A local prep standout and a Western Carolina legacy, Jackson Simmons returned to the Catamount men’s basketball staff in mid-April 2024. Simmons, whose parents both played basketball for the Purple & Gold, was previously the director of basketball operations for the Catamounts from July 2017 through April 2018.
In the 2025-26 season, he guided graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro to eclipse 1,000 career points in his final collegiate season. Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry, who earned third-team all-league honors, led the Catamounts scoring 424 points with an average of 14.1 to lead the squad. He upped his scoring in conference play to 15.7, which included five of his seven 20-point performances and double-figure showings in all but one of the league games. Freshman Samuel Dada led WCU on the glass with 7.6 boards per game as the Catamounts had a league-best 38.9 rebounds per contest. Dada was one of the best in per-game averaging for offensive rebounds at 3.1 boards per game, along with Abdulai Fanta Kabba finished tied for fourth at 2.4 offensive rebounds per contest. WCU finished first in offensive rebounding (13.81), first in rebounding margin (6.52), first in offensive rebounding percentage (36.7%), second in defensive rebounding percentage (74.6%), first in rebounding (38.87), second in rebound defense (32.35), and fourth in steals (6.13).
In his debut season in Cullowhee for the 2024-25 season, he helped guide the senior Bernard Pelote to eclipse 1,000 career points as the senior finished sixth in league play averaging 16.3 points per game to pace the Catamounts. Pelote also finished second in the league with 227 total rebounds and 181 defensive rebounds for WCU. He finished third in league play with 133 total boards while tallying a team-high six double-doubles, including five against SoCon opponents. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Kell had a breakout season with a pair of SoCon Player of the Week awards averaging 14.7 points per game in SoCon play while eclipsing double figures 16 times, including 12 straight to close the season. Classmate Cord Stansberry also set the school-record for free throw percentage on the year at 91.3 (min. 70 makes). As a team, WCU led the conference in defensive rebounds per game (28.1) and was second in total rebounds per game (38.4).
Simmons returns home to western North Carolina having most recently served as the head video coordinator for the Charlotte Hornets NBA team. He was on the franchise’s professional staff from 2018 through 2024, advancing from the assistant video coordinator position. This past season, Simmons was involved with on-court player development and the scouting of upcoming opponent personnel.
Before moving to the Queen City, Simmons spent the 2017-18 season on staff as the director of basketball operations under former WCU head coach Larry Hunter where he was responsible for all logistics surrounding the Catamount basketball team. Simmons began his coaching career under former NBA standout Mark Price at Charlotte, a part of the 49ers coaching staff as a graduate assistant from 2015 through 2017.
A 2015 graduate of the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports and Exercise Science, Simmons earned his collegiate start as a men’s basketball graduate assistant with the Charlotte 49ers. He also received a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies from UNC Charlotte in 2017.
Simmons was a four-year letter winner at North Carolina, beginning his collegiate career as a preferred walk-on before earning a scholarship. He appeared in 115 career games, totaling 129 points and 119 rebounds. He was a two-time recipient of the Marvin Williams Carolina Way Award which is awarded to the UNC player who best exemplifies playing hard, being unselfish, and thinking of the team first. He was also awarded the Dick Baddour Senior Award in 2015.
In 2016, Jackson Simmons was inducted into the Jackson County Hall of Fame. A 2011 graduate of Smoky Mountain High and the Western North Carolina Player of the Year that season, he set the school record for career points (1,916) and the state high school record for career rebounds (1,544) before joining the Tar Heels roster.
Simmons is a Catamount legacy as both of his parents were WCU student-athletes. His father, Si, was a men’s basketball player from 1979-83 and a former athletics director at nearby Smoky Mountain High. His mother Cindi Saltz led the Catamount women’s basketball team in scoring three times between 1979-82. An accomplished high school volleyball and women’s basketball coach who won three state titles at SMHS, Cindi was inducted into the Jackson County Hall of Fame alongside her son in 2016. She is also a 2000 inductee into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Simmons and the former Nicole Peterson of Charlotte were married on Sept. 8, 2018, and the couple has a son, Stone.
