Overview:
Michael Simcoe, a 6-foot-8 forward, led Sandra Day O’Connor High School to the Arizona State 6A championship game as a junior last year
The script for Michael Simcoe’s basketball recruiting trip to UC Santa Barbara developed like something out of Beauty and the Beast.
The Arizona schoolboy star was charmed first by the allure of the campus’ oceanside setting — a vista of blue with a climate 30 degrees cooler than what he’d just left in Phoenix — and then by the warmth of its players.
The Gauchos did everything but serenade him with a chorus of “Be Our Guest.”
“They’re such really cool guys,” Simcoe told Noozhawk while confirming his commitment to UCSB. “They brought me in and made me feel like I fit right in.”
But the 6-foot-8 senior forward from Phoenix’s Sandra Day O’Connor High School was also drawn by the beastly workouts he witnessed inside UCSB’s Thunderdome.
“It got really loud in the gym,” Simcoe said, “and I just think that’s a really good environment.
“What I really noticed was how intense the guys played and how focused they were on getting better. That really impressed me.
“The attitude of the players is something I resemble, and it’s how I knew I’d fit right in with the program.”
Revved-Up Recruit
Simcoe was ranked this week as the 26th-best player at his position nationally — 133rd overall — by 247 Sports.
His “high motor” resonated with Eric Bossi, 247’s national analyst, during a club tournament this summer.
“It would be almost impossible to find a more intense player in high school,” Bossi wrote. “Maybe the most intense high school player I’ve ever seen was Tyler Hansbrough and Simcoe brings that ‘Psycho T’ type of energy to the floor.
“He’s physical, makes shots, leads his teammates and just gets so much done.
“There’s just so much to like with this guy … When he’s on the floor, there is no off button for his motor.”
Simcoe, who hopes to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, does view the game from a “very strategic point of view.”
“It’s important to have a really good basketball IQ,” he said; “to be able to read the defense on the fly and be help-side when you need to be … read screens on whether to pop or whether to roll.
“But a big part of my game is about just outworking the opponent.”
The intensity of Simcoe’s recruitment rose to a fever pitch this summer. His final cut included Washington, California, BYU, Northwestern, Santa Clara and UC Irvine as well as UCSB.
“It was tough because I got to build relationships with a lot of these coaches,” Simcoe admitted. “I had some good opportunities to play at some high-level schools — quote-unquote, high majors — but I just knew Santa Barbara was the right fit.
“You just get a feeling. Once I went on the visit, I felt this is the place I want to be.”
The one-hour, direct flight from Phoenix to Santa Barbara was another a factor in his decision. It will make it easier for his parents, Jennifer and Nathan, to get to the Thunderdome.
“My dad and my mom have been a big part of this recruitment with me,” Simcoe said. “I’ve been beyond grateful for their help and support along the way.
“I know I’ve said this to a couple of different people already, but I’m a real family-oriented guy.”
He is, in fact, trying to coax his twin brother, John, his senior teammate at O’Connor High, into making it a Simcoe sweep for UCSB.
“He has a great opportunity to come to Santa Barbara with me, as well,” Michael said. “He’s looking to make his decision soon.”
Character Counts
NCAA rules prevent UCSB coach Joe Pasternack from commenting on recruits until they sign a National Letter of Intent. That can’t happen until Nov. 13.
But Michael Simcoe is described by most experts as typical of the players that the Gauchos are pursuing.
“Character is everything,” Pasternack said. “I’ve had a lot of people — boosters, faculty, administrators — tell me what unbelievable young men we have, and that’s because we do incredibly detailed research.
“We talk to people in the cities where they’re from … Their club coaches, high school coaches, even their former college coaches if they’re transferring.
“We really get to know about them because Santa Barbara is a really special place and not everybody fits here.”
The Gauchos, who concluded their summer workouts on Wednesday, are trying to integrate eight newcomers with six lettermen for this season. Official practice starts Sept. 23.
Pasternack plucked six of the newcomers from the NCAA transfer portal: graduate student guards Chris Mitchell from Cal State San Bernardino, Stephan Swenson from Stetson and Deuce Turner from the University of San Diego; senior forwards Max Murrell from Stanford and Kenny Pohto from Wichita State; and sophomore forward Colin Smith from Vanderbilt.
A pair of guards headline an impactful freshman class: Zachiah “ZZ” Clark from Chatsworth’s DNA Prep Academy and Zion Sensley from San Francisco’s Archbishop Riordan High School.
“With so many new guys intermixing with our returners, the No. 1 goal the last eight weeks was to build our culture and for our new guys to understand how we do things,” Pasternack said.
“We’ve had a sports psychologist do team chemistry activities with us.”
The summer evolved into a bit of a social experiment. Team-bonding activities ranged from the urban (a bowling night) to the urbane (yachting in the Santa Barbara Channel).
The Gauchos even took the suggestion of Pasternack’s eighth-grade daughter, Lilly, and headed downtown to The House of Clues for a game of “Escape Room.”
The players split into two groups in a competition of “escaping the room” by trying to solve a series of puzzles.
Former Gaucho star Ajay Mitchell, now a rookie with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, joined the fun.
“He was with us all summer and went into the Escape Room to be a leader,” Pasternack said. “It shows how much he cares about this program.”
Brotherly Love
Simcoe searched for a college with the same familial feel as his high school.
“It’s important to me for the coaching staff and players on the team to be a part of that,” he said. “That’s a big thing I have at the high school.
“I really got that feeling when I was in Santa Barbara.”
He talked at length with Gaucho sophomore Jason Fontenet II, a fellow Phoenix native who had led St. Mary’s Catholic High to Arizona’s State 4A championship in 2021.
“We never played against him because he’s a couple years ahead but I know he had a successful career at St. Mary’s,” Simcoe said. “We were able to connect and reminisce about some things from Phoenix.
“That was cool, being able to meet someone who’s had some of the same experiences.”
Simcoe experienced the Arizona State Tournament with O’Connor High last year. He averaged a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, and four assists per game.
The Eagles advanced to the championship game, with Simcoe scoring 28 points with eight rebounds in a 69-63 loss to Liberty High.
“I’d gotten injured late in last year’s regular season but got back for the playoffs,” he said. “We really did play our best basketball during that run.
“I was really close with that group of guys, and I remember how exciting and fun it was to do that with them.”
He likes his chances with this year’s group of Eagles.
“We’ve got a lot of great competition here in Arizona, but I really think we’ve got a good shot if we put the pieces together,” Simcoe said.
He’s been rising before dawn every day to make that happen. A power-training class at O’Connor High starts his morning at 6 a.m.
“It’s my senior year now,” Simcoe said, “and I want to leave with a ring.”
And he expects a few more will come from his next engagement with UCSB.
