Internationally Known Legend Receives Honors at GRC
By: Efrain Pardo
Sports Editor
Chester Simmons III is a basketball player, better known as Tre Simmons, who has been one of the greatest athletes to ever set foot on the campus of Green River College since it was founded.
In a night full of excitement and after a minute of silence in honor of the former National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Kobe Bryant, Simmons became the first-ever student-athlete to have his jersey retired in Green River College’s Swamp Rafters with the presence of President Suzanne Johnson, the Director of Athletics Shannon Percell, his former coach Travis DeCuire, and many other personalities in the crowd.
The number “1” jersey retirement was during the half-time break and followed by a brief speech where the most important thought was “…If you going to ever set foot in a basketball court, you have to play hard, train hard and give it all you have when you are wearing that jersey, this is the way you will ever be great in the sport,” Simmons said.
Simmons was born and raised in Seattle, and graduated from Garfield Highschool as a star for the Bulldogs team in 2001. He first went to Odessa College in Texas for the 2001- 2002 school year and then he transferred closer to home, at Green River College for the 2002-2003 season. That basketball season, Simmons led the Gators to a second-place finish in the NWAC Championships and he was named Western Division most valuable player (MVP).
Simmons averaged 28.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 51 percent from the field. On January 29, 2020 his jersey was retired and marked the 17th anniversary of Simmons 50-point performance in a 105-80 win against Pierce College. Later that same season, he put up 51 points and 21 rebounds in another victory versus the same school on that year.
Following his spectacular season with the Gators, Simmons transferred to the University of Washington (UW). There he starred during 2 seasons the UW Huskies basketball team from 2003-2005 academic years being named to the All-Pac 10 first team, in his senior year. Following graduation from UW, Simmons played professional basketball for 13 years starting the 2005-2006 season in Greece at European Leagues.
Also, Simmons played in Spain, France, Russia, Puerto Rico, Israel, and the Czech Republic. Amongst his accomplishments, he was included in the Israeli Supercup MVP in 2009 with the Maccabi Tel Aviv, he won the Czech National Cup 4 times with the ČEZ Nymburk team in 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2014- 2015 seasons in the Czech Republic and being in the Euro Challenge Final Four MVP with the Krasnye Krylya Samara team from Russia in 2013.
Simmons is one of the few Americans in basketball history to have won so many championships in so many countries in Europe. His achievements will always be remembered by Green River College.
In 2018 Simmons announced his retirement from professional basketball.
Photo Cred: Efrain Pardo
