By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Poinciana High’s new basketball coach, Oliver Simmons, knows  something about winning – he was a member of Kentucky’s 1996 NCAA championship team under Coach Rick Pitino.

Like Pitino, Simmons wants his team to play aggressively.

“We’re going to have pressure after every basket, during every inbounds play. Probably even more pressure than they’ve had here in the past,” Simmons said.

The 6-9 former forward accepted the Eagles job in late June after 10-year veteran Jay Lunce resigned to take a job in Georgia.

Simmons, 35, transferred to Florida State after breaking his foot during his sophomore year at Kentucky. In three seasons at FSU, he averaged 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds.

The Nashville, Tenn. native was a two-time Class AA Tennessee Mr. Basketball in 1994-95.

He coached two seasons at Olympia, where the Titans compiled a 37-32 record from 2005-07. After leaving to take a junior college job in Texas, Simmons returned to Florida for one-year stints at Windermere Prep and Springstead, where last season his team finished 13-14.

“I’ve bounced around, but my wife (Dana) and I really enjoyed my time at Olympia and we loved Central Florida. We wanted to come back,” Simmons said. “The Poinciana job was there and I feel it’s a great opportunity. We played Poinciana a few times while I was at Olympia, so I have a feel for the kind of players we have here. I can’t wait to see the kids when school starts and get things going.”

The Eagles were 19-10 last season under Lunce and won the district championship marking their third straight playoff appearance. Four starters graduated from that team, but Simmons said he expects the Eagles again to be a playoff candidate.

“Our situation is not going to be as hopeless as some people think it’ll be,” Simmons said. “We lost some talent, but we have some pretty good talent coming back. We’re going to be decent. I know we went up a class to be in the new district (7A-5) and we’ll be at a little bit of a disadvantage, but that’s not going to hurt us.”

Stefan Moody, one of the county’s most explosive players, returns at guard for Poinciana. The Eagles were beating Leesburg, the eventual state champion, by 11 points in the Class 4A regional playoffs last season when Moody was injured and missed most of the second half.

Simmons said he was unable to coach his players in the summer league because his Osceola School District paperwork had to be processed.

“I met with all of the players, probably 50 of them,” he said. “One of my assistants, Juan Tyrone, held a few open gyms. I’m not worried. When it’s time to go, we’ll be ready.”