Bucknell hires Clark coach Tyler Simms as men’s basketball assistant
Tyler Simms brings a 91-68 head-coaching record from Clark to Bucknell, adding championship experience to a Bison staff trying to stay near the top of the Patriot League.
Bucknell is adding a coach who has already run his own program and won a conference title, a move that could sharpen the Bison’s recruiting pitch and raise the stakes for fans in Lewisburg and Union County. Tyler Simms joined John Griffin III’s men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach in June 2026, giving Bucknell another experienced voice as it prepares for the next Patriot League season.
Simms arrives after seven seasons as head coach at Division III Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he went 91-68. Clark said Simms led the Cougars to the NEWMAC championship in 2025 and guided the program to five straight tournament appearances from 2022 through 2026. He was hired at Clark in June 2019, and his run there also included three seasons with at least 18 wins, according to HoopDirt. That track record gives Bucknell a coach who has already handled a full program, built continuity and delivered results over multiple seasons.
The move matters in Lewisburg because Bucknell basketball is not just another campus sport. Home games at Sojka Pavilion draw students, alumni and local fans, and the program’s success has real visibility in a town where college athletics helps set the winter rhythm. Bucknell’s 2026-27 staff now lists Griffin, Branden McDonald, Jesse Flannery, Simms, Mike Walley and special adviser Pat Behan, a sign that the Bison are entering the season with a full bench of basketball experience behind the scenes.
That experience is especially relevant after Bucknell’s 2024-25 season, when the Bison finished 18-15 overall and 13-5 in Patriot League play. Bucknell shared the regular-season title with American, then lost to Navy in the Patriot League semifinals. Griffin was named Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2025, so adding Simms looks less like a reset and more like a staff upgrade for a team that already proved it can contend.
For Bucknell, Simms brings more than another assistant to fill out a roster of coaches. He brings head-coaching experience, a championship résumé and recent proof that he can sustain a winning culture, all of which can matter in recruiting conversations with players who want a clear development path. For Union County, the hire is another sign that Bucknell is trying to build on last season’s momentum and keep Sojka Pavilion at the center of the area’s basketball conversation.
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