". conferenceusa.com. C-USA. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  8. ^ Minium, Harry (8 March 2016). "ODU's Jennie Simms overcame suspension, emerged as a dominant player and team leader". pilotonline.com. The Virginian Pilot. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "Jennie Simms is C-USA player of they year". 13newsnow.com. 13NewsNow. 6 March 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  10. ^ "ODU's Jennie Simms named C-USA Player of the YEear". pilotonline.com. The Virginia Pilot. 6 March 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  11. ^ "Jennie Simms Selected by Washington Mystics in WNBA Draft". odusports.com. ODU Athletics. 13 April 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  12. ^ "2017 Draft Pick, Guard Jennie Simms Waived". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  13. ^ Staff, BF (28 July 2017). "Mystics waive Jennie Sims". bulletsforever.com. SB Nation. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  14. ^ Steinberg, Russell (21 August 2017). "WNBA injury news: Indiana Fever lose Briann January for season, sign Jennie Simms". highposthoops.com. High Post Hoops. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  15. ^ Dull, Ben (6 February 2018). "Indiana Fever re-sign Jennifer Hamson and Jennie Simms". highposthoops.com. High Post Hoops. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  16. ^ "Jennie Simms Waived by Fever". fever.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  17. ^ "MERCURY ADDS FOUR PLAYERS TO TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  18. ^ "Former UA standout Sam Thomas makes Phoenix Mercury roster; season opens Friday". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. 3 May 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  19. ^ "Arizona Digest: Mercury sign Emma Cannon and Jennie Simms to replacement contracts". azcentral.com. Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  20. ^ Phoenix Mercury [@PhoenixMercury] (June 9, 2022). "The Phoenix Mercury has signed Jennie Simms to a hardship contract. She will be available for tomorrow night's game" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "Phoenix Mercury sign forward Reshanda Gray, guard Jennie Simms". Arizona Sports. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  22. ^ @phoenixmercury (May 18, 2023). "The Phoenix Mercury has waived Sam Thomas and Jennie Simms" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ @phoenixmercury (June 22, 2023). "Roster Update: The Phoenix Mercury has signed guard Jennie Simms and waived guard Evina Westbrook, the team announced today" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ @phoenixmercury (July 20, 2023). "The Phoenix Mercury has signed forward Liz Dixon to a seven-day contract and waived guard Jennie Simms, the team announced today" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ @WashMystics (August 13, 2023). "Roster Update: We have signed Jennie Simms to a hardship contract! Welcome back! #BallOnOurTerms" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links

2017 WNBA draft
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