Simmons shakes past, shoots by record

One thousand six hundred sixty-nine.

That was how many career points Buffalo State men's basketball player Jake Simmons had heading into his 90th career game, a non-league matchup against Central Penn College.

Inside the Sports Arena, things were just starting to heat up for Simmons, who entered the game with the second-highest career point total in the history of Buffalo State basketball - 33 points behind former NBA All-Star Randy Smith's 1,712 - and would end the game as its all-time leading scorer.

It's twelve seconds after the opening tip, and the Bengals have their first possession of the game. Simmons, curling up from the right corner, catches a pass from the opposite wing at the top of the arc, about a foot behind the 3-point line. He brings the ball down for a half second, as if waiting for his defender to catch up before firing up a 3-pointer with a hand in his face.

Swish. 1,672.
 

It's fitting that Simmons began his record-breaking night with a 3-point shot. After all, he holds school records for most 3-pointers in a game (9), 3-pointers in a season (94) and 3-pointers in a career (312).

"I feel like if a guy can't guard me, I can just look at his eyes and tell that he doesn't want to guard me," Simmons said. "If he looks a little shaky, then most of the time, I'll just shoot a three in his face. If I make it, it's just going to break down his ultimate defensive confidence.
 

"If you're hitting threes in somebody's face, you see them look at the bench and complain, like, what can they do?"
 

Game after game, Simmons brings the unwavering confidence of an expert marksman. He rarely has an off night. Twenty games into the season, Simmons has scored at least 16 points in all but four games.
 

"Jake is an individual who feels like there is no one on the floor who can stop him," assistant coach Kevin Glover said. "That's kind of the attitude he has to take.
 

"You don't score two thousand points without that type of mindset - and that's with all due respect to everyone that he's played against. He just has that confidence about him to the point where he feels as though he's going to score, and no one is going to stop him."
 

Simmons' confidence in his shooting ability leaves opposing defenders who aren't up to the task helpless.
 

"I once had a guy complain to me and ask me during the game to stop shooting," Simmons said. "The guy was telling me, 'please don't shoot, please don't shoot, my coach is yelling at me.' He was putting his hand in my face and everything, but I was just hitting shots. I don't really have a go-to move - just if I know you're not the right one to guard me, I'm going to make it hell for you that night."
 

40 seconds after Simmons hit his first 3-pointer of the night against Central Penn, he nails another. 1,675 career points for Simmons. Hell for the Central Penn defender.
 

While 3-point shooting is one of Simmons' greatest strengths, he sees himself as a complete player rather than long-distance specialist. He is shooting 49.2 percent from the floor this season, second on the team for players who have played at least 15 of the 20 games so far.
 

"Jake lets the game come to him," Glover said. "He is definitely an individual who will take shots when they're there, and he doesn't force a lot of things. He's been extremely efficient, and that's what he focuses on. Rather than the number of shots, it's the efficiency of the shot he's taking."
 

Simmons says his game is constantly getting better. He has worked on different aspects of his game every season at Buffalo State. His freshman and sophomore years, Simmons shot a lot of threes, but didn't get to the basket often.
 

"In the past, he would rely 100 percent on his jump shot," said Glover. "He's a little more conscious of getting to the basket now, getting to the line more, which makes him that much more effective."
 

In his junior season, Simmons had the highest free-throw percentage in school history, shooting 86.4 percent on 81 attempts. He already has 98 free-throw attempts this season.
 

According to Glover and head coach Fajri Ansari, one of the biggest improvements Simmons has made is his evolution as a leader on defense.
 

"He started out just purely as a shooter, but he's grown," Ansari said. "As an off-ball defender he's had some great seasons with steals. I'm proud that he's made that evolution. He's still getting better - he hasn't peaked."
 

Simmons is the program's all-time leader in steals, and is averaging 2.1 per game this season, second in SUNYAC.
 

"He plays the passing lanes extremely well and a lot of his defensive play turns into baskets for him," Glover said.

"... But over the past four years, Jake has really improved on different aspects of his game. To see him evolve has been kind of special."

With just under 14 minutes left against Central Penn, Simmons is leading a three-on-one fast break. Driving hard to the hoop, Simmons leaps and the defender leaps with him.
 

Absorbing the contact, Simmons lays the ball off the backboard and into the hoop, before the momentum from the collision forces both players out of bounds underneath the basket.
 

A whistle. A foul. A free-throw. Another swish. Three points, the old-fashioned way for most players, but still new for an ever-evolving Jake Simmons. 1,710.
 

"That morning [before the Central Penn game] when I woke up, my hands were tingling," Simmons said, two months after the game. "I knew something great was going to happen that day. I called my dad, told my coaches and my friends that something great is going to happen today. During the game my hands were still tingling.
"I was really anxious for some reason. But it all worked out."
 

'It all worked out' is a phrase Simmons could seldom use before his time at Buffalo State.
 

While growing up in Rochester, Simmons' childhood was filled with tragedy. He was forced to endure his mother passing away, an abusive step-father, a home burned to the ground and a serious car accident that left him paralyzed for over a week - but overcame it all to get where he is today.
 

"What the scoring record means to me is it's a reflection of hard work, determination and perseverance,"

Simmons said. "I feel like all the things I've been through in my life were for something now, you know? I always felt like when I was going through those things, there had to be something else coming, something greater for it.
 

"I feel like that something greater is this, being known as a legend at Buffalo State College. "Reaching goals, setting records - that's the ultimate payback for all the drama I've been through."
 

Simmons' ascent to legendary status has been just as momentous to those who have witnessed it.
 

"Coaching Jake will be an experience I won't ever forget because he's such a deserving young man," Ansari said. "Knowing what he's had to overcome to take advantage of this opportunity, the personal struggle and challenges he's gone through, it means a lot more to me to be able to have a relationship with him as a person, not just as a player.
 

"I think what he represents with what he's had to overcome is really more meaningful than the great accomplishments he's already achieved here at Buffalo State."
 

Thirteen minutes and 18 seconds left in the game.

Bengals' forward Ryan Carney shoots an air ball from the top of the key. Point guard Anthony Hamer grabs the rebound underneath the basket and kicks it out to Simmons, who is standing two steps behind the three-point arc, wide open on the left wing.
 

He shoots.

Nothing but net. 1,713.
 

Simmons scored a career-high 43 points against Central Penn on Dec. 14, 2012, to pass Smith as Buffalo State's all-time leading scorer. This past weekend against Oneonta, he scored his 2,000th-career point.
 

"I can't really enjoy it right now because it's still the season," Simmons said. "I think more enjoyment will come after the season, when it's all said and done, and I can look back and say, 'I did that.' I can look back in the records and feel a confidence."
 

But for Simmons, who plans to play professionally after college, it may be a while before he can truly bask in the glory of his own accomplishments at Buffalo State as he chases his dream of playing in the NBA.
 

"I'm going to try as hard as I can to get into the NBA," Simmons said. "If you're a basketball player, your ultimate goal is to get to the highest level no matter what - how old you are or how young you are - you always want to get there. As long as I'm physically able to play, I feel like that goal is attainable."
 

Glover believes Simmons' strong suits will translate to the next level.
 

"Realistically, I do think Jake has an opportunity to make a living playing basketball," Glover said. "Whether that's overseas, in the NBA, or wherever, that remains to be seen.
 

"But I do think there is a place for a scorer in professional basketball. And that's what he is. At the end of the day, at his core, Jake is a scorer. Scorers of his magnitude just don't come along very often."
 

Leif Reigstad can be reached by email at reigstad.record@live.com