INSIDE LOOK: How UT develops bigs; Sims' rise; is Will Baker next?

Inside Denton A. Cooley Pavilion a couple weeks ago, Texas had just finished one of its final summer team workouts. Players received final words from Shaka Smart before breaking to join their position coaches. Soon after, some guards and wings put up extra shots. Meanwhile, UT’s frontcourt players moved towards a group of chairs positioned in front of a video screen just beyond the sideline. It was time for film review with bigs coach Darrin Horn.

It doesn’t take long for an observer to come to a particular conclusion: Jericho Sims, a sophomore big from Minneapolis, Minnesota, does a lot of things well. He also is almost unrecognizable thanks to a new haircut and quality time spent with strength coach Daniel Roose and his staff.

“He looks like a freaking bodybuilder,” said Dylan Osetkowski about Sims. “You go against a player like that… Jarrett (Allen) my first year, Mo (Bamba) my second year, Jericho this year, every day he’s going to get you better.”

Sims, with his usual soft and modest tone, doesn’t make too big of a deal out of his physical development despite looking like a NBA 2k create-a-player.

“We’ve been hitting that weight room hard. I probably gained about 5-7 pounds of muscle. Mostly, it’s just we do a lot of reps and I lift heavy, we lift heavy as a team,” he said. “And it gets you cut. Primarily, from feedback from the nutritionist and strength coach, I’m a good eater. I think that has a lot to do with how I’m going to look.”

He notices the changes in what he can do on the floor because of his improved physicality, but he also knows he has an asset many bigs in the country don’t possess.

“I feel like I can move people out of the way easier, and sometimes guards I just put my arm out there and they can’t move me. It’s really important that I continue to… basically, I just need to maintain this. We’re not body builders,” he said. “A lot of people can be big and all, but that’s not going to help them… I think the main thing is just getting better skill wise. Speed is what you need. Speed kills.”

In one particular instance during their post-practice meeting, Horn, with the help of a video clip, emphasized Sims’s effort and awareness to quickly move from one side of the paint to another in anticipation of a rebounding opportunity in a vacant space. Sims beat his opponent to the spot, and made a play happen.

“This is good, Jericho,” says Horn before he explains to the rest of the group, which includes three true freshmen, how something so small can prove so important. Sims, who is beginning to speak up and shed some of his coat of shyness more often, hides a grin and looks towards the video in approval. For Texas’s bigs, and everyone in the program, the little things are constantly emphasized, and effort is always part of the conversation.

Horn goes on to explain how freshmen need to be aware of and will learn how to do the little things more often. Basically, they’re learning how to play hard consistently at the collegiate level.

“I think I’ve gotten better at playing harder,” said Sims this summer. “It’s a natural thing that happens when you come from high school to college. It’s a lot different environment physically, mentally, waking up early and coming here. It’s a discipline thing to put on the front of your mind when you step on the court.”

It took Mohamed Bamba time to figure that out as it did Jarrett Allen, Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh and Sims. Those players also all have one thing in common: they improved substantially at Texas under the tutelage of Horn.

“Yeah, it was eye-opening experience and I think I won’t be as surprised anymore,” said Sims about his freshman season. “I’ll know what to expect this time around.”

Big 12 opponents can expect Sims to be a real problem to deal with.

Horn went on to show a few more clips. Kamaka Hepa was praised for taking a three-pointer the right way despite it not going in, and encouraged and reminded by Horn taking open looks the right way is always a good thing for Hepa no matter the result. The group shared a laugh at Royce Hamm, Jr. getting away with a travel thanks to a happy pivot foot. Jaxson Hayes is reminded the difference between raising his hands vertically on defense in the interior and thinking he did so but stretching diagonally over the head of an opponent, creating an easy chance for the offensive player to draw a foul.

Horn points out no one in the Big 12 will be able to get a shot up and over Hayes if he, who checks in at 7-0, raises his hands vertically. Well, that’s not quite true. Horn adds there is one guy – Sims, who has a rare ability to elevate so quickly and so high in the air he can’t be stopped when he has quality position.

While the first clip Horn showed the Texas bigs was a simple play, it represented more. Sims is next in line to slide into the role Bamba vacated, and become UT’s next big man to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

And make no mistake, it’s going to happen after this season.

