DePaul University Athletics
Cummings, Simmons Epitomize DePaul's Storied Basketball Legacy
6/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | DEPAUL ATHLETICS FUND
CHICAGO ââ'¬" These are two names synonymous with the Blue Demons at their finest---the first one evoking memories of a glorious era and the second connecting us to a basketball renaissance.
Terry Cummings was a 6-foot, 9-inch multi-talented power forward who is arguably among the two greatest players to ever don a DePaul uniform.
Bobby Simmons teamed up with fellow Public League standouts Quentin Richardson and Lance Williams in once again making the Blue Demons a force to be reckoned with nationwide.
Both Cummings and Simmons followed up their days in Lincoln Park with lengthy and successful NBA careers.
Cummings, the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1983, played for 18 seasons and was selected three times for either the All-NBA Team or the NBA All-Star Game.
Simmons helped lead DePaul back to the NCAA tournament and competed in the 2012 NBA playoffs with the Los Angeles Clippers. The 6-foot, 6-inch forward was the NBA's Comeback Player of the Year in 2005.
Both Cummings and Simmons were inducted in the spring into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
"Going into the Hall of Fame was really cool because I got inducted with Terry Cummings," said Simmons who is now working for the National Basketball Players Association as a career development counselor. "I used to look up to Terry and grew up watching him. He's from my neighborhood and I went to his basketball camp as a kid.
"We got to talking at the Hall of Fame dinner, and I found out a lot of things I didn't know about him. It's neat that we're both from the South Side and both grew up in Altgeld Gardens. We both played in the Public League---him at Carver and me at Simeon.
"Both of us played at DePaul, went to the NCAA tournament and played in the NBA. In fact, during our careers, we both played for the Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks.
"And now, we both got inducted into the Hall of Fame on the same day---that's crazy. He was excited about being inducted and so was I. Those years go by so fast, and you never take any time to realize what you have achieved in all that time.
"It was a nice opportunity to talk to Terry about basketball and life. He asked me how I was doing with my transition. He is still a very devout, religious man and a minister with a strong inner self."
It was his interactions with legendary DePaul coach Ray Meyer that set Cummings on a highly successful path. Cummings said as a 6-9 high school standout that he received letters from every major college in the country except DePaul.
Because of his fondness for Meyer, Cummings visited DePaul. He had grown up at Willow and Halsted Streets in Lincoln Park before his family moved to the South Side. He had researched Blue Demon history and knew all about George Mikan and others.
"I knew my parents couldn't afford to send me to college, so I went to DePaul to see the school and visit Ray," Cummings said. "I fell for coach Meyer the first time I met him. He is a good man. He did for me what no other Caucasian could have done---he let me be a man.
"It wasn't because I was 6-9-and could play basketball real well. He was committed to helping people, and if you walked in off the street, it didn't matter. If he could help you, he would---even if it drove the rest of the people around him crazy.
"I used to come and sit in Ray's office after practice and talk about politics, church, basketball, economics, pretty much everything. He said his office was always open to everybody, so I took it upon myself to sit down and talk.
"A lot of guys from the city didn't have a strong role model or father figure. He cared about what happened to his players."
Cummings had made a recruiting visit to Iowa and met Lute Olson. After that, he was scheduled to visit UNLV and coach Jerry Tarkanian. Before the UNLV trip, he went to DePaul and met with Ray and Joey Meyer.
"That's when I decided to stay home and go to DePaul," Cummings said. "It was one of the best decisions I've ever made."
Along with the legendary Mark Aguirre, Skip Dillard, Teddy Grubbs, Clyde Bradshaw and Bernard Randolph, DePaul started out 25-0 his freshman season (1979-80) and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season. The Blue Demons finished 26-2.
As a sophomore, Cummings and his teammates were 27-2 and finished the regular season ranked No. 1. Cummings became a two-time All-American as a junior in leading DePaul to a 26-2 record that included a 21-game winning streak. That year, Cummings averaged 22.3 points and 11.9 rebounds.
The Blue Demons were an amazing 79-6 during Cummings' three years in Lincoln Park. He left school early and entered the 1982 NBA Draft where he was the second overall pick (San Diego Clippers) behind James Worthy. Dominique Wilkins was the third pick in a draft class that also included Clark Kellogg, Sleepy Floyd, Fat Lever and Paul Pressey.
But if not for one of those sessions with Coach, life could have taken quite a twist.
"On the court, it was a difficult freshman year," Cummings said. "I came to DePaul after just two years of high school basketball at Carver, and I had never sat on the bench.
"At the UCLA game that season, I had a good game but Teddy Grubbs had a great game. I remember being happy for Teddy. After that game, I told Coach how excited I was to be here but that I didn't come here to sit on the bench. Whatever I have to do to keep me in your mind, I'll do it.
"I had been playing against NBA players since I was 16 years old in the summer Pro-Am league. I didn't go to any of the basketball recruiting camps like Five-Star, so no one knew who I was. People thought I was a skinny, raw kid and all I could do was rebound. They didn't know I could handle the ball like a guard, shoot like a small forward and had the strength of a center.
