Mims the word: Niagara College lands seven footer
The Niagara College men’s basketball program has landed the biggest transfer student in school history.
Joining the squad is Donald Mims, a 7-foot-1 native of Sacramento, Calif., who last played for the Brock Badgers in the 2017-18 Ontario University Athletics season.
On Tuesday, the 24-year-old signed his acceptance papers in the presence of Niagara head coach Phil Mosley and academic advisor Randy Conlon.
Mims, who shot 70.4 per cent from the floor and averaged 3.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game in limited playing time with Brock, had been on Mosley’s radar for a while. Niagara’s coach made some inquiries before the two first met up at a Brock game.
“He’s a nice guy, I knew that going in, and that’s partly why I tried to find out more about what he was doing basketball-wise. What I had read and heard about him were all good things,” Mosley said.
The two then met at a Brock game and Mosley was even more intrigued.
“I like his character and Niagara College is a good place for him to be academically,” he said. “I want to see him be successful off the court more than on the court and he is just a really positive guy to have and a team-oriented guy.
Mosley believes Mims can add plenty to the Knights’ roster.
“I watched Donald in the spring and summer now and I believe he can be a good player for us,” he said. “His game fits very well into the OCAA (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association) in terms of his size, his athletic ability, his basketball IQ.
“You can tell he has some CIS (Canadian university) experience because he has control in his game that you wouldn’t necessarily see from a raw seven footer.”
Mims is also proficient in the post.
“He’s probably more effective with his back to the basket but he does face up, he does catch it in the high post and he has a pretty good repertoire of moves and abilities.”
Mosley thinks Mims is now the tallest player in the OCAA, eclipsing a 6-foot-10 athlete who suits up for Redeemer.
“He will be unique for the OCAA in terms of size and I’m excited to see how that all works in terms of our program, what he can do and how he creates matchup problems.”
Mims first came to Niagara when his junior college coach at Las Positas, James Giacomazzi, made contact with then-Brock coach Charles Kissi. At Las Positas, he averaged 7.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He also had 119 blocks in 30 games.
The graduate of Center High School in Antelope, Calif., played one season at Brock before sitting out a year because of academic ineligibility.
“I didn’t want to go back home because I felt there was more opportunities for me out here,” he said. “I kept my faith and I continued to train even though it was a real crappy year.”
He admits it wasn’t easy.
“I went into a bit of state of depression and anxiety and all of that. There was a lot of things going on.”
He had to return to California to attend the funeral of an aunt.
“It was a real hard year with no ball and trying to stay in school was tough without ball.”
Things brightened considerably after meeting up with Mosley.
“The vibe I got from him was so real and he told me that he would love to talk to me. It was just crazy and then I had an interview with him and he came at me from a completely different angle than Charles Kissi.”
Mims is planning to study recreation and leisure at Niagara and is excited about what lies ahead.
“They have me on a road where I can be successful for these next two years and it really came out of the blue,” he said. “It was a blessing.”
Mims loves his new teammates — he describes them as honest dudes — and feels his game is rounding into form.
“At first I needed to get back into shape a little bit, but I am good now.”
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