Basketball fans, today marks the 11th week of the HoriZone PC series, which is a tribute to every current Horizon League coach in the style of video games. This week, we are featuring Ryan Sims, an assistant coach for the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne.
High school: Sims played at Snider High School from 2002 through 2006 in his hometown of Fort Wayne, IN. He was an All-Conference performer from his sophomore through his senior years, named All-State in the state of Indiana as a junior and senior, and named both conference MVP and a McDonald’s All-American nominee as a senior. Sims was also ranked as the nation’s 23rd-best point guard in 2006 by Prep Spotlight and 78th overall best player by Rivals.com.
Sims played his freshman season under head coach Dan Dakich, and that’s where we kick things off in College Hoops 2K7. For the 2006-07 season, Sims played in 28 of the team’s 31 games (12 starts) and averaged 2.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and 12 minutes per game while shooting 45 percent from downtown (18-of-40).
Sims got the starting assignment in his NCAA debut on November 11, 2006 in a 89-52 season-opening win over Division III opponent Denison, scoring 12 points while going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in 17 minutes of action. Four games later, he followed that up with back-to-back 11-point outings against Arkansas State on December 4 and Central Arkansas on December 9. On March 1 in a 13-point loss to Kent State, Sims scored 9 points on a perfect 3-for-3 three-point attempts.
As a unit, the Falcons finished the 2006-07 season in last place in the conference with an overall record of 13-18 and an abysmal 3-13 record in conference play. Their season ended with a loss to Ohio University in the 1st Round of the MAC Tournament.
Sims’ ratings in College Hoops 2K7 (real word abbreviations, attribute grades except for confidence, and game consoles in parentheses)
• OVR (overall): 60 (D)
• OAWR (offensive awareness): 60 (C-)
• DAWR (defensive awareness): 57 (C-)
• CLOSE (close shot): 71 (C)
• MED (midrange shot): 71 (C+)
• 3-PT (3-point shot): 67 (C)
• FT (free throws): 75 (C+)
• LAY (layups): 68 (C)
• DUNK (dunking): 35 (D)
• HAND (ballhandling): 82 (C)
• PASS (passing): 70 (C)
• LOWO (low post offense): 43 (C-)
• LOWD (low post defense): 43 (C-)
• DEF (on ball defense): 74 (C-)
• BLK (block): 36 (D)
• STL (steal): 61 (C)
• OREB (offensive rebounds): 48 (C-)
• DREB (defensive rebounds): 56 (C)
• SPD (speed): 85 (C)
• STAM (stamina): 87 (C)
• DUR (durability): 86 (B-)
• CLT (clutch): 60 (C)
• CONS (consistency): 58 (PS2)
• CONF (confidence): 60 (PS3)
• FOUL (foul tendency/commits fouls): 40 (B+)
• shot close tendency: 13
• shot medium tendency: 38
• shot 3PT tendency: 25
• drive tendency (PS2): 52
• POT (potential): (B-) (PS2) / 73 (C) (PS3)
College Hoops 2K7, PlayStation 2
College Hoops 2K7, PlayStation 3
Following the season, Dakich resigned on March 13 after 10 seasons with the Falcons mainly because he recorded losing seasons in four of his last five years with the Bowling Green program. Louis Orr, who sat out of coaching for a year after his successful 5-year stint at Seton Hall, succeeded Dakich and took over.
So as a sophomore and under a new head coach, we find Sims in College Hoops 2K8 and NCAA March Madness 08. It was a true sophomore slump for Sims as his numbers drastically dipped. Playing in 28 of the team’s 30 games, Sims averaged only 1.5 points and 0.8 rebounds per game while shooting just 29.8 percent (14-of-47) from the field and 21.9 percent from downtown (7-of-32). Sims didn’t record a double-digit game all of that year and scored a season-high 7 points in 10 minutes off the bench in Bowling Green’s 21-point loss at Ohio University on February 19, 2008.
As a team, Bowling Green improved a little bit from the season before as they finished the 2007-08 campaign in 5th place in the Mid-American Conference East Division with a 7-9 record against MAC foes and an overall 13-17 record. They ended their season with a 4-point loss to Toledo in the 1st Round of the MAC Tournament.
