BOISE, Idaho (March 9, 2021) – After leading Southern Utah to its first ever Big Sky regular-season title, Todd Simon has been named the 2020-21 Big Sky Coach of the Year as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
In his fifth year at the helm of the Southern Utah program, Simon’s Thunderbirds had their best season in 2020-21 finishing with a 19-3 overall record and 12-2 mark in conference play. The .864 regular season winning percentage set a new school record and the .846 Big Sky winning percentage is the best the team has ever had in any league over the past twenty years.
Southern Utah capitalized on every opportunity to be crowned the outright regular-season champions and clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. SUU’s only losses in league play came from the other top teams in the Big Sky in Eastern Washington and Weber State while their only loss in preseason was by two points in the season opener on the road at Loyola Marymount.
In an unconventional season where every game counts more than usual, Southern Utah swept the season series against five Big Sky opponents and enters the postseason on a nine-game win streak.
Another first for Southern Utah this season was the announcement of a first team all-conference selection. Junior Tevian Jones garnered first team honors this season after an impressive campaign for SUU to become the first Thunderbird to ever be named to the first team. Simon coached four total All-Big Sky selections for the Thunderbirds, the most for any team in the conference.
Simon is the first Southern Utah coach to ever earn Big Sky Coach of the Year honors.
Southern Utah will open tournament play in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 11 against the winner of No. 8 Northern Colorado and No. 9 Sacramento State.
