Bryce Simon wasn’t sure about his team or the Patriot League coming into this season. But then, upon further review, neither were the conference’s coaches.
After getting picked fifth in the conference preseason coaches’ poll, American (18-11, 10-4) begins the postseason against Holy Cross (15-13, 5-9) as the regular-season champion and the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament, with crucial home court advantage on its side. At the other end of the bracket lies equally capable No. 2 seed Navy, which also was dismissed in the fall, picked to finish seventh.
Simon is big reason why the Eagles have emerged from obscurity, a team that looks almost nothing like last year’s team but has found comfort together on and off the court.
“Honestly, I had my doubts — I hate to say that now — about how far we’d come, what we could really do,” said Simon, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Pratt Community College (Kan.). “It feels great that we’ve been able to come together as a team, find out who we are and each of us finding our roles.”
Even with junior guard Derrick Mercer as the only returning player among American’s top six scorers and top seven rebounders last season, Simon wasn’t sure what his role would be this year. He’s started all 29 games, but the adjustment hasn’t been easy. His career-high 19 points and five 3-pointers against Lafayette last weekend marked just the ninth time he’s scored in double figures, pushing his average to 7.0 points per game.
That kind of contribution will be essential down the stretch as teams work harder to limit good looks for Mercer (12.9 ppg) and leading-scorer and All-Patriot League first-team pick Garrison Carr (18.1 ppg).
“If you just put Bryce Simon and Garrison Carr out there without a defense, those two guys arecomparable shooters,” said Eagles head coach Jeff Jones. “That’s how good Bryce Simon is. Bryce probably isn’t as confident as Garrison is, and the big difference is Garrison has a quicker release, but when Bryce is feeling it, he can shoot it from deep.”
