Todd Andrew Simon (born August 3, 1980) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach who is the current head coach at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

Early life and education

Born in Fowler, Michigan, Simon graduated from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

in 2003 as a double major in sport studies and management information systems. He was on full academic scholarship as a recipient of Central Michigan's Centralis Scholarship. In 2010, Simon completed a master's degree in sport education leadership at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

(UNLV).

Coaching career

Harrison Community HS / Pepperdine / UNLV

In the 2002–03 school year, Simon was junior varsity boys' basketball head coach and a varsity assistant coach at Harrison Community High School in

Harrison, Michigan Harrison is a city in and county seat of Clare County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,150 at the 2020 census. The community was settled as early as 1877 and was named after William Henry Harrison. Harrison is near the jun ...

. Simon then was a volunteer assistant at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

in the 2003–04 season under

Paul Westphal Paul Douglas Westphal (November 30, 1950 – January 2, 2021) was an American basketball player, head coach, and commentator. Westphal played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1972 to 1984. Playing the guard position, he won an ...

before becoming an video assistant under

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for K ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

from 2004 to 2006.

Findlay Prep

From 2006 to 2012, Simon was part of the founding staff as an assistant coach at basketball power

Findlay Prep Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area.Abramson, Mitch"Former Knick Jerome Wi ...

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

before assuming the head coach spot for the 2012–13 season. From 2007 until his departure in 2013, Findlay was 192-9 with 3 National High School Invitational Championships. As Head Coach in '12-'13, Simon set a program record with 35 victories and finished 35-1 and shared a mythical National Title as co-#1 in the final Bluestar Media Poll. During his time at Findlay, Simon helped develop and coach a number of top

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

draft picks, including Anthony Bennett, who was selected as the top overall pick in 2013, and other first round picks

Tristan Thompson Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the 2016 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavali ...

Avery Bradley Avery Antonio Bradley Jr. (born November 26, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns before ...

Cory Joseph Cory Ephram Joseph (born August 20, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the point guard position and is also the captain of the Canadian national team. ...

. Other NBA player's Simon coached at Findlay include

Christian Wood Christian Marquise Wood (born September 27, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. He has also played in ...

, Jorge Gutierrez, Jabari Brown, Deandre Liggins, Nick Johnson, Naz Long, and Nigel Williams-Goss. In addition, MLB pitcher Amir Garrett played at Findlay during his tenure.

UNLV

In 2013, Simon returned to UNLV as an associate head coach, this time under Dave Rice. As recruiting coordinator, UNLV had the #4 recruiting class nationally in 2014 and #11 class in 2015 including signing 2 McDonald's All-Americans and a Jordan Brand All-American. During Simon's 3 years at UNLV, 6 Runnin' Rebels made the NBA;

Khem Birch Khem Xavier Birch (born September 28, 1992) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Pittsburgh Panthers and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels ...

Patrick McCaw Patrick Andrew McCaw (born October 25, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels and earned second-team all-conference honors in t ...

, Rashad Vaughn, Stephen Zimmerman,

Derrick Jones Jr. Derrick Labrent Jones Jr. (born February 15, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. Jones signed with the ...

and Bryce Dejean-Jones. When head coach Dave Rice was dismissed after an 0-3 conference start on January 10, 2016, Simon was named interim head coach of the Runnin' Rebels. The Runnin' Rebels had lost 6 of 8 games when Simon was named interim head coach and led the team to a 9–8 record in 17 games as head coach despite playing with as few as 5 scholarship players due to injuries.

Southern Utah

Following the 2015-16 season, Simon was hired as head coach for

Southern Utah Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

. In the 2022-23 season, Simon led the Thunderbirds to a 22-12 record overall (12-6 WAC), finishing second in the WAC regular season, losing to Grand Canyon in the

2023 WAC men's basketball tournament The 2023 WAC men's basketball tournament is the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, 2022–23 season. The conference tournament is scheduled t ...

. Multiple Thunderbirds were named to the WAC All-Conference teams: Tevian Jones (All-WAC 1st Team), Maizen Fausett (All-WAC 2nd Team), Drake Allen (WAC All-Newcomer Team), and Dee Barnes (Sixth Man of the Year). Prior to the team competing at the CBI, it was announced that Simon would be taking the job at

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

Head coaching record

*Simon left for Bowling Green prior to the 2023 CBI and did not coach in the Thunderbirds' games.

References

External links

UNLV bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Todd 1980 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Michigan Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball coaches Central Michigan University alumni College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States People from Clinton County, Michigan Pepperdine Waves men's basketball coaches Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball coaches University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball coaches