Sims’ ratings in College Hoops 2K8 (real word abbreviations, attribute grades except for confidence, and game consoles in parentheses)
• OVR (overall) (D): 61 (D)
• OAWR (offensive awareness): 61 (C-)
• DAWR (defensive awareness): 60 (C-)
• CLOSE (close shot): 68 (C-)
• MED (midrange shot) (C+): 72 (PS2) / 71 (PS3)
• 3-PT (3-point shot): 75 (C+)
• FT (free throws) (C): 71 (PS2) / 70 (PS3)
• LAY (layups) (D): 57 (PS2) / 56 (PS3)
• SHOR (shoot off dribble): 75 (C) (PS3)
• SHTR (shoot in traffic): 63 (C) (PS3)
• DUNK (dunking): 35 (D)
• DUNKST (dunk standing): 0 (F) (PS3)
• HAND (ballhandling): 82 (C)
• PASS (passing): 66 (C-)
• LOWO (low post offense) (D): 41 (PS2) / 40 (PS3)
• LOWD (low post defense) (C-): 43
• DEF (on ball defense) (C-): 72 (PS2) / 74 (PS3)
• BLK (block): 38 (C-)
• STL (steal): 64 (C)
• OREB (offensive rebounds) (C-): 45 (PS2) / 44 (PS3)
• DREB (defensive rebounds): 69 (B-)
• SPD (speed): 85 (C)
• QCK (quickness): 85 (C) (PS3)
• VERT (vertical): 69 (C) (PS3)
• STR (strength): 46 (D) (PS3)
• HUS (hustle): 60 (C-) (PS3)
• STAM (stamina): 87 (C)
• DUR (durability): 86 (B-)
• CLT (clutch): 45 (D)
• CONS (consistency): 58 (C-)
• CONF (confidence): 35% (PS2) / 62% (PS3)
• FOUL (foul tendency): 66 (D)
• shot close tendency: 1
• shot medium tendency: 38
• shot 3PT tendency: 27
• POT (potential): (C+) (PS2) / 73 B- (PS3)
College Hoops 2K8, PlayStation 2
College Hoops 2K8, PlayStation 3
Sims’ ratings in NCAA March Madness 08 (real word abbreviations, attribute grades, and game consoles in parentheses)
• OVRL (overall): 66
• FG (field goals): 58
• 3PT (3-point): 67
• FT (free throw): 72
• DUNK (dunking): 49
• STL (steals): 65
• BLK (block): 40
• OREB (offensive rebounds): 65
• DREB (defensive rebounds): 44
• PASS (passing): 75
• OFF / O. AWARE (offense ability /awareness): 54
• DEF / D. AWARE (defense ability /awareness): 59
• SPD (speed): 88
• QUICK (quickness): 88
• VERT (jumping/vertical): 56
• DRB (dribble): 85
• STRGTH (strength): 75
• DUR (durability): 78 (PS3)
• RNG (shooting range): 22 (PS3)
• STAMINA: 91
• INS. SCR (inside scoring): 50
• HARDY (hardiness): 78 (PS2)
• primacy: 30 (PS2)
NCAA March Madness 08, PlayStation 2
NCAA March Madness 08, PlayStation 3
Now onto Sims’ junior year in NCAA Basketball 09. Ironically, Sims only played one game for Bowling Green that season, which was a 21-point home win over Concordia St. Paul on November 16, 2008. That game, Sims made his only field goal attempt and dished out 3 assists in 8 minutes off the bench. Shortly afterwards, Sims left the program.
Without Sims the rest of the way in the 2008-09 season, the Falcons drastically turned the program around for the better. Bowling Green finished 19-14 overall and 11-5 in conference play, allowing them to be tied with Buffalo for first place atop the Mid-American Conference East Division. BGSU lost in the tournament semifinals to Akron and had their season end with a loss to Creighton in the 1st Round of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
Sims’ ratings in NCAA Basketball 09 (real word abbreviations, attribute grades, and game consoles in parentheses)
• OVRL (overall): 66
• FG (field goals): 58
• 3PT (3-point): 68
• FT (free throw): 63
• DUNK (dunking): 47
• STL (steals): 66
• BLK (block): 41
• OREB (offensive rebounds): 66
• DREB (defensive rebounds): 45
• PASS (passing): 76
• OFF / O. AWARE (offense ability /awareness): 55
• DEF / D. AWARE (defense ability /awareness): 60
• SPD (speed): 85
• QUICK (quickness): 90
• JUMP (jumping, PS2) / VERT (vertical, PS3): 57
• DRB (dribble): 79
• STRGTH (strength): 79
• DUR (durability): 82 (PS3)
• RNG (shooting range): 22 (PS3)
• STAMINA: 92
• INS. SCR (inside scoring): 50
• HARDY (hardiness): 82 (PS2)
• primacy: 30 (PS2)
NCAA Basketball 09, PlayStation 2
NCAA Basketball 09, PlayStation 3
Change of scenery: For Sims’ senior year, he transferred to Division II school UIndy and played under head coach Stan Gouard. With the Greyhounds, he played in all 28 games (21 starts) and averaged a career-high 10.1 points per game along with 3 rebounds a contest while also shooting a Great Lakes Valley Conference-leading 89.6 percent at the foul line (43-of-48).
Coaching career: Sims is now in his 15th season as an assistant coach for Purdue-Fort Wayne and his 11th under current head coach Jon Coffman, who is the winningest coach in school history. Sims, a Fort Wayne native, spent his first two seasons with the squad under Dane Fife and the next three under Tony Jasick. Altogether with those three head coaches, Sims has been a part of 284 wins.
