The lines formed outside the Brunswick locker room almost immediately following the final buzzer.

Ralph Mims would emerge from the locker room, sometimes as many as 10 or 15 minutes after the game, and see a row of young boys and girls with pen and paper in hand.

It was then that Brunswick coach Todd Hanson watched his star player make some of his most impressive moves.

“Every game, he would stay however long it took to sign autographs for the kids, at home or on the road,” Hanson said. “He’s certainly been in the spotlight since we won the (Class A state) championship (in 2002), and he’s done an incredible job handling himself in a way a lot of other juniors wouldn’t be able to.”

Mims, the Sun Journal’s 2003 Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year, never could step outside the spotlight this year. He often tried when he was on the court, playing “almost too unselfishly,” Hanson said, while leading the Dragons through an undefeated regular season.

Though just a junior, Mims was tapped by Maine basketball observers as the heir apparent to Nik Caner-Medley as the state’s best basketball player as soon as he helped lead the Dragons to last year’s state title over Caner-Medley’s Deering Rams.

So it’s not surprising that once the 2003 season started, all eyes, even the young ones, focused on the 6-foot-3 guard. Even though Mims had heard people whispering about how good he was ever since he was a freshman, he was still caught off-guard by how many people paid attention this year.

“It was surprising, going to Mt. Blue or Morse or some other rivalry game and seeing all these kids lining up for my autograph,” he said. “It surprised me how much younger kids realize and know what I do and look up to me.”

Mims handled the admiration with aplomb, and he handled the pressure of being anointed the state’s best player just as well. He averaged 24.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.5 blocked shots per game. But those numbers ignore the fact that he had to play a good chunk of the season without his two most talented teammates, senior Taylor Caron and Drew Pelletier.

In their absence, Mims was forced to diversify his game. Having played point guard the last two years, he suddenly found himself playing down low on offense and defense at times. One night, he would be guarding a lightning quick guard such as Oxford Hills’ Scott Slack. The next night, he would be trying to pound rugged 6-5 forwards such as Cony’s Jac Arbour underneath the basket.

“Offensively and defensively, he played pretty much all five positions,” Hanson said.

“It just made me see I could play more than one position when I had to bear down and help my teammates out,” Mims said. “I can do more than just shoot. I’m a more well-rounded player.”

Mims’ well-roundedness only piqued the interest of even more Division I colleges, who have been eyeing Mims almost from the day he moved north from Pensacola, Fla., as an eighth-grader with his parents Clint and Petronia.

The calls and letters from college recruiters are already coming in full force. Mims hopes to have a decision on his future before his senior season starts, but he’s not going to rush things.

“They say the sooner the better, but I’ll see,” he said. “You have to make the right decisions in life if you want to reach your goals.”

“He understands what’s going to come with that,” Hanson said. “He’s a very mature kid. He’s got a quiet confidence about him.”

Between the campus visits and meetings with coaches this off-season, Mims plans to work on his game like he never has before. He’s already hitting the weight room, driven by the Dragons’ disappointing loss to Cony in the Eastern A final, and the knowledge that as much attention as he received this year, even more will come his way next season.

“I know I’m going to have to work harder this summer than last summer,” he said. “I’m going to see more junk defenses and more double teams next year, and we’re not going to have the teams we’ve had my three years here.”

“He wants to get better,” Hanson said. “We met after our final game this year and he was the one who brought up what he wants to do to improve his game. It didn’t have to come from me. He said, ‘I have to get better and get stronger.’ He knows what he needs to do, and I wouldn’t bet against him.”

rwhitehouse@sunjournal.com

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