The Brunswick senior will receive a four-year basketball scholarship.

BRUNSWICK – What began four years ago with a letter from the University of Kentucky ended yesterday with Ralph Mims donning the colors of Florida State University.

Mims, a two-time Sun Journal Player of the Year and the 2004 Mr. Maine Basketball, signed a letter of intent with the Atlantic Coast Conference school and will receive a four-year scholarship to play basketball there.

The 6-3 senior, who moved to Maine from Florida when he was in middle school, said he chose FSU over more than 20 other potential suitors for several reasons, including the school’s graduation rate, the opportunity to play in the ACC, and, most importantly, the school’s proximity to his extended family.

While the chance to return to Florida was always in the back of his mind, Mims said his visit to the Tallahassee campus last fall essentially clinched his decision.

“It was like a home away from home,” he said. “When I first stepped through the doors, the way the team and the coaches came towards me as a person more than a basketball player, it was like Okay, this is where I want to be.'”

He said he made up his mind for good after the Class A state championship game in which he scored a record 46 points in a losing cause. He spurned late interest from schools such as Miami, Minnesota and Baylor, among others, and persistent recruiting from the likes of Cincinnati, South Carolina and Oklahoma.

Flanked by his father, Navy Master Chief Clint Mims, his mother Petronia, sister Gabby and Brunswick basketball coach Todd Hanson, Mims announced his decision in the Brunswick High School library before friends, family, teammates and school faculty. Following a ceremonial signing of his letter of intent, he put on an FSU cap and t-shirt.

“We felt Florida State was a good fit,” said Hanson, who was a player at the University of Maine when current FSU Mike Jaskulski was an assistant there. “We’ve had a good relationship with them and they’ve really demonstrated a true want for Ralph over the last three years.”

“They’ve really stressed that they need a point guard. They lost their starting point guard (Nate Johnson, to graduation),” Hanson added. “There’s really been a question as to whether it’s a good fit for Ralph because they’ve signed two other top 40 guards, but they have made it known to me, unequivocally, that he’s the point guard they’re recruiting. The other two guys are shooting guards.”

He added that Florida State has no plans to redshirt Mims next year.

Mims, a four-year starter who averaged 28.6 points, 11 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 4.5 steals and four blocks per game this season, led the Dragons to two state championship games in his career at Brunswick, winning the gold ball his sophomore season.

Among those Mims consulted before his decision was Nik Caner-Medley, the former Deering star who lost to Mims and Brunswick in 2002 and who was a starter this past season at the University of Maryland.

“When I talked to Nik, he was telling me how difficult it was at first to be a freshman and to come into the ACC and play against top-notch competition,” Mims said. “It’s an every day thing. In the ACC, there are no days you can take off.”

“When I told him (Florida State was one of the schools he was considering) he said, Oh, FSU’s in the ACC. We can battle.’ I told him I’m up for the challenge,” he added.

Hanson credited Caner-Medley’s success at Maryland with helping to open more doors for Mims, but Mims was already attracting attention from Division I schools when he was a freshman Caner-Medley was still at Deering.

“My first letter was from Kentucky,” Mims said. “When I got the letter, I went into (Hanson’s) room and I’m like Kentucky? I’m only a freshman and I’m getting letters from Kentucky?'”

The letters and phone calls, from what Hanson estimated to be “20 to 30” schools, continued pouring in from there. Mims officially visited only three of the schools, Florida State, South Carolina, and Providence, and made a couple of unofficial visits to the University of Maine before he narrowed his choices to FSU and Providence during the basketball season.

Making it official yesterday lifted a big load from Mims and his family.

“It’s a big relief,” Mims said. “My mom can’t really handle the pressure and all of the phone calls anymore. It’s a big relief.”