Former SMU women’s basketball player Akil Simpison ‘14 enters her first season in her third stint with the SMU women’s basketball program in 2026, as she joined the staff as Coordinator of Operations in June.
Simpson served as Assistant Director of Operations during the 2018-19 season, after two seasons as a graduate assistant at SMU (2016-18).
After her playing career at SMU, Simpson spent two seasons playing overseas with stops in the Netherlands, China, Amsterdam and Finland prior to returning to the hilltop as a graduate assistant. In her last stop with Kotka Peli-Karhut in Finland, she ended the season second on the team with 15.9 points per game and a team-high 11.0 rebounds per game.
A 2014 graduate of SMU, Simpson finished her career ranked 15th in program history with 1,234 points scored and 874 rebounds, seventh all-time at SMU. After two seasons playing professionally overseas, Simpson returned to the Hilltop as a graduate assistant for Mays during his first season as head coach.
She had 10 double-doubles during her senior season, helping lead the Mustangs to a second straight postseason appearance, advancing to the second round of the WNIT. Simpson helped direct SMU to its third conference regular-season championship, going 12-4 in Conference USA and 21-10 overall.
Simpson, a native of Duncanville, has deep ties to the DFW Metroplex. Simpson worked for the city of Dallas in between her stints at SMU in multiple positions.
