Mims accepts scholarship to Florida State Brunswick star eager to play

Ralph Mims is going home.

The Pensacola, Fla., native, who led Brunswick High School to basketball prominence with one of the more remarkable careers in Maine schoolboy history, on Friday signed a National Letter of Intent to accept a basketball scholarship from Florida State University.

“I’ve been wanting to go to Florida State for a while,” said Mims, a 6-foot-3 senior guard who led Brunswick to the 2002 Class A state championship and the 2004 Eastern A crown. “I’ve always been a big Florida State football fan, and to have the opportunity to play basketball for Florida State has been a dream of mine since I was a junior.”

Mims and his family visited Florida State for several days last fall, and also visited South Carolina and Providence.

“The coaches and the players at Florida State made me feel like I was already part of the program,” said Mims, Maine’s 2004 Mr. Basketball. “They really made me feel like I belong, and I think I’m going to bring a lot to the table. I just want to get a good chance to show that I can play.”

Mims will take an impressive basketball resume to Florida State, which finished 19-14 overall and 6-10 in kthe prestigious Atlantic Coast Confereknce last winter. A three-time NEWS All-Maine first-team choice, Mims finished with a school-record 1,916 career points in 85 games at Brunswick, for an average of 22.5 points per game. The Dragons went 81-4 with Mims on the court.

“Ralph Mims is a very exciting addition to our team,” said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton. “His versatility will allow us to utilize his talents at both the point guard and shooting guard positions. His ability to play both positions well will allow him to earn valuable minutes right away. His addition immediately makes us deeper and better at both positions.”

As a senior, Mims averaged 28.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game for coach Todd Hanson’s Brunswick club. He capped off his high school career by scoring a Class A record 46 points in the final, which the Dragons lost to Portland 69-63 in overtime.

“In Ralph Mims, Florida State is getting an extraordinary player,” said Hanson. “He has the ability and size to be successful at Florida State – he is a big, strong, and quick. I believe he can be a prototypical ACC point guard who is going to fit in well with what coach Hamilton and his staff are accomplishing at Florida State.”

Mims and his family moved from Florida to Maine during his eighth-grade year when his father took a job at Brunswick Naval Air Station. Mims said his family plans to move back to Florida.

“I’ll have a lot of family down there,” said Mims, who will leave for Florida State in late June to attend summer school. He plans to major in sports management.

Mims will join Nik Caner-Medley of Portland’s Deering High School, now at the University of Maryland, as Maine high school products currently in the ACC. Mims and Brunswick defeated Caner-Medley and Deering 83-61 in the 2002 Class A state final.

“I feel I’ve earned the chance to play in the ACC,” Mims said. “Nobody has given me anything that I’ve accomplished. I’ve earned it, and I’m just really looking forward to it.”