April 11, 2007

WACO, Texas - Baylor received a signed National Letter of Intent to play basketball from Delbert Simpson of Tyler, Texas, head coach Scott Drew announced Wednesday.

"We are very pleased to add Delbert to our program," Drew said. "He provides our team with another athlete in the frontline who can score and rebound. As the son of a pastor, Delbert's character and background are a great fit for Baylor University and our basketball program."

Simpson joins Baylor after playing two seasons at Tyler Junior College, where he averaged 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds as a sophomore in 2006-07. He helped coach Mike Marquis and the Apaches to an 18-12 record and the Region XIV Tournament quarterfinals. Simpson was named an All-Region XIV honorable mention selection.

As a redshirt freshman in 2005-06, Simpson averaged 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. Simpson sat out his first year at Tyler after transferring from New Mexico State prior to the 2004-05 season.

Simpson lettered four years at John Tyler High School under head coach Carl Love. He earned honorable mention all-state honors as a junior and senior and was named District 11-5A Defensive Player of the Year.

Simpson is Baylor's third signee of the 2007 recruiting class. He joins two freshmen signees from the early period: LaceDarius Dunn of Monroe, La., and Fred Ellis of Sacramento, Calif.