Hyperbole for a player that averaged just 5.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game over 18.4 minutes? Some might feel that way, especially those viewing from afar; but it wouldn’t be the first time Sims has been overlooked.

As a member for a loaded D1Minnesota AAU team on the adidas circuit, Sims often had games when he barely was able to touch the basketball because he was on a team with so many other high-major prospects. Unsurprisingly if you’ve spent any time around him, Sims played the role he was asked, which occasionally created box scores that suggested he wasn’t a top prospect. Shaka Smart and Horn orchestrated an aggressive, early move to recruit Sims and became one of the few big-name high-majors to prioritize him, beating the likes of North Carolina to the punch.

Last season, Sims was often a role player that came off the bench to fill in for Bamba or Osetkowski, who both averaged 30 minutes or more. Sometimes, Texas experienced with a three-big lineup, but that didn’t appear often. Sims would show flashes of complete dominance, and also signs of a player from a private school in Minnesota making the jump to Big 12 basketball. Although Sims doesn’t say much, which is changing, he is highly aware of his role, and when he needs to change it to help his team.

When Bamba was injured late last season, Sims exploded onto the scene. Over his final six games as a freshman, Sims, who played over 30 minutes in four of those contests, averaged 9.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, 0.8 steals and shot 65.7 percent from the floor.

“That started when Mo was sitting out for a few games,” responded Sims about realizing his team needed him to take a starring-type role. “It let people know that I can step up too and come through for us and help us win. That’s basically how it all it started, and I think I did a pretty good job of that. Now, whatever my best game was last year, I want to repeat it every game.”

After playing a huge role in a win over Oklahoma State at home to keep UT’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive, Sims didn’t shy away from the challenge of playing at Kansas, and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. The following game, he scored a career-high 17 points in a must-win situation at home against West Virginia, which was followed by a career-high 15 rebounds in a win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament.

Of course, who could forget this monstrous dunk at home by Sims over one of the league’s best bigs, and one of the nation’s best shot-blockers, Sagaba Konate? Konate had his way with Texas in Morgantown earlier in the season with six blocks. Sims had the last laugh, signaling his maturation on the basketball floor and exemplifying he’s capable of being the league’s best bigs because of his freakish combination of athleticism, skill and size.

Sims wants to repeat how he finished the season every time out this upcoming season, and Texas is challenging him to do just that. The sophomore’s play is screaming superlatives this summer, but it wasn’t the only thing doing more talking.

“He’s made a lot of progress. It’s been good seeing him take strides vocally with his teammates. He’s not going to be confused with Tom Brady, but he is a guy that’s opening up more and speaking his mind more. We’ve challenged Jericho a lot more so far this year than we did his freshman year just because really his freshman year was all about making the adjustment to college,” said Smart. “It was such a big jump for him. He didn’t play in a particularly competitive high school conference. Now, it’s been, ‘Hey, Jericho, you have to be better at X, Y, Z,’ and his response to that challenge has been largely good. He’s had his days where I think he’s had to be self-reflective, and he’ll go home and really think about the fact he needs to be better at certain things. Overall, he’s been really good.”

What’s next for Sims? Obviously, he wants to become a consistent force, and replicate the types of performances he finished 2017-18 with. Sims is much more than just a freakish jumper, rebounder, and dunker, though. He grew up handling the ball often in high school, and has a surprising amount of skill; making plays around the elbows, especially against a defense sagging off, is something Sims is capable of, and focusing on.

“Yeah, and that’s just how I came up playing. When you’re playing at the park or pickup, there is usually no post men. It’s just freestyle. That’s what I come from doing,” said Sims, referencing his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim or use a mid-range jumper. “I’m used to handling the ball and dribbling. If someone sees me do that in the game, they might be surprised. But I don’t surprise myself with that. I brought the ball up a lot (in high school).”

What might surprise Texas fans this season is Sims’s improved stroke at the free throw line, which includes more arc, better touch, and could translate to more opportunities to make defenders pay both at the line and in open spaces in the half court.

“He’s telling me that,” responded Sims when asked if he’s telling Smart to run some plays for him. “That’s something I look forward to – getting the ball in new places, expanding out to the mid-range, perimeter. But I want to do more of what I did last year. Not all about new stuff.”

