HANCEVILLE, Alabama — Wallace State Community College has hired Joseph Simmons to lead the women's basketball team, President Vicki Karolewics announced today.
“We are honored to welcome Coach Simmons back to Wallace State and look forward to him continuing the winning tradition for the Lady Lions,” Karolewics said.
Simmons previously served as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team from 2006-2010 under former head coach Allen Sharp, who is now the women's basketball coach at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Prior to his first coaching role at Wallace State, Simmons served as the head boys basketball coach at East Poinsett County Schools in Lepanto, Arkansas from 2004-2006.
After leaving Wallace State in 2010, he served as the head girls basketball coach at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky (2010-2017) and the head girls basketball coach at Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, Tennessee (2017-2022).
He returns to Wallace State after recently serving as the head girls basketball coach at Green Hill High School in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
“I am honored to have been named the head women's basketball coach at Wallace State University,” said Simmons. “I thank Dr. Karolewicks for entrusting me with the helm of the women's basketball program. I look forward to building on the program's history and tradition of success and I look forward to meeting the members of the team and beginning the process of building relationships with them.”
“Wallace State is a special place, and my family and I are excited to be back,” he added. “My wife and I moved here shortly after we got married. Our first child was born while I was coaching at Wallace State. My wife is a WSCC alumna, so it really does feel like I'm coming home, and I'm ready to get to work right away.”
Simmons will take over a team that finished 25-6 in the 2023-2024 season and was runner-up in the NJCAA South Section/ACCC Championships. The Lady Lions have won six ACCC Championships and have made six appearances in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament.
Simmons' career coaching record is 483-171 in 16 years as a high school coach (363-156) and four years as an assistant coach at Wallace State (120-15).
Simmons holds a master's degree from Cumberland University and the United States Sports Academy, a bachelor's degree from Arkansas State University and an associate's degree from Crowley's Ridge University.
