Hibbitts and Simons: Leaders. Roommates. Rivals.
Junior forwards Blake Hibbitts and John Simons have been playing basketball together for years.
The two played Amateur Athletic Unions basketball together in Grand Rapids before coming to the Central Michigan University basketball team.
Both men have seen significant time on the court in both the power forward and center positions.
The addition of three new CMU freshmen in the center spot will allow Hibbitts or Simons to play the power forward position, a job that is still very much up for grabs.
“It’s nice to have players with a comfort level with their teammates already coming in,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “It shows to their character how good of friends they are even though they’re competing for playing time.”
The current roomates both like to shoot from beyond the arc.
Only 20 teams in the country shot more 3-pointers than CMU’s 777 attempts last season, led primarily by Hibbitts and Simons.
“We both like to shoot it a lot,” Hibbitts said. “But I feel like we’re both more capable than just shooting to help our team on offense and defensive.”
Davis said the team will not have to rely on the 3-point shot as much this year.
“If we were shooting poorly from the outside, we’d be going in a whole lot more than shooting from the perimeter,” Davis said. “Not only do I think we can shoot a high percentage, but I think we’ve got some guys that can chase down some of those rebounds.”
With bigger bodies near the rim, Hibbitts and Simons should find more space shooting from long range.
“A lot of times the tall players on other teams don’t like to guard people out there,” Hibbitts said. “I just try to take advantage of that whenever I can.”
