Simmers preseason All-Patriot League [Basketball]
Last year Anna Simmers of Anchorage snuck up on everybody in the Patriot League.
That won’t be the case this year.
The Army senior guard was one of five players awarded with Preseason All-League honors in a vote by conference coaches.
Simmers, of ACS fame, was named All-League first team last season after raising her scoring average from 2.3 as a sophomore to 14.8 as a junior.
“In all my years of coaching, Anna may be one of my biggest surprises,” 30-year coach Dave Magarity told the school’s website. “Her breakout junior year was unexpected and quite an accomplishment. Everyone around the league was surprised and wondered where she came from, since she only played a few minutes as a sophomore and freshman. But you can tell in the way she practices; day-in and day-out she brings it.”
Simmers works hard at everything – basketball, school, military training.
“This summer has been pretty busy for me,” she told me in August. “I had a month of field training here at West Point. It was incredibly challenging. Then I followed an officer around for a month at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
“I ended the summer with two weeks of working out with my team back at West Point. I’m really excited for this season. I love my teammates and we’re ready to win.”