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As I embark on my Tremendous 24 series, a project that aims to showcase the journeys and achievements of 24 remarkable individuals in sports, I can't help but reflect on former Ramapo High School basketball star Anthony Simon's pivotal role. He was the one who broke the ice as my first interview among the legendary guests, and he's been a friend since our seventh-grade days. His support and friendship have been instrumental in my journey, and the memory of that October 2020 interview with Simon that started it all is still fresh in my mind.
The day I released it (October 9, 2020), I was out with my former partner in the city. I remember the episode getting played at a rapid rate I’ve never seen in my previous episodes: forty plays in one hour, then 80, 100 in a day, and so forth. That 20-year-old kid was ecstatic!
But before releasing that day, I remember feeling nervous on a cloudy fall day in early October. After all, it was my first interview on a show that was only three and a half months old. But I was prepared, with all my questions meticulously lined up, a testament to my dedication and commitment to the show. And I knew that Anthony, a personal friend, was the perfect choice for a smooth, free-flowing inaugural interview.
In the early days of DJ’s Sports Show, I was a novice, often recording in my car due to lack of experience. Little did I know that this first interview with Anthony would be a turning point, boosting my confidence for the many great guests to come in the years ahead as the pantheon grew.
I remember the day I interviewed Anthony. It was raining that weekend, and I left my house to find a quiet place to record in my car. I drove to the park at first; there was too much noise, and I couldn’t do it there. I went to another quiet spot where no one else was in Haverstraw and got my questions in order before contacting Anthony.
I remember reading them over and saying, “Let’s do this,” before taking a deep breath. The anticipation and excitement were palpable. It was raining that day, but the show must go on. Anthony and I got on the phone for the interview and dived into his journey. He was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern on January 26, 2020, to his mother, Anne Carmand. Still, he grew up in Spring Valley, NY, in Rockland County, which has a population of about 32,972 people in 2024, per World Population Review.
Spring Valley has had a profound impact on cultivating who Simon is today. He expressed how people looked down upon whoever was from Spring Valley because only a few came out victorious from the area, but he was determined to be different. It all started with picking up a basketball at the age of four and playing for upward, playing organized basketball for the first time in fifth grade.
He mentioned that growing up, he didn’t watch basketball much, but his biggest idol was the late great NBA legend Kobe Bryant, whom he tried to model his game after. Unfortunately, Bryant passed away on Simon’s 20th birthday.
Simon attributed his mental toughness, terrific handle, and jumper to playing at parks such as Memorial Park or recess in Spring Valley, where most people had a handle but no jumper or vice versa. What made Simon unique was that he was lethal at both, with excellent leadership skills and mannerisms beyond his age.
Simon expressed his genuine love of the game in middle school when he had a game-winning shot at Felix Festa Middle School that made him feel like a rockstar:
“It was in sixth grade I realized where I love this game…In my first game of the next season, like the very first game at Felix Festa Middle School, I had a game-winning shot in my first game, and it was like, wow!... Everyone’s swarming me, you know, things you only see in the NBA or college where it made me feel like that guy.”
That’s where the legend truly began. We then got to Simon’s time at Pomona Middle School (where we became friends in 2013), where he played for coach Kevin. We discussed how he was unknown and driven to make a name for himself despite having a cousin, Jordan Lacey, who formerly played under Kevin but didn’t want to use that as leverage.
Simon talked about tryouts at Pomona and how they did this shooting competition with whoever misses gets off, leaving the best man standing.
“The tryout, all I did was shoot, and we did this shooting competition, and I made every single shot… I didn’t miss it.”
Simon’s journey to stardom at Ramapo High School was a bit radical. His mom, Anne, didn’t let him play basketball the first two years of his high school career because she wanted him to focus on his schoolwork, which was more challenging than middle school and critical to college. He still worked intensely those two years to keep his game sharp and ready once his opportunity came. It was a challenging period for Anthony, balancing his academic responsibilities with his passion for basketball, but he persevered, ultimately making him a stronger player and person.
