Jenks Simmons

James Ellington "Jenks" Simmons was known during the 1940s and 1950s in Oklahoma high school sports as "Mr. Basketball."

Before graduating in 1926 from Southwestern State Teachers College (now Southwestern Oklahoma State University), in Weatherford, OK, Simmons lettered in football, basketball and track. He played professional football for the Cleveland Bulldogs, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1927. Simmons moved to the Providence Steamrollers, where they won the 1928 NFL Championships.

Simmons, considered the "Dean of Basketball," in Oklahoma gained famed from this 27-year coaching career at El Reno High School. During his tenure as coach (1930-1933, 1940-1962), Simmons led his team to five state championships (1932-1933, 1946, 1949, 1953). El Reno was also the Boomer Conference basketball champions every year except one, when they tied for the championship, and his 1949 team went undefeated with a 24-0 record.

Simmons career record at El Reno was 436-144. In addition to coaching, he was the athletic director. He later became the athletic director and head coach of the basketball and football teams at Northwestern State in Alva, OK., from 1934-1940.

He was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame in 1967 and was among the first group of inductees into the Oklahoma Athletics Hall of Fame in 1972.

Simmons was born in Sentinel, OK., on April 6, 1903 and graduated from Sentinel High School in 1921. He died in 1977.