Villanova guard Darryl Simmons II ranked third in Atlantic 10 scoring and first in made 3-pointers last season at St. Bonaventure. The preview projects the 5-foot-11 guard as a bench scorer who could play alongside expected starter Elijah Crawford.
At St. Bonaventure, Simmons II improved his field-goal percentage from 43.4% to 44.2% and his 3-point percentage from 38.9% to 42.5% compared with the prior season. His assists rose from 1.9 to 2.8 per game while turnovers dropped from 2.4 to 1.4. He scored 22 points against North Carolina and VCU, adding seven assists against VCU, and 20 against Dayton; he had four turnovers across those three games in 107 minutes.
At Gardner-Webb, Simmons II averaged 17.4 points per game as a sophomore, third in the Big South, and scored 22 against No. 12 Tennessee. The author compares the projected bench role to Malcolm Grant’s 2007 Villanova burst: Grant scored all 18 of his points in the final 8:51 of a comeback win over LSU after Villanova trailed by 21.
