BREAKING NEWS: Sims is a Hoya

Rapidly improving Baltimore big man, Henry Sims has committed to Georgetown. At 6-10, Sims is best known for his tremendous outside shot and passing ability. He has been focusing on his low post moves, which have improved dramatically over the last year. Those who follow the prep circuit also say he has all of the essentials to be a star in college--runs the floor well, can rebound, and block shots. The big strike against him is that he is very very skinny and needs to live in the weight room during his senior year of high school. Rivals ranks him 57th nationally and Scout has him at 54. Kudos to JTIII for bringing in another good one. The Sims, Braswell, Clark line up is formidable and the Hoyas are currently mentioned by 3 top 10 recruits. Supposedly, JTIII also has an in-home with Greg Monroe, the consensus #1 recruit in the country. With likely 2 ships left for 2008, the Hoyas can really target the super-elite recruits in 2008 and hopefully land one of them.

Baltimore star picks Georgetown over Terps
Maryland fans are already pointing the finger at Gary Williams and his staff for not landing Mount St. Joseph center Henry Sims, who gave a commitment to Georgetown last night. Mount St. Joseph coach Pat Clatchey tells it differently, though, and said today it was no fault of Maryland's coaching staff for not being able to lure Sims to College Park. "It was a very tough decision," Clatchey said. "It came down to Maryland, Virginia and Georgetown. He just felt like that was the right fit for him. "They (Maryland) worked extremely hard," he said. "They were active. I wouldn’t fault their effort at all." Clatchey pointed out that Georgetown will eventually lose three of its frontcourt players, making room for an incoming member of the 2008 recruiting class like Sims. Maryland has already brought in Dino Gregory, Braxton Dupree and Shane Walker. So the bottom line is this: Maryland lost a Baltimore recruit to neighboring Georgetown. Granted, it doesn't sound good, but if fans are questioning the effort of this one, Clatchey says don't. "Maryland is very active and definitely pursued him just as hard as the other schools."
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/maryland_terps/blog/2007/04/baltimore_star_headed_to_georg.html

And they talk about Hoya Paranoia. Are you kidding me? It is not like every player in Baltimore is destined to play for the turtles. Georgetown is not much farther from Baltimore than College Park. Oh yeah and we went to the Final Four last year. Georgetown has JTIII. Maryland has Sweaty Gary. If you were coming out of high school, where would you rather play? (And you have to think that DeJaun was talking up GU to his fellow Ballmer native.)

Finally, here are some answers from a recent Q&A the Baltimore Sun did with Sims.

Q&A // Henry Sims, Mount St. Joseph, basketball
What areas of your game need improvement?
I'll work on shooting, ball-handling, shooting off the dribble, defense, agility. I want to be more than a back-to-the-basket player.
Can you talk about your father, Henry Sims Sr.?
Growing up, I just had my mother because my father died two months before I was born. Early on, I thought every kid only had a mother. But then, when I was 3, she sat me down and told me the whole story -- that my father was the same person in terms of his personality -- that I was. When I was about 7 or 8, the pictures I saw of him started to appear in my dreams. I got really sensitive about it.
Did that affect your relationship with your stepfather?
At about 8 or 9, when my stepfather first came into the picture, I was rebellious. But I grew to love him and call him my father. In my heart, there's still a hole, but I play for my biological father and I pray for him before every game. I pray that he sees me and that he's proud of me.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/highschool/bal-va.ci.profile07mar07,0,1074218.story?coll=bal-utility-highschoolsp