So, when Sims is asked to step up and play a vital role for the 2018-19 Longhorns, he’ll know he’s been there before.

“Yeah, I think I would definitely like to do that,” said Sims about playing a starring role for next year’s team. “Everyone should want to, but I really think that I can do that and whatever it takes to make us win, I’ll be the guy to do it and make it happen.”

Don’t bet against him. And enjoy him in college while you can.

EMPHASIS ON RELATIONSHIPS BY TEXAS COACHING STAFF KEY TO UNLOCKING POTENTIAL OF BIG MEN
Sure, players like Bamba and Allen arrived at Texas as five-star prospects and McDonald’s All-Americans. So, they arrived ahead of the game, and on an expedited path towards the NBA Draft. However, being selected in the first round isn’t a guarantee.

For example, Allen, selected 22nd overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, was a part of a high school class that included five-star frontcourt players Marques Bolden, Wenyen Gabriel, Omari Spellman, Sacha Killeya-Jones, and Ike Anigbogu. Bolden has yet to carve out a starting role at Duke; Gabriel went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft after an up-and-down career at Kentucky, and signed a two-way contract recently with the Kings; Spellman was selected 30th overall in the 2018 draft; Killeya-Jones is on his second school after transferring from Kentucky, and Anigbogu was one of the final picks in the 2017 NBA Draft, 47th overall, after a one-and-done season at UCLA.

After his rookie season, Allen is arguably the best big man that was selected in the 2017 draft. Bamba was just selected sixth overall. Even going back to Smart and Horn’s first season at Texas there was signs of real development. Cameron Ridley was playing his best basketball prior to injury, and Prince Ibeh stepped in so well he was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Before any of that on-court development happens, Horn and Smart place a compassionate, absolute emphasis in connecting with the player.

“I think before anything coach Horn or anyone on our staff does on the court, it’s about relationships. That’s a common thread with Cam and Prince. And those guys were different because they were seniors and it was the backend of their career and we tried to invest in those guys and invest in relationships with those guys. And then Jarrett, obviously a guy that we really tried to get to know as a person and appreciate as a person,” said Smart. “Mo, just being a unique, independent thinker that he is. And Jericho. If you don’t have a relationship with Jericho, you’re not coaching him. Before anything basketball-wise, it’s the relationship piece and getting them to buy into what we’re asking them to do.”

And Texas believes, wholeheartedly, that relationship must begin off the court before it can generate results on the court.

“You go over to coach Horn’s house, you’re going to get fed really well. He knows what we like. He’s on the grill. His wife makes a really good banana pudding I like,” said Sims about the connection he has with his position coach. “We probably go over there once a month in the season. With the coaches, they’re really big on opening their house to you. If you allow someone into your house, it really shows it’s not just a basketball thing. It’s they appreciate you as a person and they want to connect with you.”

Once the relationship, which begins in recruiting, takes shape, then on-court development rapidly follows as UT’s bigs understand what it takes to develop at the collegiate level.

“They’re good players, and they all have a common trait of getting better fast. Every one of those guys – Jarrett, Mo, Jericho – came in here like most kids coming out of high school, lacking a full understanding of what goes in work-wise to being great at this level first. But all three of them, and coach Horn deserves a ton of credit for this, very quickly gained a much better understanding of what they need to do work-wise,” stated Smart. “Basketball-wise, Darrin has done a tremendous job of simplifying what are the two, three, four core components for each individual player that we can really, really focus on, talk about on a daily basis, watch video on once the season starts on a daily basis, and really hammer home and those guys get better quick. When we simplify and focus on those things, those guys have really improved.”

As was the case during a recent film session following one of the final team workouts of the summer offseason, Horn keeps it real.

“I think his relationship with the bigs is key. He’s a great coach. He’s one of my favorite coaches that I’ve had; but he can also be an asshole, and not in a bad way," Osetkowski said affectionately. "You need that. You definitely need that. He’s not going to sugarcoat anything. He’s not going to tell you one thing and say another. He’s going to tell you what you need to hear. And last year that was from Mo, to me, to Jericho, to Royce, Ryan (McClurg), everybody. Same with this year. He’s been on all the bigs constantly trying to instill in us a work-ethic, mindset that every night we’re the best group of bigs on the court. He’s been terrific. He’s been terrific with everyone this summer.”

