Roy Simmons '54 Receives Honorary Degree from Syracuse University

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Legendary former SU lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Syracuse University during the school's 160th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 11 at the Carrier Dome. Simmons coached the Orange from 1971 until 1998 and guided SU to six NCAA titles during his tenure.
Simmons ended his reign as head coach with a 290-96 record and a .751 winning percentage. Simmons' clubs appeared in 16 consecutive Final Fours. He coached at Syracuse for 40 years, including serving as head freshman coach and assistant coach for 12 seasons under his father, Roy Simmons Sr. Together, he and his father amassed more than 500 head coaching wins.
 
With the Orange's national title in 1995, Simmons became the first Division I coach to win six NCAA championships. His 1988-90 Orange squads joined the 1978-80 Johns Hopkins teams as the only winners of the three straight NCAA championships at the time, and the 1990 squad is often looked at as the greatest college lacrosse team ever assembled.
 
Simmons was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame on Feb. 8, 1992. As a prelude to that honor, he was inducted into both the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame and the Upstate New York chapter of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Simmons is known for a distinctive coaching method that encouraged athletes to be creative and not fear failure. Today, key elements of his methods serve as the framework for the SUNY Youth Sports Initiative, where nearly 10,000 youth coaches have been trained in the last three years.

In 1989, following the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, Simmons brought the Syracuse University men's lacrosse team to Lockerbie, Scotland, to run several clinics and donate equipment to young players. Simmons and his players returned to Scotland several more times and the popularity of the sport soared as a result. Simmons has been widely recognized for his ability to honor the spirituality of lacrosse as the founders of the sport intended.

A 1959 graduate of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Simmons is also an accomplished sculptor and artist. His creations have been displayed at some of the nation's most respected museum, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Chrysler Museum and the Everson Museum.

Roy Simmons exhibited a collection of his artwork at Kimball Union's Bicentennial Art Exhibit and was a very popular speaker at a KUA-Exchange during Reunion 2013. We hope to welcome him back to The Hilltop for his 60th reunion in June. In the meantime, we extend our warm congratulations to Roy on this very well-deserved honor.

(Photo and press release courtesy of Syracuse University)
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