Simmons, Hunter remind us that it's not all about the game

These are trying times for the 12 Division I men's basketball teams in Illinois.

At a combined 32 games below the .500 mark and with an average RPI rating of 178, none of our schools need to bother worrying about whether the NCAA Tournament committee will give them an at-large bid.

Perhaps Illinois State, if it can reel in Drake during the second half of the Missouri Valley race, could build a legitimate argument that it deserves its first berth since 1998.

Overall, that's not good.

In barren times like these, then, it's nice to remember that college basketball isn't all about March Madness:

• Take former DePaul forward Bobby Simmons, for example.

Not only did he bring some of his Milwaukee Bucks teammates to sit behind the Blue Demons' bench during Saturday night's game at Marquette, he brought a $50,000 check for DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto.

It represented the down payment on Simmons' $250,000 promise to endow a scholarship at DePaul. It's just one of the things the Chicago native is doing with the Bobby Simmons Rising Stars Foundation.

"I'm pretty much just giving it back," Simmons said. "There are lots of kids who want to go to college that can't afford it."

Simmons' scholarship will be available to any Chicago native who carries at least a 3.0 GPA and helps out in the community. He made sure to note it's available to non-athletes as well as athletes.

Incidentally, for college coaches who are looking to round out their recruiting in the Class of 2018, Simmons' son, Bakari, just turned 8 years old. He's already 4-feet-11.

"He's a player," said Simmons, who then added with a laugh, "He's gotta work on his rebounding."

• IUPUI coach Ron Hunter didn't write a $250,000 check the other day, but he might have made more of an impact simply by declining to wear his socks and shoes to work.

Hunter went barefoot for IUPUI's win over Oakland on Thursday night to raise awareness for Samaritan's Feet, a nonprofit group that's trying to find 10 million pairs of shoes for unshod children around the globe.

Hunter's simple act, according to the Indianapolis Star, brought in donations of more than 110,000 pairs of shoes.

That nearly tripled Hunter's initial goal -- and his team won the game to boot.

"My feet hurt so bad," Hunter said after the game. "But imagine a child or a human going their whole lives without shoes."

To learn more or to donate $20 for a pair of shoes, click www.samaritansfeet.org.

• The reason I received the chance to talk to Bobby Simmons about his donation is because I'm back on the DePaul beat (and Northwestern beat and Loyola beat).

Adam Rittenberg, our star reporter on those topics and so many others, has made the move to espn.com to cover college sports.

Here's hoping he does as good a job for the "Worldwide Leader" as he did at the Herald.

Mazel Tov, Hippie.