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Tre Simmons

After graduating from Garfield High School and briefly attending Bellevue Community College, Simmons dropped out and was out of both school and organized basketball.

"I wasn't even going to school," Simmons recalled after his second day of practice with the Seattle SuperSonics. "I was out doing other things I wasn't supposed to be doing. I was like, 'This isn't going to get me anywhere.' I went to school and got more mature and followed my dream."

"I went to school and got more mature and followed my dream." Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

It's been a long path that has carried him here to The Furtado Center, the Sonics and Storm training facility, even if it's only a few minutes away from where he grew up playing basketball. Simmons played for two community colleges, one in Odessa, Texas and later Green River CC, before signing to play at the University of Washington.

With the Huskies, Simmons joined with former high-school teammates Will Conroy and Brandon Roy, along with local products Nate Robinson and Mike Jensen, to take the Huskies from Pac-10 afterthoughts during the four years prior to Simmons' arrival to an NCAA Tournament team each of Simmons' two years and Pac-10 Tournament Champions and number one seed in the Tournament as a senior.

At each step along the way, Simmons has had to fight for his opportunity. The NBA will be no different. Despite being named All-Pac-10 as a senior, Simmons went undrafted last June. After playing for the Atlanta Hawks entry in the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league, Simmons accepted the Sonics offer to attend training camp.

With five other players fighting for at most one spot - and maybe not any - on the Sonics final roster, the odds are against Simmons. No one questions his ability to shoot the basketball (he holds the single-season UW record with 80 3-pointers), but Simmons will have to show the Sonics he can be a versatile contributor.

"He's just got to develop his game, I'd say, all around - a little better handle, a little better defense and he'll go from there," said Sonics Coach Bob Weiss. "We know he's a good enough shooter. He's got to learn the other phases of the game.

"He's coming up against a really tough backcourt. We've got a lot of good twos and threes. He's competing with (invitee Alex) Scales for that position, and there's no guarantee he (Scales) will make it."

Simmons is confident, noting that he was able to successfully play the point at times for the Hawks this summer.

"Salim (former Pac-10 rival Stoudamire) was on our team," said Simmons. "When he got tired, coach would tell me to get the ball and bring it up, because the other guards were kind of having problems. I think I showcased that (ability)."

The number of players in an NBA training camp works against Simmons. During the Sonics morning scrimmage, he came in late, after the players who started the scrimmage had already gotten warm. Along with a slight knee problem that kept him from getting lift, that conspired to hold Simmons to 0-for-3 shooting.

"It is tough, but you've got to be mentally prepared for that," said Simmons. "Just like in the real game, when players come in like that, three or four minutes off the bench, you've got to be ready."

No matter what, Simmons won't hesitate to show the team what he can do.

"Even if I miss," he said, "I've got to keep shooting, because that's what I do best."

"When I first came in, we went to the tournament, so I think we set the foundation. I'm going to always look at it like that." Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Simmons isn't going through his first training camp alone. Conroy, in camp with the Los Angeles Lakers, is also looking to catch on as an undrafted free agent, while Robinson, a first-round pick, is a rookie with the New York Knicks. The three former teammates and close friends speak daily, but according to Simmons, basketball usually isn't the topic.

"Me and Will, we don't talk about basketball, really. Nate neither," he said. "There's so much basketball going on during the day, we just talk about other things."

The three players are part of a Seattle basketball revolution. A decade ago, the only area players in the NBA were a young Doug Christie and veteran James Edwards, a Roosevelt High and UW product nearing the end of his 19-year NBA career.

In recent years, Franklin's Jason Terry, Rainier Beach's Jamal Crawford and Michael Dickerson (Federal Way) have given the NBA more Seattle flavor, but all three players went elsewhere to play their college ball. Conroy, Robinson and Simmons (and to a lesser extent Martell Webster, who signed to play at UW before entering the NBA Draft directly out of Seattle Prep) reflect a whole new breed of Seattle born and raised ballers.

"That gives kids a chance to say, 'I can make it too,' because we grew up around the same neighborhood and played basketball together," said Simmons. "They want to be like us. It's saying Seattle has got as many good players as they do in New York or Chicago, places like that."

Fittingly, as Simmons is bidding to become the first Sonics player from Seattle since UW product Steve Hawes in the early 1980s, Hawes' nephew, Spencer, is extending the Seattle basketball tradition. Yesterday, Hawes, considered one of the top prep prospects in the nation, announced that he is spurning North Carolina's recruiting efforts to attend UW.

Simmons is excited about Hawes' commitment and proud to have been a major part of the Huskies' rapid ascent to the national elite.

"For him to stay here, it's big for the Huskies to keep this winning tradition going on that we've built the last couple of years," said Simmons.

"I think we set the foundation. When I first came in, we went to the tournament, so I think we set the foundation. I'm going to always look at it like that."