SIOUX FALLS – After helping lead the University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball team back to the NSIC Tournament Championship game, assistant coach
Kyley Simmons has resigned her post to accept a women's basketball assistant coach position at NCAA Division I Eastern Illinois University.
"We were extremely fortunate to have Kyley on staff for the time we did and I couldn't be more excited for her to take the next step in her career," USF Women's Basketball Head Coach
Travis Traphagen said. "She was a great recruiter for our program and immediately connected with the women on our team. I am positive Kyley will do great things in her career and I am happy to have helped her along the way."
A 2016 graduate of University of Illinois, Simmons will reunite with Eastern Illinois Women's Basketball Head Coach Matt Bollant, who she played for at Illinois.
In his nine-year tenure at University of Sioux Falls, Traphagen, the program's all-time wins leader at 178-90, has been a mentor to several former assistants, who have moved onto to other positions in the coaching profession. Former associate head coach
Chelsea DeVille is now head coach at NCAA DII Bemidji State while assistants Simmons and
Kayla Tetschlag (South Dakota) have moved into NCAA DI assistant coaching positions.
At USF, Simmons was critical to the women's basketball program in numerous areas and was named a Women's Basketball Coaches Association 30 Under 30 honoree in March. As recruiting coordinator, Simmons spearheaded the efforts that led to USF signing nine student-athletes during the early signing period.
On the court, Simmons assisted the Cougars in following up their most successful season in 2015-16. The 2016-17 Cougar squad finished with a 22-8 record and came within one win from returning to the NCAA Tournament when they advanced to the NSIC Tournament title game for the second consecutive year. Sioux Falls had the stingiest defense in the league, posting the top scoring, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage defense marks in the NSIC.
Sam Knecht earned first-team All-NSIC honors, WBCA All-Region honors, WBCA honorable mention All-America honors, and was the first CoSIDA Academic All-America in USF's Division II history.
