Story courtesy of Bowling Green Athletic Communications
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University Vice President for Athletics Strategy and Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe has announced a contract extension for head men's basketball coach Todd Simon. Simon's contact now runs through March 31, 2030.
"Todd has done an outstanding job leading our men's basketball program," said van der Merwe. "His dedication to building a strong culture, mentoring student-athletes, and competing at a high level makes him the right leader for our program moving forward."
Simon is coming off his third season at the helm of the Falcons and has already made his mark on BGSU's basketball history. With the Falcons, Simon has amassed a record of 52-46, accumulating the most wins by a BGSU head men's basketball coach through their first three seasons during the program's history. Under Simon, the Falcons have had seven All-MAC honors across three seasons, including Javontae Campbell being named this season's MAC Defensive Player of the Year after breaking the program's single-season steals record for the second straight year.
In addition to the on-court presence, Simon has elevated the academics of the BGSU men's basketball program. This past fall, the Falcons posted a 3.46 semester GPA, the highest semester GPA on record for the program. Additionally, the team has posted perfect 1000 APR scores in each season under Simon, marking the first back-to-back 1000 marks in program history.
Upon his arrival to Bowling Green in 2023-24, Simon led the Falcons to a 20-win season, orchestrating one of the quickest turnaround in program history. The 20-win season marked just the 10th in the program's MAC Era while BGSU became one of 10 teams in the nation to go from 20 losses in 2022-23 to 20 wins in 2023-24. Simon has also recruited First-Team All-MAC guards Marcus Hill and Javontae Campbell to Bowling Green who have etched their names across the BGSU Record Book during Simon's tenure.
"I am grateful to Derek van der Merwe and President Rodney Rogers for their faith in the direction of the program," said Simon. "With their support and alignment, we have navigated a transformative time in men's basketball with success and have built a sustainable infrastructure to continue to build upon. My wife and kids are also very thankful to be ingrained in the Bowling Green community. We will work tirelessly every day to elevate the program to a MAC championship and chase the first NCAA Tournament bid since 1968."
Bowling Green has advanced to the MAC Tournament each season under Simon, the first time playing the MAC Quarterfinals in three consecutive seasons since 2003-05. The Falcons also broke a few records this past season under Simon, beginning with 27 steals against Bethany College to break both the BGSU and MAC single-game records. The Falcons also held VMI to 20-percent from the field with only 10 made field goals, both believed to be program records. BGSU tallied 10 wins before the holiday break for the first time since 1947-48 while posting four 100-point scoring games on the season to rank second in program history. The list of accolades from the season rounded out with a win over Kansas State for the program's first Power Conference win since 2005 and the first double-digit conference win since 1996.
