{"id":34036,"date":"2017-07-12T10:58:48","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T14:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=34036"},"modified":"2017-07-12T10:58:59","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T14:58:59","slug":"emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Wherever basketball takes R.J. Sims, he\u2019s always asked a few of the same questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cPeople that see me now ask what school I went to, and when I say EMU they\u2019re like, \u2018Where\u2019s EMU?\u201d Sims said with a smile. \u201cAnd then they\u2019re like, \u2018Why did you go there?\u2019 I tell them EMU is the only school that wanted me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A former hoops standout at Eastern Mennonite University, Sims averaged double figures in scoring as a sophomore, junior and senior with the Royals. He was an All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference team choice twice before graduating after the 2013-14 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now, Sims is coming off his second season as a professional. He played his first in Lithuania for Palanga and this past season in France for Union Tarbes Lourdes.<\/div>\n
\n

\u201cOver the last six, eight years, we\u2019ve had some talented kids here, and he\u2019s not the most talented that we\u2019ve had,\u201d EMU coach Kirby Dean said. \u201cBut he\u2019s the one that wanted it the most.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cHe wanted to play. He wanted to continue his career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The biggest problem facing Sims was that he played at a Division III school and professional scouts usually don\u2019t pack Yoder Arena or clamor to get up-close look at ODAC talent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sims had to take initiative on his own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

And the process was likely going to take time with the end game of signing a pro contract, so while he started training as soon as his time at EMU was up, he also got a day job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He moved to Alexandria where he worked for Oblon \u2013 one of the biggest law firms in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI set a goal that I was going to go overseas within a year,\u201d Sims said. \u201cAfter working during the day, I\u2019d go to the gym from 7 [p.m.] to 9, and then after that I\u2019d go lift from 10 to 12 and wake up and do it all over again. And on the weekend I\u2019d do two or three workouts a day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sims also began networking online. He said most of the European clubs use Facebook to get in touch with foreign-born prospects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have some contact overseas to get him a place to play,\u201d Dean said. \u201cWe contributed two things \u2014 we did help develop him as a player because our system does that since he always had a ball in his hand. And then [EMU assistant coach] Melvin Felix put together a highlight film that [Sims] could send to people. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cEverything else was him going and getting his name out there. He doesn\u2019t have an agent. He did it all on his own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Through social media, Sims found a Lithuanian scout that knew of a team that needed a small forward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cTwo days later I had a plane ticket to go there,\u201d Sims said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The toughest part about leaving was telling his family. He said he has great relationships with his mother, grandparents and siblings who all live in Bowie, Md.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But he was happy he achieved his goal of signing contract, so he went without hesitation, Sims said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0He averaged 13.4 points per game in Lithuania, which helped him jump from Palanga to Union Tarbes Lourdes in France.<\/div>\n
\n

With Union Tarbes Lourdes, he averaged 12 points per game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cLithuania was more different,\u201d Sims said. \u201cThe people were different. Honestly, I kind of feel like I was more of an outsider there just because it was such a different lifestyle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t think France was necessarily a culture shock, but cars over there were manual so I had to take driver\u2019s lessons to get it. It was different as far as living there, going shopping and picking out food \u2013 everything is in French. But they also gave me French lessons. I learned a little bit of French, so it helped me while I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sims said the on-court play was similar to what he did at EMU under Dean in France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cIt was fast-paced with athletic guards and bigs, but while I was in Lithuania, it was structured with spacing and there were a lot of plays,\u201d Sims said. \u201cThe style just varies by country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sims said he is still trying to decide what team in what country to play for next season, but regardless of where he goes, he knows exactly what he\u2019ll be asked by his teammates, coaches and even the fans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI kind of put EMU on the map,\u201d Sims said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m happy I went there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republished with permission from the July 5, 2017, issue of the Daily News-Record<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wherever basketball takes R.J. Sims, he\u2019s always asked a few of the same questions. \u201cPeople that see me now ask what school I went to, and when I say EMU ... read more about EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,17562,4522],"tags":[5674],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-34036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-digest","category-mens-basketball","tag-kirby-dean"],"yoast_head":"\nEMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wherever basketball takes R.J. Sims, he\u2019s always asked a few of the same questions. \u201cPeople that see me now ask what school I went to, and when I say EMU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-12T14:58:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-12T14:58:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"947\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/\",\"name\":\"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-12T14:58:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-12T14:58:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg\",\"width\":1420,\"height\":947},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas - EMU News","og_description":"Wherever basketball takes R.J. Sims, he\u2019s always asked a few of the same questions. \u201cPeople that see me now ask what school I went to, and when I say EMU","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2017-07-12T14:58:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-12T14:58:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1420,"height":947,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/","name":"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-12T14:58:48+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-12T14:58:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/07\/Sims.jpg","width":1420,"height":947},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-grad-sims-finds-home-court-overseas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EMU grad Sims finds home on court overseas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245","name":"admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34037,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34036\/revisions\/34037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34036"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=34036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}