Simmons hampered by lingering injury

The only USC fans to get a glimpse of Marcus Simmons’ potential this season were the handful of administrators who accompanied the team to Mazatlan, Mexico, over Labor Day weekend and those supporters who showed up for the Trojans’ Midnight Madness scrimmage in October.

Simmons stood out in those games because he was practically the only USC player who defended in the freewheeling exhibitions.

“I feel like I kind of showed what I feel I can do on defense,” said the freshman guard, who brought with him a reputation as a lockdown defender out of Alexandria Peabody High in Louisiana.

But the 6-foot-6, 200-pound Simmons hasn’t been able to show much of anything since suffering a sprained ankle five minutes into the Trojans’ first official practice in October when he landed awkwardly during a layup drill.

From that time his season has been an infuriating series of starts and stops caused by repeatedly aggravating his left ankle, and on Wednesday, Simmons acknowledged that his injury would probably hinder him the remainder of the season.

“I need a real long rest for it to heal and get 100%, but I’m going to go on and keep playing the rest of the season,” he said. “I think like I can play high-level basketball right now, so I’ll just finish out the season.”

Simmons has played in three of USC’s four Pacific 10 Conference games, including 11 minutes during the Trojans’ 73-58 defeat against Washington State last week. He is averaging 0.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 6.6 minutes in the seven games he has played this season.

His one potentially big moment came in the second half of USC’s game against Stanford at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 5. With the Trojans trailing, 41-34, with less than nine minutes to play, freshman guard O.J. Mayo passed to Simmons in the corner and Simmons spotted up for an open three-pointer.

But the ball clanged off the rim and the Cardinal went on to a 52-46 victory.

“I really wanted to knock it down,” Simmons said. “I think it was a bad shot, though, because I came in off the bench and hadn’t played all game and I was pretty stiff. . . . But I had an open look. I had to take the shot.”

Mayo encouraged Simmons afterward by telling him to keep shooting, and Coach Tim Floyd said he envisioned more minutes for Simmons as conference play progressed.

“We’re going to continue to try to integrate him when we can,” Floyd said. “He’s a hard-playing guy and he’s still behind in terms of what we’re trying to do. He missed so much practice time -- probably three-quarters of the year -- [but] at some point he’s going to be a good player for us.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com