Simon Says, ‘Let Me Play’ : Former Marshall High Spark Plug Counted on More Than Riding the Pine When He Chose the Ivy League and Penn

Playing basketball--Jerry Simon’s lifelong passion--suddenly became unimportant. A sharp pain chewed through Simon’s abdomen like a buzz saw.

The nurses at the University of Pennsylvania Student Health Center were wrong about their first thoughts. This was not food poisoning.

“It felt like aliens,” said Simon, who had played in a Philadelphia Summer League game that night before undergoing an emergency appendectomy. “It was like I was having a baby.”

His distended appendix had stretched from a half-inch to 15 inches before it ruptured.

There were scary moments immediately after surgery, too. Because of the anesthesia, Simon was unable to move his legs.

“I kept telling the nurse I couldn’t move and I made her promise that I wasn’t paralyzed,” he said. “I was thinking more about living. Basketball was of very little importance.”

Simon has since recovered, but he says the experience put basketball in perspective.

It would be difficult to imagine Simon, a rangy 6-foot, 5-inch, 170-pound swingman, not feeling pressured to match his phenomenal success at Marshall High. In his senior season, he led the Barristers to a City Section 3-A Division Championship by averaging 33.2 points a game. That same year, in a game against Belmont, Simon scored a City-record 69 points.

Although he was recruited heavily by UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and the University of Texas-El Paso, Simon, citing academic reasons, chose the University of Pennsylvania.

Ivan Simon, Jerry’s brother, was impressed by the choice of an Ivy League school.

“The decision showed me that he was aware of where basketball fits into the bigger picture,” said Ivan, a teacher at Eagle Rock High. “He realized that there will be other things after basketball.”

Also, Jerry Simon felt Penn’s starting rotation would be easier to crack. He did start a few games his freshman year, but soon found his high school glory was fleeting.

When Simon moved East, his scoring totals took a southward plunge--which was understandable for a freshman making the jump to Division I.

The slump persisted through his sophomore season, however, and last year he averaged just 3.3 points a game. While Simon watched much of the season from the bench, his jumpshot cooled like a Pennsylvania winter.

“The playing time just wasn’t there,” Penn Coach Tom Schneider said. “It was a matter of fact that he wasn’t playing very well.”

Simon says his career was at its lowest point last year when Penn was blown out by UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. Several of his friends and family members came to the game and he scored only 6 points.

“I knew we were going to have a tough time,” he said. “I have friends who go to UCLA who were cheering for me, but I didn’t feel like coming out of the locker room after the game.”

Simon didn’t slump in every facet of his game, however. He was named the team’s most valuable defensive player last year.

Simon says he didn’t get much sleep in the fraternity house his sophomore year and often felt sluggish in practice. But Sandy Greentree, who coached Simon at Marshall, says another problem contributed to his diminished scoring.

“Schneider hasn’t used all of Jerry’s strengths,” Greentree said. “He’s used some, but he hasn’t been tapped.”

Greentree contends Simon isn’t the type of player who lobbies for attention. He would rather dish the ball to a teammate than take an open shot.

“I had to train him to shoot,” Greentree said. “If we were losing, my team would say, ‘We aren’t doing well because Jerry isn’t shooting.’ ”

But banking on Simon’s shot was not in Schneider’s game plan.

“A lot of these players don’t understand, but it’s very unusual for a freshman to come in here and shine,” Schneider said. “I’m very pleased to get two solid years out of players.”

This season, Simon, who is playing small forward and off guard, has found his scoring groove once again. In a recent intrasquad scrimmage he scored 33 points.

With his higher profile in the Penn offense, Simon is getting more recognition from fans.

“A guy came up to me on the street the other day and told me I play like some pro guy in the ‘30s,” Simon mused. “I just started laughing. Philly is a sick sports town. The people are intense. They love teams that play well and hate ones that don’t.”

And playing well is what Simon hopes this season is all about.