It was quite forgettable, albeit Florida National head coach James “JJ” Thatcher still recalls the first time he encountered Antonio Sims.
Thatcher had received word from Justin Furr (now an assistant at FGCU) about a vasty overlooked and waterbug-quick 5-foot-8 guard.
With his boundless energy and extraordinary vertical explosions, Sims had the potential to perhaps shatter the initial expectations set for him.
Furr, then at Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., extended Thatcher an offer to work a team camp at the school and see the unheralded prospect for himself.
“Two minutes into drills, he (Sims) rolled his ankle,” Thatcher recalled. “It was tragic. Nobody got to see the kid play the whole camp. The timing could not have been any worse.”
Fast forward to a week later. On his way to Mullins Top 100 Camp in Kansas City, Thatcher called up Sims simply to gauge his whereabouts.
There wasn’t a real concrete desire or need to recruit him.
Thorough road trips can get a bit tedious. On a seemingly endless highway, that boredom can be solved through simple phone calls.
While thumbing through a bevy of contacts and touching base with those in the know, he figured he would give the kid a ring and see what was up.
“I started off by saying, ‘look, I don’t need you part of my team or program–I just want to check in and see how you were doing,'” he recalls.
“I told him I thought he was a talented player but didn’t get a chance to show anything out there at Barry. We discussed a few things, I did some due diligence, and the ensuing week he was on a plane to Miami with his mother. I always said you could find players any place, anywhere. Under every rock. you just have to be willing to look. Coach Furr was the first point of contact, he lifted up the stone to make it all possible.”
Sims lack of height and lack of eye test passing attributes kept him in the dark on the recruiting front.
His efficiency scoring (26 points on 10-for-19 shooting against Ava Maria, 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting against Johnson University, 24 points on 9-for-13 against Yellowstone Christian, 24 points on 12-for-17 shooting against Southeastern University, 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting against then-No.14 Pikeville) and instinctive, full throttle style enabled Thatcher to take the straitjacket off him and let the high octane guard go.
“I sit back at times and wonder how the kid didn’t play at a Division-I junior college, he’s a legit Division-I player,” said Thatcher, who certainly has the reputation of a high strung hype artist when it comes to his players but has simultaneously unveiled several diamond in the rough caliber recruits during his time in South Florida.
“Many coaches rely on height and type, I get that. I try and rely on kids who can get the job done no matter how tall you are or how small you are. (Sims) came in and averaged 18 points for us as a second team All American.”
Following a one-year sabbatical due to personal and academic reasons, the Chicago native has re-assumed his role as a guy who can fill up a stat sheet on any given night.
“He’s picked up right where he’s left off, like he hasn’t missed a beat at all,” Thatcher said.
“The most important aspect of his season and his time here is he will graduate this year. He’s going to walk out of here and become one of the only people in his family to have a degree. I think that feat is more impressive than everything else.”
During a pulsating 91-90 loss to Warner University last month, Sims scored a game-best 39 points (18-for-18 FT) and doled out six assists.
With the emergence of shootist Kenneth Santos, who hit 140+ 3-pointers as a freshman last season and high-rising transfer Nico Rojas, Sims is cognizant a different scoring leader could emerge every night.
