Kobi Simmons has now completed his official visits, but has not set a date for his announcement.
The 6-foot-5 lead guard is coming off a weekend official to Ohio State after visiting Kentucky and UNLV. Georgia is also in the mix.
“”He was so surprised with UNLV, he loved it,” Demond Stephens, the player’s father, told Bill Landis of Northeast Ohio Media Group. “He loved Ohio State, he’s been in love with them forever. Kentucky is Kentucky, who doesn’t love that? There’s no rush, you don’t have to tell anybody a date. If you wake up tomorrow and say this is it, or if you wake up Oct. 3 and say this is it. I don’t want him setting a date because that can make you make a decision that may not be natural.”
Ohio State broke out all the stops for Simmons’ visit, bringing in D’Angelo Russell, Evan Turner, Michael Redd, Mike Conley and Norris Cole for the football team’s win over Hawaii, according to Landis. Russell was the No. 2 pick in the recent NBA Draft by the Lakers.
“No that’s not normal,” Stephens said. “I’ve been coaching and mentoring children for 18 years, and I always tell Kobi, one thing that is more valuable than where somebody goes and how successful they are is do they call you back for their marriage, their college graduation? After they’ve gone on, do they still even talk to you?
“There’s places where once kids go on, they go on and they never come back. The biggest compliment to me as a coach or mentor is when your kids want to come back and be around you, that’s a huge compliment. I was so impressed, and I don’t really think it was all about us because those people have been there working and training. That was huge to know that wasn’t just some little facade show.”
Simmons averaged 17.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 19 games with the Atlanta Celtics on the adidas Gauntlet circuit.