Once the handcuffs were loose, he could play again in his junior season under Steven Loscher. In his first season, he explained the growing pains he and the team went through as they didn’t have the season they wanted going (4-15) overall, and (0-9) was a tough pill to swallow.
However, the best was yet to come. That offseason (2017), before Simon’s senior season, he did vigorous workouts that involved moving without the ball, ball handling drills, footwork, shooting, and something he called “Iverson Cuts,” where he would run from one wing to the other wing. These 'Iverson Cuts' were named after the legendary NBA player Allen Iverson and were designed to improve Simon's agility, speed, and ability to change direction quickly. He also worked on reverse pivots and mastering his footwork.
His world changed forever when he found out in 2017 that his mom had cancer and knew he had to step up his duties and responsibilities around the house while his mom was on chemotherapy. Luckily, she would become cancer-free in 2018 and make a strong recovery. Simon used his mother’s cancer diagnosis as extra motivation during his senior year. He didn’t disappoint.
Simon would have a dominant senior season for the (9-10) Ramapo Gryphons. Here are some of his tremendous accolades from his high school career:
2018 Section 1 All-Section Tournament Team
Dan Dinan All-Tournament Team
2018 Rockland County All-County Team
Honorable Mention All-State (2017)
Honorable Mention All-Area (2017)
Honorable Mention All-Region (2017)
Honorable Mention All-Conference (2017)
The playoff journey wasn’t easy for Simon and the crew. Before reaching the title game, they had to beat Ketcham, Clarkstown North/South, and Mamaroneck. In the interview, Simon mentioned how he clanked two free throws with his team down one against Ketcham (an hour's drive) and knew he had to make the third, or his team would end his senior year negatively.
“I drew a foul from halfcourt… Three free throws. The first free throw, I think, goes off the back rim. The second free throw might’ve rimmed in and out. We’re down one with .5 seconds left… It’s like you better make this next free throw, or else you might be walking home from Ketcham.” Simon said.
Luckily, he hit the subsequent free throw that went high off the rim but bounced in. The Gryphons then defeated the Clarkstown South Vikings 49-40. Simon then talked about how his week-long mental slump leading up to their next opponent (Clarkstown North Rams) hindered his performance in practice, from being unable to hit a shot to messing up plays.
“I couldn’t hit a shot…It was all mental; it was really like a mental slump. I couldn’t get any plays right; it was freezing.”
However, he showed his resiliency. Simon got up at 6 a.m. before practices to take extra shots with shooting coach Mike Burgess to regain his confidence, and he remembers Mike saying, “I have a feeling today is going to be a huge game for you.” It turned out he was right.
Simon scored a career-high 32 points on Clarkstown North, with a berth to the county center on the line. His buoyancy to come up big when his team needed him most on the big stage after a lousy shooting week shows a testament to his character and mental fortitude. They then defeated Mamaroneck 47-44 in overtime to make the sectional title game.
Simon led the Gryphons team to the 2018 sectional title game against the Mount Vernon Knights (23-3) at the Westchester County Center, where he played his future college teammate Brandon Scott. Unfortunately, the Gryphons came up short, bringing the gold ball back to Ramapo and losing 75-50.
Despite coming up short, making the section title game was a significant achievement for the Gryphons, who started (2-12) that season before turning the season around at the Dan Dinan tournament, where they won five consecutive games. That 2018 helped bring and uplift the community together along their journey to the title game and showed anything was possible.
After graduating from Ramapo in June 2018, Simon decided to continue his academics and athletic career collegiately at Dominican College for the Chargers to play Division II basketball and major in biology. During Simon’s time at Dominican College, the team won the 2018-19 CACC (Central Athletic Collegiate Conference) Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship after a dominant season of (24-8) overall and (15-4) in conference play.
After playing just 11 games during his first year at Dominican and deciding to work on his game during his sophomore season after NCAA eligibility issues, Simon felt it was time to move on for his mental well-being.
“I just felt like I needed to get out of that situation and put myself… Mentally, be in a better place because I love basketball.”- Simon said.
