When you pursue a five-star prospect, the first in-person experience on campus has to be impactful to keep yourself front and center in the recruit’s thoughts as he goes through an intense and long recruiting process. When Duncanville (Tex.) asked about his unofficial visit over the weekend at ASU, the top 2024 EDGE prospect and the No. 1 Lone Star State recruit in his class was effusive with his praise.
“I loved it,” Simmons said of his Arizona State visit. “Honestly, like, the whole vibe out here is just amazing, and I had fun. I liked how real the coaching staff was and how they understand kids in college and kids in high school. They really get to know you as a person and show what kind of connections they have with us in the relationship that they build…it really stands out.
“Everything they told me I was going to see before I came on a visit was there… with the mountains, what I was going to see on the campus, see with the team, and the coaches, the facilities, and the diversity are all true, and that just meant a lot.”
The highly energetic pace of practice under new head coach Kenny Dillingham is impossible to overlook. This element isn’t only pleasing for those in attendance or fans watching videos to observe but also resonates with recruits such as Simmons. The level of sincerity he experienced with Dillingham was also a powerful aspect of his time in Tempe.
“They have fun,” Simmons remarked. “They get to work, but they have fun. They enjoy practice, and it’s not straight seriousness all the time. I really like how the coaches are pushing their players in practice.
“Everything he (Dillingham) told me was real. One of the main things that he told me was, ‘go somewhere where you play and also have fun. Go somewhere where you really can see yourself for the next three or four years.’ And he also told me that if everything doesn’t go as planned, or if everything does go as planned, and I want a different scene and go have fun somewhere else, that ASU would always be there for me. Even if I commit somewhere else, ASU is still going to be there.”
Last year Simmons was named a MaxPreps First Team All-American selection and was voted Texas Sportswriters Association Class 6A Defensive Player of the Year. He was an integral part in leading Duncanville High School to a perfect 15-0 mark and notching their first Texas 6A Division 1 championship since 1998. As a junior, Simmons collected 79 tackles, including 33 tackles-for-loss and 22.5 sacks.
"The (ASU) coaches like everything about my game, and they said I can come in and make an impact my freshman year," Simmons remarked. "I'm explosive. quick on my feet, I use my hands well, I have elusiveness…I feel like I got everything in my bag, and I'm a playmaker in my position. But this year, I want to improve on everything and better myself every day."
Perhaps no facet in his recruitment with the Sun Devils is greater than his connection with ASU's wide receivers coach Ra'Shaad Samples, the son of Simmons' Duncanville High School head coach Reginald Samples. Therefore the relationship between the two is anything but novel or one that began just because of the fact that the younger Samples, who was on the LA Rams' staff this year, is now a part of the Arizona State staff.
"I've known the Samples family since middle school," Simmons noted. "So there's always been that part. Coach (Ra'Shaad) Samples understands us as kids, he understands us as football players, and he's young himself, so he understands where we're coming from. He understands our moods, attitudes, and how we act. He knows everything about us."
Simmons admitted that it's hard to name all the schools that are recruiting him the hardest aside from ASU, but he mentioned LSU, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, and Auburn as some of the primary schools that he was taking a hard look at. He said that he isn't close to narrowing down the handful of colleges he will take an official visit to, but when asked if he would consider taking another unofficial visit to ASU, he replied: "For sure, I will be back there soon."
While Simmons doesn't have a timetable for when he will announce his pledge to the school of his choice, he does have a clear set of aspects he will consider.
"I want to go somewhere where I can see myself for the next three or four years," Simmons says. "I want to go somewhere where I can graduate. I don't want to have to come back to school and graduate later."
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