With his outside shot finally falling,\Valley star Vernon Simmons\has a . . .\JUMP ON HIS FUTURE.

Byline: Kathy Orton Special to the Daily News

The scouting report on Vernon Simmons coming out of Simi Valley High School was this: 6-foot-6 forward, strong rebounder, good fundamentals, no jump shot.

That last part caught most coaches' attention. Without a dependable jump shot, no college wanted to take a chance on Simmons. Who needs an undersized low-post player?

"All the schools wanted to see, 'Can he dribble? Does he have an outside jumper?' " Simmons said. "I had to answer those questions."

So Simmons, who had offers to play at Division II and III schools, enrolled at Valley College, where he has flourished. In the Monarchs' free-flowing system, he has had the opportunity to shoot the ball more and has developed into a better shooter.

As word spread that Simmons had a jump shot, a few colleges began calling and writing. Then more wrote. Now a day hardly passes without Simmons hearing interest from some school.

"It's an avalanche at this point," Valley coach Doug Michelson said.

So far, 13 schools have expressed interest in Simmons, including Oregon State, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Saint Mary's College, Cal State Fullerton, Wyoming, Montana, Northern Arizona and UC Irvine. Missouri-Kansas City writes him so often that recently the coach, apparently having run out of things to say, sent a card with one line on it: "Vernon, you're a stud!"

Simmons claims he always had a jump shot. He just never had a chance to shoot it. As one of the tallest players on his high school team, his role was to play close to the basket. But, as much as he likes to bang around in the paint, he doesn't like to be confined to it.

"In high school, it was a very organized game," Simmons said. "I only played in the post. When I went to the park, I was like Tim Hardaway. In an organized setting, I got nervous about (shooting from outside)."

He had watched his former Simi Valley teammate Craig Griffin, who now attends Fresno Pacific, develop into an outside-shooting threat during his two years at Valley. So when Simmons arrived on campus before his freshman year, he began working with assistant coach Mike Johnson, now at Oxnard College, on his shot.

"He had an awkward shot," Johnson said. "We didn't try to change the whole shot. We just made some refinements. We worked on it every day. He was a diligent worker at it."

According to Johnson, Simmons jumped lazily. The power in his shot came from his arms, not his body. He was throwing the ball instead of shooting it. Once he was able to incorporate his legs and arms into his shooting motion, his consistency improved.

Last season, Simmons averaged 10.2 points per game. That number is up to 14.8 this year. His field-goal percentage has risen from 49.5 percent to 52.8. He has made 13 of 35 3-point shots.

"His self-confidence has taken off," Michelson said. "I think he brought in quite a few skills. He needed to be put into an environment where he could shoot the ball more. In our system, he has a little bit more freedom."

Now that he has answered the questions, Simmons is ready to move up to the Division I level. But no matter what school he plays for, the opponents' scouting report is sure to read this way: 6-6 forward, strong rebounder, can shoot the ball.

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Valley College's Vernon Simmons (dribbling) says confidence has improved his jump shot. Phil McCarten / Daily News