It is great to see the progression that players make through each season in college. Coming into their freshman year, they are able to get their feet wet and adjust to the level of play. Sophomore season, you hope to see a player make strides in their game and bring more production to the floor with a year under their belt. As a junior and senior, you hope to see everything start clicking, as they are given more opportunities and minutes to showcase their talent.
One can put 6’6 junior Jaylen Sims in that category early on at UNC-Wilmington. Sims has really earned his time and has picked up some valuable experience in his first two seasons at UNCW, playing in 32 games as a freshman and sophomore (64 total) and is now getting the opportunity to showcase just what he can do for the Seahawks this season.
Sims averaged 5.7 points as a freshman and then saw a bump as a sophomore, averaging 11.8 points, 5.4 rebounds per game. Now, through five games as a junior, Sims has started off the season in a great way, averaging 24.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and is shooting 50 percent from the floor.
He has given us a glimpse of his entire game, showing that he can be a leader on the floor, be effective offensively on only 12 shot attempts per game, his ability to create and get to the line (averaging 10.2 free throw attempts per game), and his ability to knock down shots from the perimeter, shooting 51.4 percent from three (3.6 made 3-pointers per game).
He recently won CAA Player of the Week to start the season, as Coach Siddle said that he had done a tremendous job early on in leading the team.
“Jaylen was tremendous throughout the whole week,” Coach Siddle said back in November after Sims won Player of the Week honors. “I thought he was completely locked in all three games and did a great job leading our team. Offensively, he was red hot, but made great strides defensively as well. I’m very proud of Jaylen. Now the challenge for him will be can he continue to make his teammates better'”
That will be the challenge for Sims though, especially now that teams are getting more film and understanding of his game. But Sims, who is a North Carolina native, is looking to show that he can step into that leadership role and remain there throughout the season.