PROVIDENCE, R.I. — If there’s any basketball player in America who is familiar with Kevin Boyle, it is Ben Simmons.
The 6-foot-10 Simmons, an Australian point forward who is a projected top-2 pick in the NBA Draft out of LSU, won three Dick’s High School National Championships at Montverde (FL) Academy with the fiery Boyle as his coach.
“Winning three national championships was really awesome, but also [I remember] how hard we worked every single day,” Simmons told SNY.tv exclusively. “He really demanded a high level from everyone, all the time.”
So with Rutgers having a coaching opening now that Dan Hurley has turned them down, does Simmons think Boyle would make a good college coach?
“Yes, he would,” Simmons said.
As I wrote in this earlier column, if Simmons becomes the No. 1 pick in June, Boyle will have coached more No. 1 draft picks since 2011 than any coach in America not named John Calipari.
If you include players drafted at Nos. 2 and 3, Boyle will have actually coached more top-3 picks since 2011 than any coach anywhere, including Calipari and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
And in many cases, Boyle actually coached these guys longer than their college coaches and had more time to develop them. No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving was at St. Patrick’s for two years, and at Duke for one. No. 2 pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist spent four years at St. Pat’s and only one at Kentucky.
So Ben, how did Boyle help you develop?
“He always helped me understand what I needed to do at the next level to be great,” Simmons said. “He never let up on me, pushed me really hard.”
Rutgers needs a coach who can bring in top-level players, and with his connections in the high school and AAU worlds, Boyle would bring in players.
Would top players want to play for him?
“I think they would, he has a really good track record in high school,” Simmons said. “The caliber of players he has coached really speaks volumes about how good he is.”
Does everyone love Kevin Boyle?
No.
Do some people think he has too strong of a personality?
Yes.
But at least several top New Jersey high school coaches are on record saying they would support Boyle and help him any way they could. And we all know Jersey is loaded with talent.
“I think Kevin would be a great hire,” said Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, whose team has won two of the last three Tournament of Champions titles. “I think he checks all of the boxes. He’s a high energy coach with New Jersey ties who would excite the alumni and fan base from Day 1. And most importantly elite high school players, Big Ten-caliber players, want to play for him. They went with him at St Pat’s, they’ve gone with him at Montverde and I think they should go with him at Rutgers.”
College coaches aren’t permitted to comment on the record on high school coaches for compliance issues, but the fact that guys like Coach K, Calipari and Villanova’s Jay Wright have repeatedly recruited Boyle-coached players should tell you all you need to know.
“Kevin would be an outstanding college coach,” one prominent Big 12 coach told me. “He has a great rapport with players, loads of contacts and he can flat out coach. Rutgers could not find a better fit.”
“I know he’s a great teacher,” one Hall of Fame college coach told me about Boyle. “I know he cares about kids. He’s won everywhere he’s been. The college level will be no different.”
He added: “At first he might not get players although he’s been able to do that at Montverde. I’ve watched him coach in practice and his strength is developing players. That’ something he can do as well as anyone and that’s the way you build a program. The Big Ten and metropolitan area will sell itself.”
Is Kevin Boyle outside the box? Sure, but going inside the box sure hasn’t worked for Rutgers in recent years. Heck, they just fired an NBA coach who compiled a record of 29-68 in three years.
“I found out good coaches are in a lot of places,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “‘Rutgers is an amazing opportunity. They don’t have to get a big name. Just get the best coach.”
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NIf there’s any basketball player in America who is familiar with Kevin Boyle, it is Ben Simmons. The 6-foot-10 Simmons, an Australian point forward who is a projected top-2 pick in the NBA Draft, won three Dick’s High School National Championships at Montverde (FL) Academy with the fiery Boyle as his coach.