We also discussed what went into the transfer process, including whether it came down to Ramapo College or SUNY New Paltz, his final two schools. Simon attended the New Paltz campus, going to the games to get a feel for the energy and environment, loving the electric crowds. He initially was in contact with New Paltz his senior year, but he couldn’t get in directly out of high school due to how academically competitive they are.
Simon chose the latter and committed to New Paltz to play for the New Paltz Hawks men's basketball team. Around that time, he trained with basketball trainer Pat Dorilas and our mutual friend Lamont Edwards (another Tremendous 24 member). They’d work on their game for countless hours during those hot summer days to keep sharp during the pandemic.
Unfortunately, Simon tore his meniscus in October 2020, the same month after I interviewed him during a basketball workout. He had surgery in January 2021 and started working out again in April. His speed wasn’t the same. The change didn’t stop there, as Simon changed his major to Political Science with a double minor in Law, Politics, and Sociology. COVID-19 canceled the 2020-21 season for the Hawks, which took away another collegiate season for Simon.
Despite not having the ending he wanted for his collegiate basketball career, he still did many incredible things off the court in the community amid a global pandemic. We reunited at New Paltz in 2021-22, heading into our final year of college, where Anthony and I, along with another longtime mutual friend of ours, Malikh, were in a suite for some time before I went to a different building. The basketball team wanted to go younger that season and let go of Simon and another player as they looked more toward the program's future.
Despite all the obstacles at New Paltz, Simon accomplished many extraordinary things on campus, just a sign of the many things he would do for his local community. Here’s what he accomplished at New Paltz:
BA in Political Science with a Double Minor in Law, Politics, & Sociology
Cum Laude
Judicial Hearing Committee Member
Distinguished Senior in Studen Affairs Award
Student Advocate
President of the Political Science & International Relations Association
Scholar’s Mentorship Program, Mentor
New Paltz Athletes of Color, Head of Unity & Inclusion Department
He was a leader in every sense who never backed down when adversity came his way. For example, he found out about his mother’s cancer diagnosis in high school. Still, he stayed strong for her, decided to leave Dominican College to transfer to New Paltz, changed his major halfway through college, and reinvented himself after basketball amid a global pandemic and social unrest.
In our interview back in 2020, I asked him about some basketball-related quick hitters. I’ll include some here:
Me: “Why did you wear the #3?”
Anthony: “Chris Paul, he’s my favorite player.”
Me: “Who’s your GOAT and why?”
Anthony: “My GOAT is Bron… He’s just a force to be reckoned with.”
Me: “What’s Your All-Time Starting Five?”
Anthony:
PG: Magic Johnson/John Stockton
SG: MJ/Kobe/Wade (Indecisive)
SF: LeBron James
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Kareem/Shaq
I then closed out with the question I closed out with all my Pantheon guests through the years. The legacy question:
Me: “What do you want your legacy to be when they think of the name Anthony Simon at the end of the day?”
Anthony: “Basketball wise or as a person?”
Me: “Both.”
Anthony: “Basketball wise somebody who always worked hard, led by example, looked out for his teammates…Skillwise, my shooting ability because that’s just something I take pride in.”
Anthony then answered the question about how he wants to be remembered:
“As a person…When people think of Anthony Simon, I just want them to think of… Somebody who just looks out for people…Somebody who just tried to get better every day.”
Simon is now embarking on his second year at Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and he is on his way to becoming a phenomenal lawyer who advocates for diversity and inclusion in the community. He’s a prominent leader in the community, constantly formulating community events locally in Spring Valley for the non-profit SVNAACP (Spring Valley National Association For Advancement of Colored People), helping form different events for children in the community he grew up in.
After the interview, I felt relief, like a player who had just scored the winning goal; my confidence in doing the podcast soared, knowing it had been a great start to the Tremendous Twenty-Four series. Simon is courageous, intelligent, articulate, authentic, and cordial, which is why he’s such a great leader. He overcame all the obstacles thrown his way but never quit.
He embodies that Greatness Within.
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