DePaul University Athletics
Simmons Ready for Another Milestone Moment
2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
(DePaulBlueDemons.com will be posting feature stories for the next two weeks on the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame inductees from the class of 2017. The Hall of Fame ceremony takes place Saturday, Feb. 25 at McGrath-Phillips Arena.)
CHICAGO - Bobby Simmons is ready to take his hallowed place among the all-time greatest Blue Demon student-athletes when the former basketball star is inducted into the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 25.
Simmons came to DePaul along with Public League stars Quentin Richardson and Lance Williams and helped lead the Blue Demons to the second round of the NIT in the 1998-99 season. A year later, Simmons averaged 13.1 points and nearly eight rebounds a game as DePaul earned a bid to the NCAA tournament. Simmons averaged 16.7 points and 8.6 rebounds his junior season.
Coming out early for the 2001 NBA Draft, the 6-foot, 6-inch forward 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 Milwaukee Bucks averaging 13.4 points. He was honored with the NBA’s Most Improved Player award that season.
He finished up a sparkling 12-year career playing in the 2012 NBA playoffs with the Los Angeles Clippers and is now working for the NBA Players Association along with managing his business empire.
“It’s something that is good for the university and for the city as a kid who came in from the South Side and was given an opportunity to showcase my skills and play the game at the highest level,” Simmons said about his upcoming induction. “It’s a great accomplishment.
“This is a great honor, and I didn’t do it by myself. I owe so much to my family and friends. The support I had from my family, my teammates, everyone at DePaul and the fan base was amazing.
“DePaul got me really prepared for life and taught me how to be responsible. When I left, I knew what I wanted to do. I was ready to take that dream and turn it into a reality.”
He transformed another dream into a reality three years ago when he graduated with a degree in communications.
This was a feeling unlike anything the former DePaul basketball star and 12-year NBA veteran had ever experienced before. We’re talking about a strong-willed individual persevering through a childhood in a rough and dangerous South Side housing project who helped lead DePaul back to the NCAA tournament and competed in the 2012 NBA playoffs with the Clippers.
But before he earned millions of dollars in the pros and was honored as the NBA’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2005, Simmons made a solemn promise to a wonderful woman named Charlene Simmons that he would one day earn a college degree.
In 2014, Simmons completed a painstaking two-year odyssey culminating with his Bachelor’s degree in communications. Going to college full-time and raising two kids was only part of the equation as Simmons continued 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.
For Charlene Simmons, this was a mother’s dream come true. That the graduation took place on Father’s Day made it all the more special for Bobby Simmons and his son Bakari who was 14 years old at the time and daughter Brielle, who was five.
“I was picking up my son from basketball practice when he turned to me and said: ‘Dad, I love you,’” Simmons said. “I told him: ‘I love you, too.’ Then, he said to me: ‘Dad, I’m proud of you.’
“That meant a lot. It shows he is always watching you and that all the time I’ve spent with him doesn’t go unnoticed. He was graduating from eighth grade as I was graduating from college. From me, he is seeing the value of a college education and how hard I worked for it.”
Bakari Simmons knows as well as anyone the demands put on his dad these last two years.
“Doing all of that and going to school full-time was a lot,” Simmons said. “Plus, raising two kids keeps you busy. You’ve got to go home and study, but the kids still want to play with you. It was pretty hard. The kids were great giving me some peace and quiet to get my studies done.”
Simmons is quite unlike your typical entrepreneur, constantly finding ways to give back to his community. Monarchy rehabs buildings and creates affordable housing for families who can't afford a home.
"I've seen so many families who need space for housing," Simmons said. "There are so many people living under one roof. And even with subsidized housing, there's only so much money they can spend.
"I grew up in the Altgeld Gardens housing project where everyone lived on top of each other. I was raised in a three-bedroom house with my mom and dad, three brothers and two sisters.”
But Simmons counts his blessings growing up in a two-parent home with grandparents Robert and Artie Simmons also keeping a close watch. His parents and grandparents instilled a Vincentian-like, sensitive and caring nature in the way he deals with the less fortunate in the world around him.
He gives back by sponsoring barbecues, back-to-school events and customer appreciation days. He established the Bobby Simmons Rising Stars Endowment Fund in which he has donated $250,000 to help give underprivileged students a chance to attend DePaul.
“For all the people who have helped me become a success, it’s time for me to give back and help someone else rise high,” Simmons said. “It’s all about reaching out, reaching back and reaching high.”
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For information on the Feb. 25 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony including purchasing tickets, please contact Catherine Ramsey at cramsey@depaul.edu or 773-325-7504
