Demetrius Mims commits to Long Beach State
Demetrius Mims was a highly sought after eighth grader in the Baltimore area with plenty of the top private schools hoping he would choose their institution. Instead, Mims chose to attend Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a public school in Baltimore City. As most high school athletes do, Mims had aspirations of one day playing Division I basketball. Through years of hard work and dedication, he made those dreams reality today by committing to Long Beach State in California.
.@PolyBoysBball 2018 Demetrius Mims (@TheDMJ1) commits to Long Beach State. @PrepHoopsMD pic.twitter.com/RiCC9tjhJe
— Colby Giacubeno (@ColbyGHoops) September 8, 2017
Mims had trimmed his list down to four schools in early August. Those four schools included Long Beach State, Towson, Lehigh, and Coastal Carolina. Being that Long Beach State is located on the opposite side of the country didn’t come as a problem for the 6’5 guard. When he visited the campus just a week ago, Mims knew it was where he belonged.
“They took me in like I was family,” Mims told PrepHoops after making his announcement. “The family aspect was important since I’ll be going away for school. I’ll be stuck with the guys throughout my four years there. They have some great guys alongside me. Aside from the basketball, they have great academics and the schools is just beautiful.”
Mims will be an immediate impact player for the 49ers. Head coach Sam Brand credited Mims for being a foundational piece to last season’s class 3A state title team. Both Mims and Dre Perry (Temple) were one of the most feared duos in the state.
“They were excited for me to commit because they know how I can impact the game in many ways,” said Mims on what Long Beach State’s coaching staff liked most about his game. “If it’s defense, I’ll strap somebody up. If they need scoring, I’ll score the ball. I just do whatever the team needs me to do and they liked that about me.”
The 49ers play in the Big West Conference and finished with a 15-19 overall record last season. Although the losses outnumbered the wins, they played games against marquee teams such as North Carolina, UCLA, Louisville, Washington, Kansas and Texas. Mims will have plenty of opportunity to showcase his talents against the best players in the country under the brightest lights.
For Coach Brand, it’s a continuation of pumping out excellent basketball talent as Poly begins to rule the Baltimore basketball scene. First there was John Crosby (Dayton), then there was Dre Perry (Temple), and now Mims. But for Brand, Mims’ commitment was a unique moment.
“He’s the first guy we had a relationship with as an eighth grader,” Brand told PrepHoops. “So this has been a five-year process of watching him grow mentally and physically. I’ve seen his struggles, even the small things that people may not know about. To watch his growth and maturity and be a part of it and not only to have our younger guys see it, but the guys who came before him now come back and see him mature to the next level, it’s our motivation for working so hard in our program. It’s an overused phrase, it’s why we do what we do.”
For the immediate future, Mims is set on bringing another state championship to Poly. The keys are in his hands and he’ll be able to display his leadership skills throughout his senior campaign. He’s already made his mark in Poly basketball history, but will add to it this upcoming season only being 39 points away from the 1000-point mark and a little over 400 from becoming the all-time leading scorer in school history.
“We’re hoping, and I have a lot of confidence that in 20 years when people are talking about Baltimore basketball at this time and they talk about Poly and how we made ourselves relevant, his name is going to be one of the first names mentioned with that,” Brand said.
Mims’ work at Poly isn’t finished, but soon he’ll have a new legacy to build at his new home in Long Beach, California.
Going up 👆🏾s/o @HoopMajor ✨ pic.twitter.com/5nBv6ssvVd
— Demetrius Mims Jr. (@TheDMJ1) August 17, 2017