Kentucky Basketball mourns the passing of former athletic trainer Chris Simmons

On3 imageby:Drew Franklin01/18/23

DrewFranklinKSR

Today the Kentucky Basketball family mourns the passing of the team’s former athletic trainer, Chris Simmons, who spent a decade with John Calipari in Lexington. Simmons followed Calipari from Memphis, his alma mater, and worked as the Wildcats’ head athletic trainer from 2009-10 until 2018-19, part of four Final Four runs and the 2012 national championship.

Calipari announced the news of Simmons’ death Wednesday morning.

“Chris Simmons, our trainer at Memphis who came w/ me here, passed away. He was old-school & would sleep in the dorm if it helped kids get ready to play. Never babied them but always protected. I loved him like a brother and appreciate everything he did for my family. RIP, Chris.”

Simmons was 44 years old.

Joining Calipari in remembering Chris, several other former Kentucky players and coaches expressed their condolences and their feelings about Chris.

Kenny Payne tweeted, “Sad today to hear about the loss of my brother Chris Simmons. Prayers are with his family. RIP Brother. We lost a real one.”

Many others too:

Discuss This Article

Comments have moved.

Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.

KSBoard

2024-03-28