1 on 1 with UNCW senior basketball star Jaylen Sims

Sims took the road less traveled by when he decided to address adversity instead of run from it, now he and the Seahawks are reaping the benefits
Jake Eichstaedt,

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – Jaylen Sims says he currently has one thing on his mind: Championship.

It’s not far-fetched. The now de facto point forward leads the first-place team in points, rebounds, and is second in assists (shout out Mike Okauru). But more importantly, the Seahawks sit at 9-0 in CAA play and didn’t lose a single game in the month of January. On Monday, they just broke the school record with their 12th consecutive win.

During that run, Sims hit a buzzer beater at James Madison that earned him a spot on ESPN’s Sportscenter Top Ten Plays and he scored his 1,000th point as a Seahawk.

It’s an exciting time to be at Trask Coliseum. Dan Spears with the Star News shared the following on Twitter from Monday’s win against Drexel:

 

The season’s trajectory changed after a 29 point loss at Jacksonville on December 11th – and with it – maybe the trajectory of the program. A year ago, the team was not as successful on the court, not as close off the court, and Sims had just been told his season was over via a fractured leg that needed surgery and an 8 month-long recovery. The 6 foot 6 senior from Charlotte has spent his whole collegiate career in Wilmington. Before this season, the UNCW teams he was apart of had a combined record of 27-55 over three years.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Jaylen Sims says of the recent success.

“Any type of injury is difficult. I feel the hardest part is the rehab or mental part. At first it was hard for me. A lot of times, basketball was my outlet. If things weren’t going right in my outside life, I would just go to the court and shoot. With the injury, I wasn’t able to do that.”

With the metaphorical and literal losses racking up, Sims could have kicked the tires on other opportunities elsewhere. After last college basketball season, almost 1,300 student-athletes were in the transfer portal.

However, the potential CAA 2022 player of the decided to run toward adversity, and not run from it.

“I am thankful for the rehab process. I really had to find out who I truly was as a person. I found out a lot about myself and have matured a lot as a man. It was definitely hard, but I want to salute my athletic trainer sand my surgeons. They did a great job with me and I feel so much better now.”

Now, Sims is proving to be a winner and a leader. That leadership role has also manifested a closer Seahawk unit.

Sims admits the team wasn’t that close off the court, and it showed on the court. While rehabbing, he knew that had to change if the Seahawks wanted success.

“I could have left, but I wanted to win in Wilmington. This program is a winning program with a winning tradition and I wanted to bring that back here.”

“The main focus was trying to get the guys closer as a group off the court, because when you are close off the court that is when you can build that chemistry on the court. This summer it was group chats, bowling, movies, dinner at my house, dinner and watching a game at Jaylen Fornes’s house, playing games at Mike’s house. Little things like that that made the guys come together and get closer. Now, we are super close. If you come in the locker room it’s super loud, everyone is yelling and making jokes, we are listening to music. It’s just a great atmosphere. I love being here. I look forward to the post game celebrations. I think everyone does. The energy is awesome, and that helps our program.”

Another reason Sims didn’t look to leave Wilmington was the relationship he” has with the man at the helm, Takayo Siddle. Sims says the greatest thing the second-year head coach does for him is shoot straight and not tell the lone 4-year-senior on the squad what he wants to hear, but rather tells Sims what he needs to hear.

“He always critiques me, telling me how I can get better. Other coaches just tell you what you want to hear and not really work with you as a player and make you the player that you need to be. Coach Siddle does that for me and all the coaches do that for me.”

Another thing Siddle has done for Sims is put the ball in his hands. He is listed as a forward, but by usage, is the team’s primary ball handler.

“In high school I played the point guard position, so when coach asked me to play point guard I was ready for it. And last year when Shykeim (Phillips), Mike (Okauru) and I split the point guard minutes. Whatever the team wanted, I was going to do. I feel like I am adjusting well, at first I didn’t really know when to pass or shoot, but I am getting more comfortable and taking what the defense gives me.”

Clearly, he is comfortable. In his last 10 games, Sims is averaging 17.9 points per game and a 1.5 assist to turnover ratio on 42% shooting playing over 35 minutes a game. He also scored his 1000th point as a Seahawk and hit a buzzer beater on January 20th, netting him the top play of the day on ESPN.

“It was surreal. Definitely very humbling experiences. I am just grateful to God for allowing me to be here first off and allowing me to hit that shot. That shot was crazy, and by God’s grace it went it. But the one thing about me, I never try to get too high or too low and stay steady. With college basketball, shoot, it can be very high like we just saw and it can be very low. But it’s been awesome, I can’t lie. I love it.”

It’s hard not to be on a high about this UNCW team. Seahawks test uncharted waters with their new school record 12-game win streak Thursday at 6-16 Elon.

Categories: Sports

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