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Simpson finds home on women's side

Back when I was playing basketball at Northwestern in the mid-1990s, Eric Simpson was busy doing the same.

He was a guard for the men's basketball team.

"You guys were good," Simpson told me. "Thinking back to your teams, we would definitely take some of you guys, including you, Trish, for our team right now. If we could."

Simpson, already a sweet-talking recruiter, is now in his first year as the head coach of the Loyola University women's basketball team.

It's ironic because until a few years ago, the closest Simpson got to the women's game was watching bits and pieces of our practices as his team was either leaving Welsh-Ryan Arena or arriving for their own practices.

"This definitely is surprising. Back then, I guess I never thought I'd be doing this," said Simpson, whose Ramblers got their biggest victory in the history of the program last month by knocking off No. 14 Wisconsin-Green Bay 65-63. They are 11-10 and have already surpassed last year's win total of 8.

"It's funny the way life takes you sometimes," Simpson added.

Indeed, it is. For most Division I men's basketball players, this isn't a route they would usually even consider. If they want to coach, they typically stay on the men's side.

Then again, Simpson hasn't followed a conventional script since he left Evanston.

When he graduated in 1994, Simpson wasn't even thinking about coaching. Not women, nor men, for that matter.

He majored in history and wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with his life.

Then, his dad got sick.

"My dad became terminally ill," said Simpson, who grew up on Chicago's North Side and went to St. Ignatius High School. "I went back home so that I could take care of him during the day while my mom worked.

"Pretty much the only thing I could do was work a job that would let me start later in the day, so I started coaching and doing the after-school thing."

Simpson was able to sign on at Loyola Academy, where he coached boys basketball at the lower levels. He then coached boys for a few years at St. Ignatius before getting a job at Marquette Catholic High School in Michigan City, Ind. as the head boys basketball coach and athletic director.

"By then, I had caught the (coaching) bug," said Simpson, who eventually got hired to be the director of basketball operations by the men's basketball team at Loyola.

That was three years ago.

"It was a great job and I had a lot of fun, but after doing all that coaching (at the high school level), I missed being as close to the game as I used to be," Simpson said. "When you're in operations, it's not quite the same as being (an assistant coach). You don't have that interaction with the players on the floor."

So when a position on the Loyola women's basketball staff opened up the next season, Simpson jumped. He didn't even think about the fact that he had never coached women.

"I just wanted to get back on the floor. I wanted to get back to coaching players," Simpson said. "I really love teaching the game and I wanted to get back to that."

Now, Simpson is teaching his own brand of basketball.

After just two seasons as an assistant with the women's team, Simpson was promoted to head coach last April, replacing the woman who hired him, Shannon Reidy.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for this opportunity," Simpson said. "I couldn't be happier and, you know what, I've had a lot of fun coaching the women. I've found that the game might be a little different (from the men's game), but it's still all about dealing with different personalities, pushing different buttons for different people.

"Coaching is all about connecting with people, whether it's men or women."

Now, make no mistake, Simpson isn't trying to market his versatility here. He's not angling for a job back on the men's side.

"I couldn't be happier with where I'm at," Simpson said. "Even my friends, former teammates of mine, are having a good time with this. I can't believe how many of them suddenly know all about Horizon League women's basketball. They come to the games, they bring their families.

"I really want to build a winning program here and I just hope we're successful enough for me to have the option to be here for a long time."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com