Meighan Simmons

Personal: Simmons is the daughter of Wayne and Karolyn Simmons and is one of seven children in her family. She has two sisters and four brothers. Her brother, Ryan, played football at Oklahoma State. Her cousin, Aaron Curry, was a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks, and her cousin, Eric Barton, was a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tennessee in 2014. She shattered the 25-year-old San Antonio Metro Area career scoring record with 3,406 points during her four-year scholastic career at Byron P. Steele II High School. She was called “one of the fastest players I’ve ever coached” by legendary Tennessee head women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt. Her nickname is Speedy.

Other Professional Experience: Meighan Simmons is a two-year WNBA veteran after being taken with the No. 26 overall selection in the 2014 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty. She averaged 2.7 points and 0.4 rebounds per game in two seasons with Atlanta from 2016-17. She appeared in 36 games off the bench for the Dream and saw action in 25 games during her first season with Atlanta, averaging 3.1 points and 0.4 rebounds per outing. She netted a season-high 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-5 effort from three-point range, against Connecticut on June 12, 2016. She posted a 1.7 point per game average in 11 appearances during the 2017 campaign. She also played overseas for Spain, France, Israel, Italy, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon.

At Tennessee: Simmons was a four-year letter winner at Tennessee from 2010-14 who ranks fourth on the Lady Vols’ all-time list with 143 games played. She also stands sixth all-time with 127 career games started. She is the fifth-leading scorer in program history with 2,064 career points and also collected 402 rebounds and 304 assists. Simmons is a three-time Associated Press All-America choice, including a Third-Team nod after the 2012-13 campaign. She is a two-time selection as Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and was named co-recipient of the SEC Player of the Year commendation by the league’s coaches in 2013. She was also tabbed Associated Press SEC Player of the Year as a senior.

Honored with six All-SEC citations during her career, she received First-Team All-SEC plaudits from the league’s coaches and media members in each of her final two seasons. She garnered Second-Team All-SEC notice by the league’s coaches and media as a freshman and was a consensus pick as 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year. She is sixth on Tennessee’s career ledger with 746 made field goals and owns the school career record with 740 three-point field goal attempts, while her 255 made three-pointers are good for fourth place on UT’s career chart. Simmons holds a share of the Tennessee single-game mark with eight made three-point field goals. She knocked down eight three-pointers against Lamar on December 1, 2010, in addition to hitting eight three-pointers on a school-record 17 attempts against Virginia on November 28, 2013.

She led the Lady Vols in scoring as a freshman, junior, and senior. Simmons appeared in 35 games as a senior and averaged 16.5 points per game. She registered 31 double-digit scoring outputs, including 10 games with 20 or more points. She also surpassed the 30-point mark three times during the 2013-14 campaign and registered her 2,000th career point against Kentucky in the SEC title game. She was named Junkanoo Jam Tournament MVP after scoring 40 points over two games. Simmons netted a career-best 16.8 points per game during her junior season while making 35 appearances. She paced the SEC with a .851 free throw percentage while ranking third in the circuit with a .365 three-point field goal success rate. She netted a career-high 33 points against No. 22 North Carolina on December 2, 2012.

Simmons ranked third on the team with an 11.1 scoring average during the 2011-12 campaign and was one of four players who played in all 36 games while making 22 starts. She was Tennessee’s leading scorer as a freshman by netting 13.5 points per game and also paced the team with 2.8 assists per outing. She opened her career with 13 consecutive double-digit scoring performances, the second-longest streak to begin a career at Tennessee.