Aamir Simms, announced last week that he will be returning to Clemson for his senior season, after deciding back in March to test the NBA waters. Simms now has a better idea of what he has to work on if he wants to be looked at harder when the NBA Draft rolls around next year.
Clemson’s forward and leading scorer did not hire an agent which allowed him to remain eligible and return to the Tigers basketball team. He visited with Wes Durham and Mark Packer of the Packer and Durham show on Tuesday and detailed his decision.
“I wanted to put my name in and kind of get a feel and get some feed back from what teams thought of me. You kind of get a good representation of your game. They know a lot about you before you even put your name in and go through the process and they kind of grade you and where they think you will be drafted.
“Then you have your interviews and calls with the scouts and stuff. Once I got that information back, it was a good response and feed back from them. I know what I need to work on, so I think it was best that I came back to school and perfected my craft going into my senior year.”
Simms now knows exactly what scouts want him to work on.
“My defensive versatility. They know how versatile I am on offense, playing in the post and mid-range. They just want to see me do a little more on defense. If I get switched on to a guard, they want me to stay with him a little bit longer and protect the rim a little bit more and guard the post a little bit better. You definitely learn a lot more about your game than you think. They kind of tell you what they think of your game in an NBA perspective.”
Something many may find interesting is the fact that one of the main things NBA scouts wanted Simms to work on was his defense. Something many think has disappeared in the NBA.
On the other side, many Tiger fans are just happy to see that he will be back to anchor what many feel could be one of Brad Brownell’s best teams at Clemson. The Tigers get everyone back but Tevin Mack but have PJ Hall, the best players in the state, coming in.
Last season Simms was named third team All-ACC, averaging 13 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and helped Clemson advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament before the season was ended and the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simms also helped Clemson bring home the gold at last summer’s World University Games.
With Simms back, Brownell will feel the pressure of needing to get Clemson back to the NCAA tournament. Voluntary workouts soon will start soon as the season is now less than five months away.
