Sept. 9, 2011

by Tony Randazzo, Media Relations Student Assistant

In her early junior high years, Kyley Simmons decided to sign up for the Cornhusker Shooting Stars club basketball team in Nebraska.

"I started in the 6th grade with a select team out of Nebraska, and I have played with them every summer since then."

Living in Council Bluffs, Iowa, she'd wander across the border for practices and games, and after a stellar high school career at Lewis Central High School, the 5' 7" point guard landed a spot on the Missouri Tigers women's basketball team.

Simmons holds the Lewis Central record for points in a game (34), steals in a game (12), assists in a game (11), and points in a season (380). Of all of those accolades, assists seem to be the thing she strives for.

"Points don't really mean anything to me. I like giving other people points, and as a point guard, my goal is to give everyone else the ball."

The freshman guard has already found comfort in her teammates, due in large part to the senior leadership. As soon as she arrived in Columbia this summer, the seniors took her under their wing, showing her drills and workouts that she would need to master in front of the coaches.

"We have fantastic seniors to show us the way," said Simmons. "Christine (Flores) and Bailey (Gee) are great. Bailey is more of a guard position, and has helped me with types of passes that the coaches want to see, and moves they want to see. It's basic stuff, but it's even more important to execute at this level of the game. And Christine has really helped me get used to speed and quickness of the game. The speed of the game is completely different. At this level, everybody you are going up against is better than you, and that's not the case in high school."

Along with senior leadership, having fellow freshmen Bree Fowler and Morgan Eye has also helped her ease into Division I basketball.

"After a practice, we can talk to each other about how it went and about what we all need to get better at. It's nice to have somebody your age to talk to about that kind of stuff."

Simmons is technically a student with an undeclared major right now, but she is almost certain she wants to study to be a physician's assistant someday. Along with that, she wouldn't be opposed to landing a coaching job in the game that she loves.

Regardless of her major, she has enjoyed every minute of her time at Mizzou so far. The freedom of college is something she has really enjoyed, but she also has a great family back in Western Iowa. She loves boating with her brother and parents when she isn't dribbling around on the hardwood. Her hometown is about four and a half hours away by car, but her parents vow to be at every game they can make.

"My dad will be at every game this year and my mom will make almost every game as long as work doesn't conflict."

With the season just around the corner, Simmons is working on getting used to the speed of the game and the change to Division I basketball. And unlike many athletes, she isn't looking to be the team leader in points. As she matures into a solid NCAA athlete, her attitude about the game already stands out.

"I think I just have team goals, I don't really have any personal goals right now. My goal is to make everybody around me better, and I think by doing that I'll make myself better."