CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The University of Charleston's men's basketball season opener against visiting Davis & Elkins scheduled for 7:30 tonight has been postponed to a later date this season.

The change came at the request of D&E athletic director Ronnie Palmer after the death of Senators assistant coach Roy F. Simms, a former Elkins High School star athlete in basketball and football.

Simms collapsed during Saturday afternoon's practice and was taken to Davis Memorial Hospital where he died, according to the InterMountain.com website. Simms, who had just taken the assistant coaching position at D&E earlier this year, was in need of both a kidney and heart transplant and was scheduled to go on the transplant list Nov. 30.

Simms earned 12 letters at Elkins High and earned a full Division I scholarship to the University of Detroit. He was co-captain of the basketball and baseball teams at Detroit and ran hurdles on the track team.

The Golden Eagles' next game is with Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. UC and D&E will play the women's game as scheduled at 5:30 p.m. today at Eddie King Gym on UC's campus.

West Virginia State opens a new era under first-year women's coach David Smith at 5:30 p.m. today when the Yellow Jackets visit Seton Hill (Pa.).

Smith has compiled a 30-year career mark of 575-271, ranking him seventh all-time among NCAA Division II coaches in number of wins. In 1996 he led Shippensburg to a runner-up finish in the NCAA tournament. Smith has taken squads to the NCAA tournament 14 times, including six trips while at Bellarmine, the most recent coming in 2008.

The Yellow Jackets, who finished with an 11-16 record last season, were picked to finish 11th out of the 15 teams in the preseason coaches' poll, but return three of their top scorers. Jasmine Blanton averaged 15.5 points and had a team-high 96 assists, Asia Greenleaf, a former Parkersburg South High standout, chipped in 9.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and Jordan Brock, a former Winfield High standout, averaged 9.3 points.

WVU Tech hosts Bluefield (Va.) at 7 tonight at the Neal D. Baisi Athletic Center in Montgomery in a men's basketball matchup.

The Golden Bears (7-2) are coming off an 87-83 victory over Fairmont State last Friday. Tech senior guard David Rawlinson averages 26.2 points to lead four players in double figures.

West Liberty's Alex Falk and Wheeling Jesuit's Ben Siefert shared the WVC men's basketball player of the week honor Monday.

Falk, a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, led the top-ranked Hilltoppers past No. 8 Findlay on the road in the team's lone contest last week. He scored a career-high 37 points and added five steals and three rebounds. The win by WLU marked just the fourth time in nine seasons the Oilers had lost at home.

Siefert, a 6-3 senior guard from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, opened the season with a double-double in a win over Washington Adventist with 40 points and 11 rebounds. In the home-opening victory over Tiffin, Siefert amassed a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.

Concord's Amanda Smith was named the women's player of the week. The 5-8 junior guard from Princeton poured in 30 points on 14-of-21 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out two assists and had a steal in a win over WVU Tech.  Then in a victory over Pitt Johnstown, she netted 21 points and pulled down eight boards.

Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at tatkin...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4811.