Lady Tigers strive to compete in year one under Simmons
GRAMBLING – Courtney Simmons knows her team has to go earn respect.
Picked eighth in the SWAC Preseason Poll without a Preseason All-SWAC selection, the Grambling State women’s basketball team begins the first year of the Courtney Simmons era on the hunt in more ways than one.
And first year leading a program or not, Simmons isn’t afraid to set the mission at a high bar. She speaks openly about wanting to win the school’s first SWAC title since 2017. From there, a trip back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five seasons. It’s not a lot of coach speak and hopes of trying hard in her first season.
But maybe most importantly, before postseason achievements can be reached, the Tigers have to become feared in the SWAC once again, and Simmons believes there’s nothing like fresh blood to make it happen.
So much so that she was one of the two first-place votes given to GSU in the preseason poll.
“One of the votes we had was I voted for our team,” Simmons said. “I can’t say we’re here for championships and use championship verbiage with my team all the time if I don’t believe it, and I truly believe if it all falls into place for us, we have a chance. Sometimes all you need is a chance. As far as the eighthplace spot, I wasn’t surprised. To get respect, we have to go earn it so that’s what we’re going to try and do.”
But that mission doesn’t seem daunting for a roster the firstyear head coach has described as a “redemption squad,” one with mid-major transfers and JUCO additions that have added to the facelift of the program.
Whether it’s Jordyn Carter from North Texas, Anijah Grant from Tulane, or Deivejon Harris from Sullivan Community College, the Lady Tigers are built with players looking for their moment to prove themselves and have bought in to Simmons’ fast-paced approach on both ends of the floor.
If GSU is going to compete like Simmons hopes, she expects her team to play with energy and fearlessness to go score.
And there’s no better way to try and earn respect than to challenge your team early in the season, and the Lady Tigers did just that. They have four Power Five teams on the schedule and play three programs who made the NCAA Tournament last year. Arizona State is even coming to Grambling on Nov. 16, a challenge Simmons said will give her team an early measuring stick to see how real the belief is.
“I want our kids to understand that Arizona State coming here is a tremendous opportunity, and with our men’s team beating Colorado last year here at home, it’s possible, and I want everybody in north Louisiana to rally behind us and get us a good sixth-man environment to push our kids even more,” Simmons said. “It’s a tall task but we get to play.”
Just like her aspirations for the program, Simmons’ idea of play style is equally ambitious – willing to lose a game here and there, as long as her team and crowd aren’t bored.
“I firmly believe in inside-out basketball and having legitimate post players and be a postoriented team and getting post touches,” Simmons said. “We’ve got some guards who can create as well and we can do a combination of things. Ultimately, I don’t want to coach boring basketball. Our goal is to be the first team to get to 80 and be high scoring and high pace.”
With that said, some members of the core are going to be out in the early stages of the season.
“I have all five starters out right now,” Simmons said. “The injury bug has hit a little bit here we’ve also got a kid waiting for a waiver from the NCAA. If I have a healthy roster, I feel really good with where we are. I think we have enough depth and I think we have enough to compete. We have to take the good with the bad right now.”
GSU opens the 2023-24 season at home against Champion Christian College at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
