More than a year ago, Tae Simmons sat down with his family and created a short list of “dream schools” to continue his basketball career in college.
San Diego State was on it.
One problem: He’d never visited the campus, had no family connections to the university and wasn’t being actively recruited by Aztecs coaches.
“I never really heard anything from them,” Simmons said. “I was kind of disappointed, because I knew how good the program is and I wanted to be part of it.”
That changed in recent months for the 6-foot-7 rising senior from Simi Valley, culminating in a scholarship offer from SDSU last week and a verbal commitment from Simmons on Friday — the Aztecs’ first from the high school class of 2025.
“It’s one thing having a dream scenario,” said his father, Lavar Simmons. “And now you know, OK, it wasn’t only a dream scenario but the dream scenario actually is the best situation for you after you’ve done your research and due diligence. Speaking to coaches, speaking to players who went to the school and graduated from there, even speaking to people who weren’t athletes and just attended the school, there wasn’t a negative thing said, which in this day and age is hard to find.
“For us, everything lined up.”
SDSU fits Simmons, and Simmons fits SDSU. He is the quintessential “Aztecs player” that has populated rosters throughout the Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher eras — a long, athletic, active, versatile guard/wing/forward who plays with a high motor, dives for every loose ball and has a team-first ethic. Or, as he puts it, “that dog mentality.”
He plays forward for Heritage Christian High School in Northridge, but is expected to transition to a hybrid perimeter and post player at the next level. ESPN rates Simmons as a four-star prospect; 247Sports.com has him as a three-star player.
Simmons was born in Simi Valley but spent part of his childhood in France, where Lavar — originally from the Bahamas — played basketball professionally after a college career at the The Masters University in Santa Clarita. (They were the subject of a “House Hunters International” episode). Lavar currently works as a firefighter for Ventura County. Natalia, his wife, is a French teacher and volleyball coach at Heritage Christian.
Simmons hasn’t taken an official campus visit to SDSU, but he has been to Viejas Arena for a game — against Utah State last season.
“As soon as I got there and walked in, it was insane,” Simmons said. “I was taken aback with the atmosphere. This is the real deal. Every time they scored, people were erupting and cheering. I sat behind these two older ladies who were talking about the players like they knew them. This is the kind of family atmosphere I want.”
SDSU followed Simmons closely at the recent Section 7 recruiting event in Arizona. Dutcher traveled to Sacramento to see Simmons at an event two weekends ago, the only head coach at his games. The official offer came in a phone call June 24.
“I walked out of my room and told my parents that SDSU just offered me,” Simmons said. “They knew right there it was a really, really big deal.”
Eleven days later, he committed in a social media post – several months earlier than most top recruits in the 2025 class.
His thinking: “I’m not waiting for a better offer than this. I’m not waiting for anything else. This is an amazing program. The coaches really, really want me. Even if somewhere like UCLA offered me, I was so set on San Diego State. That’s how much I want to go there.”
Added Lavar: “We have a philosophy in our family: If you know what you want, you go for what you want. We don’t believe in wasting people’s time. He believed it was a great fit for him. We had all our questions and concerns answered. We were on the same page.
“For us, it was why drag it on? We don’t want to play games. They really want you, you really want to go to this school, it’s mutual. What’s the benefit of waiting?”
