Like father, like son: SDSU freshman Tae Simmons is a rebounding machine

Lavar Simmons grew up in the Bahamas and played college basketball at The Master’s University, an NAIA school in Santa Clarita.

College is usually where basketball ends for most NAIA players, but Simmons, an undersized power forward at 6-foot-6 and not a proficient scorer, carved out a 10-year professional career overseas, most of it in the French second division while raising a young family.

There’s an expression in French: Les chiens ne font pas des chats.

The literal translation: Dogs don’t make cats.

The English equivalent: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

A decade later, 6-foot-6 Tae Simmons is an undersized freshman power forward at San Diego State who looks, plays and, perhaps most notably, thinks like his father.

“We’re pretty similar,” said Simmons, whose Aztecs ho