Todd Simon (basketball)

Todd Andrew Simon (born August 3, 1980) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach at Bowling Green State University.

Early life and education
Born in Fowler, Michigan, Simon graduated from Central Michigan University 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 (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. Simon then was a volunteer assistant at Pepperdine University in the 2003–04 season under Paul Westphal before becoming an video assistant under Lon Kruger at UNLV 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 in Henderson, Nevada 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 draft picks, including Anthony Bennett, who was selected as the top overall pick in 2013, and other first round picks Tristan Thompson, Avery Bradley, Cory Joseph. Other NBA player's Simon coached at Findlay include Christian Wood, 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, Patrick McCaw, Rashad Vaughn, Stephen Zimmerman, Derrick Jones Jr. 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.

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. 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.

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

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