Raiders add G Simons to '17 class

Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis was looking to add a scoring threat and a defensive presence to his roster for the 2017 class.

As it turns out, he got both in Polk State College guard Troy Simons, who committed to the Blue Raiders Monday afternoon. CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein was first to report the commitment before Simons took to Twitter himself to make the announcement.

A deep-shot threat with a tenacious outlook on defense, Simons checks the boxes that Davis and his staff were looking to fill.

As a freshman last season, Simons averaged 17.1 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game. He was Polk State's leading scorer.

From the field, Simons shot 46.1% but was even more impressive from beyond the arc, where he shot 40.6% on the season. And in case you were wondering, the 6-foot-1 guard can hit the freebies, too. Simons shot 80.5% from the charity stripe his freshman season.

Simons' journey to Polk State was unorthodox, if nothing else. A Pittsburgh (PA) native, Simons attended four high schools in five years, and didn't even play basketball for two of those years.

It was the efforts of an assistant coach at Brashear High that got Simons' foot in the door at Polk State. From there, it was all Simons.

Simons led Polk State to a 23-9 record this past season before falling in the FCSAA State Championship Quarterfinal's to Daytona State College. The freshman played in 30 games, starting 27 in the process.

On the recruiting front, it appears the Blue Raiders were in a tightly contested battle for Simons' services with Dayton and St. Joe's. In the end, a visit to MT earlier in August may have sealed the deal.

Keep it locked in to GoMiddle.com for more on this developing story.