"In my freshman year, Ray had told me that this was Mark's team. I had to tone my game down and be a role player. Even though we had James Mitchem, I wound up playing a lot of center. I averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds with my points coming on leftovers and rebounds."
After that first season, Cummings began to re-examine his life.
"In between my freshman and sophomore year, I went to Ray and told him I didn't want to play anymore," Cummings said. "He asked me what I would do if I left college. I said I'd go into the ministry. Ray said I would be able to reach a lot more people in the ministry if I stayed at DePaul and took advantage of the national attention given to the basketball team.
"I went home, thought about it for a long time and told Ray the next day that he was right."
When two-time All-American and National Player of the Year Aguirre became the No. 1 pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1981 NBA Draft, Cummings became one of the nation's most dominant players.
Blue Demons fans still talk about the 75-68 victory over Louisville in the 1981-82 season when Cummings scored a career-high 37 points while grabbing 19 rebounds and hitting 15-of-16 free throws.
"Louisville---that was my breakout game," Cummings said. "I was becoming the type of player who was capable of doing what LeBron James is doing now. Back then there were other guys who could handle the ball, shoot the three-pointer, drive, post up and rebound. There were quite a few guys who could do that, but they were just not given the center stage.
"In that Louisville game, DePaul had become my team. I was the leader and had to put my exclamation point on it. I got into a flow and it was nonstop. That's how I played, and my style was relentless. I did whatever I could to help my team. I'd pick up whatever came off the backboards and outrun everybody. I became more of a leader as a sophomore, and by my junior year, there were plays being run for me. All the focus was coming towards me.
"Louisville had a team full of athletes and we had to bang our bodies against them. It was a game meant for me. I used my body and kept my hands on the ball. To that point in the season, no one had stepped out to lead us offensively. It was something I knew I could do every night.
"I was quietly confident. We won that game against Louisville and went on a roll after that."
Cummings had an explanation for DePaul's first-round NCAA tournament losses to UCLA his freshman season, Saint Joseph's as a sophomore and Boston College as a junior.
"We were a pro-style team that didn't play well in the NCAA tournament," Cummings said. "We didn't adjust into the college-style game. Teams would hold the ball on us because there wasn't a shot clock. They were disciplined and worked patiently to get a good shot."
Simmons had his NCAA tournament experience as a sophomore, teaming with Richardson, Williams, Steven Hunter from Proviso East, South Shore's Paul McPherson and Rashon Burno. That team went 21-12 and advanced to the Conference USA Tournament title game. The Blue Demons earned an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament where they came up short 81-77 to Kansas.
Simmons averaged 13.1 points and nearly eight rebounds a game before following up with 16.7 points and 8.6 rebounds his junior season. Coming out early for the 2001 NBA Draft, he was selected in the second round by the Seattle SuperSonics and traded to the Washington Wizards. His best pro seasons came in 2004-05 with the Clippers averaging 16.4 points and nearly six rebounds and 2005-06 with the Bucks averaging 13.4 points.
After returning to DePaul and working hard to earn his college degree last year, Simmons has taken the position with the NBPA while continuing to oversee a business empire that includes the Succezz athletic shoe and sportswear boutique in the South Loop, the chic Bryson Milan boutique in Wicker Park, the Monarchy Investments real-estate firm, Full Spectrum Printing, Simmons Marketing Entertainment which promotes events and concerts and the Society Nightclub at 2201 W. Walnut St.
"I applied for the position with the NBPA and found out in early May that I had landed the job," Simmons said. "I was happy because I'm doing something that I am passionate about and can serve as a role model and mentor with my success in business and also going back and finishing my degree.
"This new job allows me to be around the game, and I still play ball two or three times a week. Mentoring guys is an every-day kind of thing. I am constantly telling guys to go back and get their degree because they don't know what they want.
"I completed my career in 2012, but I had started my various companies and businesses in 2008. A lot of guys get done playing and don't know what to do after that. Ideally, you want to set yourself up before your NBA career is over. It's so important in that transition period to have something which you can look forward to once you're done."
Simmons knows how difficult that change can become.
"The transition can be rough," he said. "You go through all those years hearing the fans cheer for you, living the NBA lifestyle and life couldn't be better. Then all of a sudden, it stops. Now, how prepared are you for what happens next?
"It's so important to leave every option on the table. You might have lots of money to invest, and there are lots of stories of players making bad financial decisions. We all know that happens in all walks of life and there are bad investments made every day. But the stories of pro basketball players losing a fortune get magnified because of who they are.
"People at the NBPA can give them the tools, but they have to utilize them. We can give them the best advice and information possible, and someone like me can show them how to become successful. A key factor is planning your future and pursuing something that you are passionate about. Once you have that motivation to succeed, we can help you manage your next career."
Both Cummings and Simmons overcame adversity to persevere as a pro. Cummings, who actually grew up aspiring to become a pro hockey star until a growth spurt led him to basketball, tore his ACL during the 1992 offseason. As the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1982-83, he had averaged 23.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and nearly two steals a game.
"I was playing in a pickup game outside when this guy who might've been 140 pounds soaking wet fell into my knee and tore my ACL," Cummings said. "It turned out to be one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.
