Austin Simpson, Sr., Fairfield basketball

Fairfield senior basketball player Austin Simpson is The Ledger athlete of the week for his performance on Dec. 20 at home versus Keokuk where he recorded a triple-double.

Simpson scored 15 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and 3-6 from the foul line, he collected 15 rebounds including 11 defensive and he dished 10 assists while also recording four steals and only two personal fouls, an especially challenging balance to accomplish.

'Whenever you get a triple-double, you have to have great teammates involved with that,” Simpson said admittedly.

'It's kind of instinctual trying to get them the ball and my teammates do a great job of cutting and screening and getting open which helps me out a lot with my passing. We were also well coached and schemed and had about a week to prepare for Keokuk which helped a lot too,” explained Simpson.

Which stat did he enjoy most?

'Probably the assist, not going to lie,” said Simpson with a smile before returning to practice after a 45 second chat about his performance.

'Austin has tremendous vision and is not a low-post player that becomes a blackhole offensively,” described head coach Mick Flattery.

'The guys are cutting and making plays to make him look good and you have to have that balance. People ask if he throws those kind of passes in practice and I say, ‘Yeah,' he was more excited for Collin Breen scoring then when he scores himself.”

Flattery is talking about a mid-court to under-the-hoop bounce-pass that Simpson skipped like a rock across a pond on a calm summer's day.

'When he is vocal, he's the man because he plays multiple sports with them,” added Flattery when discussing Simpson's leadership.

'He loves this sport and he understands that it makes him better at baseball, too.”