Ben Simmons‘ college career is over and he will sign with LeBron James‘ agent.
As many had expected, the 6-foot-10 Simmons will sign with Klutch Sports, the agency that represents James, as first reported by The Vertical. Rich Paul will be Simmons’ agent.
The Vertical reported that Emily Bush, Simmons’ older sister, has been a marketing/branding employee of Klutch since 2014.
The 6-foot-10 Simmons seems poised to become the first American college player drafted No. 1 overall to miss the NCAA Tournament because his team failed to qualify since Michael Olowokandi in 1998. Simmons wasn’t yet 2 years old when Olowokandi was drafted No. 1 out of the University of Pacific by the Los Angeles Clippers.
LSU announced on Sunday that it wouldn’t participate in the NIT Tournament, thereby ending Simmons’ college career.
“We will be able to utilize this time to get better and start preparations for next season,” LSU head coach Johnny Jones said after LSU was left out of the NCAA Tournament as expected. “We fell short of the mark of getting to the NCAA Tournament; I take full responsibility for this team, and will do the things necessary to make sure we are able to reach one of our main goals at LSU in the future.”
Outside of Okowokandi, the last No. 1 pick not to play in the NCAA Tournament was Cincinnati’s Kenyon Martin in 2000. The Bearcats qualified, but Martin missed the Big Dance with a broken leg.
From 2001-04, the No. 1 pick was either a high school player or a foreign player, so none of them competed in March Madness, either: Kwame Brown (2001), Yao Ming (2002), LeBron James (2003) and Dwight Howard (2004). Also in 2006, Italian Andrea Bargnani was the top selection.
LSU said Jones consulted with his staff and met with the team earlier on Sunday before announcing his decision.
The Tigers would have gone into the post-season without senior guard Keith Hornsby, who had season-ending surgery on Tuesday after reaggravating an internal injury suffered in November that caused him to miss the entire first month of the season. Freshman guard Antonio Blakeney played the two SEC Tournament games under the weather and would have been listed as questionable at best for any games this coming week.
“That also factored into our decision, but it is primarily now my responsibility to begin working and preparing our players for the prospects that lie ahead,” said Jones.
Simmons went for 10 points and 12 rebounds in what was his last college game, a 71-38 loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament.
“I think it’s huge, I think it’s huge for him,” LSU assistant and Simmons’ Godfather, David Patrick, told me earlier this year of Simmons’ dreams of playing in the NCAA Tournament. “It’s the reason he came to college, to play in March. And it’s huge for us. I think all the accolades he got in high school was because he was winning at Montverde and winning on his AAU circuit, but moreso winning in high school, and that trait’s gotta transfer to our level.
“And for him to really leave with a good stamp — I think there’s no question he’s a top-5 college player,” Patrick continued. “But I think winning at the end of the day makes you great and puts you in an elite status.”
LSU has been plagued with chemistry issues in the locker room this season, and sources said renowned sports psychologist Dr. Joe Carr was at LSU twice this season to help Coach Johnny Jones try to create a culture of accountability and work with Simmons. Dr. Carr sat behind the LSU bench for at least one nationally televised game.
“Simmons is dealing with an epic amount of pressure and distractions but he is a future global superstar,” one source said.
“Simmons totally bought into the team chemistry exercises,” the source continued. “He was fully committed to being a better leader and teammate. Not certain everybody else did.”
Simmons has had a camera crew following him all season working on a documentary. Meantime, amid reported academic troubles, he failed to meet the required 2.0 GPA needed to be eligible for the Wooden Award.
When asked earlier this season for comment on Dr. Carr’s involvement, Jones declined comment to SNY.tv. Dr. Carr previously worked with UConn in 2014 when they won the NCAA championship.
Meantime, Simmons stands to make $100 million in a sneaker deal as he transitions to the NBA, as first reported by SNY.tv.
And failing to make the NCAA’s likely won’t affect his draft stock, NBA personnel say.
One NBA executive told me, “Simmons will go No. 1 no matter how LSU finishes.”