"This was 10 years into my NBA career and I was burnt out. I remember praying and telling the Lord I needed a break. I guess He gave me a break---literally. I had an MRI and the doctor said he couldn't see my ACL. The doctor wanted to know why I was upbeat about the injury. I said that life goes on and I'll be OK.
"I was 30 years old, worked really hard at my rehab and just over seven months later, I was back playing. It probably took another year-and-a-half for my leg to be fully healed. After the Spurs (1989-95), I went back to Milwaukee in good shape. It wasn't required of me to score 20 points a game, but I could do it for a month or so to help carry the team."
In the Bucks' memorable 1986 Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Cummings went head-to-head with another dynamic power forward, Charles Barkley. Cummings averaged 24 points and 10 boards and had 27 points and eight rebounds in the game-seven victory.
During the home stretch of his final season (1991-92) before the knee injury, Cummings carried the Spurs after center David Robinson went down with an injury. He averaged 29 points and 15 rebounds during one seven-game stretch that included a 24-point, 24-rebound performance. Cummings averaged 26 points and 11 boards in a Western Conference playoff series loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Simmons can certainly relate to Cummings and his torn ACL.
"It was after my second season (2006-07) with the Bucks when I had foot surgery and the doctor told me I was never going to play again," Simmons said. "That's pretty scary, and I was only 25 years old. It started me thinking about life after basketball. I underwent 10 months of intensive therapy and started Succezz in 2008 after I worked my way back to the league.
"In the NBA, there's a stigma about getting injured. It's like you're tainted merchandise. My goal was to come back better than before, and I wanted to prove people wrong. Now, I channel that energy into everything that I do."
Simmons played in 70 games with 21 starts for the Bucks in 2007-08. After being traded to the New Jersey Nets, he played in 71 games with 44 starts in 2008-09. In all, after that doctor's discouraging prognosis, Simmons went on to play in five NBA seasons---finishing up in the 2012 NBA playoffs.
Cummings got a first-hand feel for the enormous impact of the Hall of Fame induction while driving up from the Atlanta area.
"I came through the state and passed by Quincy, Peoria and a bunch of other basketball-crazy towns I had never been to in Illinois," Cummings said. "It put in my mind forever the magnitude of this honor and helped me understand how big basketball really is in this state. It is truly a chapter in my life unlike any other.
"I have been very fortunate that God showed me people who helped me along the way like Joey, Ray, and Marge Meyer with her spunky self. All of them graced my life."
Cummings heads up a 31-year-old business called the Cummings Entertainment Group. Based in Atlanta, CEG is a multimedia and entertainment company whose record label houses Cummings' personal recordings "T.C. Finally" and "The Lifestyle Project: L3 Living Loving Laughing" along with an extensive music library. Also under the CEG banner is a media group comprised of music videos, commercials, films and television series.
"I am a pastor at a church, Hope Ministries International, in the Atlanta area," he said. "I'm a philanthropist and perform ministry work with young people getting them focused on the bigger picture in life."
What he passes along are some of the life lessons he learned at DePaul.
"I learned about life and the reality of being a real man and the responsibility that goes with it," Cummings said. "That is not something you can take lightly. I've always taken responsibility and had been working since I was nine years old. I thrived on it.
"The greatest part was learning what it means to be someone of integrity and high character with the fear of God you have in your heart that balances out everything.
"It was being a celebrity in Chicago at a time when pro sports teams were not that good. To this day, people who didn't know me for playing in the NBA still remember me for playing at DePaul. I'm still struck by the impact of what we accomplished."
So much of who Cummings is today came from a man called Coach.
"I learned so much from all those talks with Ray," Cummings said. "He would talk to you in simple terms and you could apply that to your life. He talked to me a lot about George Mikan, how he coached him and developed him into the player he would become.
"It was impressive. I was also a student of the game who went to the archives and read up about past DePaul players. It was intriguing for both of us when we exchanged thoughts and ideas.
"I appreciated DePaul's Vincentian background and was involved with campus ministry my sophomore and junior years. We had Bible studies with everyone participating---white, black, Hispanic, domestic and foreign students---it didn't matter. There was so much diversity at DePaul, you learned how to interact with different types of people.
"One of my closest friends was this Greek kid, Jim Greanias who is now the priest at St. Iakovos Greek Orthodox Church in Valparaiso, Ind. I got to speak at a Greek Orthodox church. It's kind of nice to go outside of what you know. The more you learn about people who are different from you---the more you realize we are all really the same. Racism and prejudice are really just the signs of ignorance."
Just like Simmons, Aguirre, Richardson and other proud alums, Cummings is ready for a return to glory.
"When I was at DePaul, we had a number of players from the inner city like me, Mark Aguirre, Skip Dillard, Teddy Grubbs and Bernard Randolph," Cummings said. "Bringing those kids together made a huge splash at DePaul.
"DePaul is a great school in a great city, and all it takes is one kid to commit and it will start all over again. We have to develop that next generation of city kids.
"I am coming back for a visit to see family and friends. Whenever I'm back in Chicago, I'll drive through the Lincoln Park campus, and I enjoy coming to DePaul. It really is a special place."
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