Horn will be the first to energetically praise the good, and the first to animatedly critique the bad. No matter what, though, Longhorn bigs know he’s in their corner, and will get the most out of them if they listen and compete.

“Coach Horn, he’s been around a lot. He’s been a head coach before. He demands a lot of us,” Sims stated. “He’s not going to take ‘I can’t’ for an answer. He’s going to demand the best out of us and force us to get the best out of each other.”

Consider the types of different personalities Horn and Smart have coached in the frontcourt too. Allen, Sims, and Ridley all fall into a category of being very quiet, and at times shy. But they showed or are showing an impressive motor and competitiveness at Texas while also emerging as leaders. When Bamba arrived at Texas, he sounded like a 15-year NBA veteran when meeting with the media. A highly intelligent and confident young man, Bamba didn’t lack personality, words, or charisma. Like all freshmen, though, he went through tough times on the court, and Horn and Smart were able to turn his potential into consistent production. During his senior year, Ibeh could probably be described as jaded with basketball. His career hadn’t gone like he wanted, and his minutes never jumped until he needed to step up for Ridley. Known as a highly intelligent thinker that probably asked ‘why?’ a little too much at times, the Texas coaches brought the best out of Ibeh before his collegiate clock ran out.

“One thing he always says is if we test him and mess up and don’t do the right things, don’t follow the script, he’s going to let you know. If you do do it, he’s going to be the happiest guy in the gym,” Sims said. “You can see it. He gets animated. He always wants the best for us.”

WHO WILL HAVE NEXT AFTER SIMS?
It's never too early to look ahead. Although the Longhorns are still months away from the start to the 2018-19 season, recruiting is always a part of the hoops discussion, and this weekend is a huge one for the Longhorns. That’s because top big man target, and local product, Will Baker is on the 40 Acres for an official visit.

Texas, obviously, really wants Baker, and the nation’s No. 19 prospect could be the next super-talented frontcourt player to slide into a vacated spot thanks to a NBA departure. Earlier this week, Baker narrowed his list to his final four teams: Texas, UCLA, Stanford, and Georgetown. For a while now, it seems UCLA and Texas are the two in best shape for Baker’s eventual commitment and signature. The 7-0 lefty already made a trip to UCLA for an official visit, and most believe the Bruins and Longhorns are neck-and-neck currently.

Baker, who visited Texas earlier this summer to tour its film school, is a uniquely skilled big man capable of making a substantial impact in college before likely enjoying a long NBA career. Yes, he can step outside and shoot the three at an impressive clip, and he’s also the best big man at the foul line in the entire 2019 class. However, Baker also has a rare handle for a player his size, and after a move to play for Team Hardwork on the Under Armour circuit, the local product began to show he could bring the ball up the floor, facilitate offense, and is a crafty, talented passer. He did this while competing in the paint for rebounds as well, and showing some impressive back-to-the-basket ability.

Would he immediately dominate the collegiate game for stretches like Bamba did early on? Probably not as often. However, with the right development, Baker could flourish as a dynamic player on offense, and his untapped athleticism could make him a strong defender as well. And because of his skill-set, he’d be able to play alongside other bigs, like Jaxson Hayes, and space the floor with other frontcourt shooters, like Kamaka Hepa.

As for the Longhorns, they seem to check all of the boxes Baker is looking at. Based on previous conversations, the big man values relationship with head coach and coaching staff, wants to study film and be a part of a top film school, has his eyes on openings on the depth chart, and has already mentioned players like Matt Coleman he could see himself playing with. Texas, like Allen and Bamba showed, isn’t afraid to let its bigs move around the perimeter.

So, will Texas win out? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.

As Texas prepares for Sims to have an outstanding sophomore season that will surely garner NBA attention, it will need someone to step into that spot and become next in line to go from burnt orange to first round in the pros. No matter what, the Longhorns need a frontcourt player to at the very least be in the rotation as Hayes, a very athletic, bouncy player Texas is excited about with very high upside and some skill that could play alongside Baker, is the only true big projected to return, assuming Sims moves on.