Prospect Spotlight: Deszi Sims (2019)
Junior guard Deszi Sims of Roosevelt has burst onto the metro basketball scene in a big way.
The Teddies are 9-6 this season, propelled by Sims’ 24.9 PPG, 8 RPG and 4.5 SPG, all of which lead the team. He leads Roosevelt in every possible statistic except for blocks.
“He’s shooting 40 percent from three and 70 percent from the field,” Roosevelt coach Rob Mestas said. “He has had five 30-point games and a 40-point game this year. He’s doing things that I’ve never seen, and I’ve been around the game for over 30 years. I believe he should be an all-metro and all-state consideration.”
Sims caught a lot of eyes last week when he had scoring performances of 39 and 41 points in consecutive nights. His game is mostly based around attacking the rim, but he’s working on expanding his attack.
“I’ve been working on shooting the ball more,” Deszi said, “because I really don’t shoot jumpers much. I like to just get to the basket. But I have been hitting most of my jumpers in practice, where I’m also working on ball handling.
“The games have been good. We’ve learned how to work as a team better and learned how to communicate on both offense and defense. I have the ball in my hands most of the time, but I like to set my teammates up and get them shots or look to go the basket myself.”
As for AAU plans, Sims plans to try out for Howard Pulley in the spring. The Teddies have won six of their last seven games, with the next matchup being on Saturday against Saint Charles.