Like father, like son: SDSU freshman Tae Simmons is a rebounding machine

Lavar Simmons grew up in the Bahamas and played college basketball at The Master’s University, an NAIA school in Santa Clarita.

College is usually where basketball ends for most NAIA players, but Simmons, an undersized power forward at 6-foot-6 and not a proficient scorer, carved out a 10-year professional career overseas, most of it in the French second division while raising a young family.

There’s an expression in French: Les chiens ne font pas des chats.

The literal translation: Dogs don’t make cats.

The English equivalent: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

A decade later, 6-6 Tae Simmons is an undersized freshman power forward at San Diego State who looks, plays and, perhaps most notably, thinks like his father.

“We’re pretty similar,” said Simmons, whose Aztecs host Lamar on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena. “The attributes I take from him are my rebounding and how hard I play. My dad is the person who really changed my mindset. You know when you’re a kid and you think that scoring is the only way that you can win a basketball game? My dad was the one who changed my mindset that, no, you can win a game by rebounding, you can win a game and only have five points.

“We both play as hard as we can all the time. That’s what got me recruited. That’s what got him paid. He made a whole 10-year career off just playing hard. And I take that to heart.”

That’s what got Simmons onto the floor in SDSU’s last game, a 77-66 win against Utah Valley on a night when its three preseason all-conference players were all struggling. The 11th man in an 11-man rotation had four offensive rebounds in five first-half minutes, and coach Brian Dutcher started him in the second half.

“I wasn’t ecstatic, like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” said Simmons, who grew up in France and speaks French fluently. “I was, ‘Let’s just get to work.’ Of course, everyone wants to start. Of course, I was happy. But here was my chance to go out there and make another impact, and that’s what I felt like I did.”

In the next four minutes, he … grabbed a defensive rebound, made a 3-pointer, grabbed another defensive rebound, drew a foul, grabbed another defensive rebound, made a jump hook in the lane over a taller defender and made two free throws after beating everyone down the floor and getting fouled on a lob.

Through seven games, Simmons leads the Aztecs in the advanced analytic PER (Player Efficiency Rating) at 23.1 and in offensive rebounding rate at 16.3% (of available missed shots). The latter would rank in the top 25 nationally if he had enough minutes to qualify. His 15 points and seven rebounds against Utah Valley were both career bests.

So far, he’s averaged just 11 minutes. He got 18 and 15 in the first two games, then watched it drop to five in the next game with 7-foot NBA prospect Magoon Gwath finally healthy after offseason knee surgery.

It figured to be a playing time death knell for a guy the Aztecs considered redshirting given the abundance of roster riches. Gwath would start, and sixth-year senior Jeremiah Oden would soak up the backup minutes.

“I knew it was going to happen,” Simmons said. “I’m very excited that Goon is back, and as a freshman I knew my minutes would be cut back, and I was fine with that. My mentality is whatever the team needs me to do, that’s what I’m going to do. Whether it’s two minutes, 10 minutes, whatever time I’m out there, I’m just going to play my hardest.

“That’s what is going to get me on the court.”

Opportunity came last week with Gwath slowed by the flu and a tweaked ankle. Dutcher put him in and couldn’t keep him out.

“That’s what coaching is,” Dutcher said. “You get guys who are just relentless and they play their way on the floor. It’s not a coach picking a player, it’s a player showing the coach he deserves more minutes. There is no entitlement. You earn what you get.

“Great rebounders just have a nose for the ball. They read where it’s coming and they go every time. That’s what Tae does: He goes every time.”

Simmons is still learning the nuances of SDSU’s defensive system, and like any freshman he is prone to the occasional blown assignment. His 3-point shot needs work (although he is 2 of 4 so far), and he often finds himself trying to back down and shoot over taller, more athletic defenders. A few of his dunk attempts have barely cleared the rim or been thwarted by it.

He compensates with the one thing you can’t teach: desire.

And that translates to rebounds on a team that has been deficient in that department the last two seasons.

When Simmons was being recruited out of Heritage Christian High School in Northridge and the subject of rebounding came up, he stopped them in midsentence and told them, in so many words, that wouldn’t be a problem.

“My mentality is just like, how bad do you really want it?” he said after grabbing seven in 15 minutes against Utah Valley. “I felt like I wanted it more than the other guy in front of me, so I was just going to go get it. Rebounding isn’t a skill thing. You don’t have to be tall or super strong. It’s really just technique and just how bad you want it. And I want it bad.”

So did the 6-6, 240-pound Lavar Simmons, who never was much of a scorer in the French league but consistently flirted with double-doubles. His last season, in 2014-15 at Vendee Challans in western France, was typical: 12.3 points, 8.1 rebounds.

“I just remember watching my dad (in France) when I was a kid, and he was the sweatiest one out there just because he was playing so hard,” Tae said. “He was so into it. His passion is the one thing I wanted to take with me and carry that on. I saw how much he loved the game.”

Lavar wore No. 15 most of his career, and so did Tae as a youth. Then he committed to a program with No. 15 hanging in the Viejas Arena rafters.

Kawhi Leonard’s number technically isn’t retired, just the jersey, meaning a current player could wear No. 15. Simmons shook his head. He wasn’t wearing it, even if Leonard’s mantra, repeated over and over during his two seasons at SDSU, was “Board man gets paid.”

He chose No. 8 instead.

“Out of respect, let me leave that number off the table,” Simmons said. “I’ve been 15 my whole life because of my dad. It’s college. Let me pave my own path with my own number.”

Different number, same mentality.

Dogs make dogs.

San Diego State (4-3) vs. Lamar (5-3)

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Viejas Arena

TV: KUSI

Radio: 760-AM