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April 23, 2042
A Coach in Autumn
by Jared Kiplinger and Kaitlyn Blaha, The Villanovan
Coach Graham Sims' office in the Wawa Center reflects the personality of the man who occupies it. It's a friendly space, its walls decorated with a comfortable mix of photographs, artwork, and framed certificates. The largest photo depicts Coach Sims with his wife Mary Kate and his son Duncan. It's Duncan's Senior Night game. Beside it is hung a photo from Coach Sims' own Senior Night, the arms of his parents around him. Father and son both wear the number 14 on their Villanova jerseys. In these photos, he's a proud father and a grateful son, sharing moments with his family.
Coach Sims' Villanova diploma is framed and hung nearby. He is a proud alumnus of the Class of 2001. There is a beautiful watercolor of the spires of St. Thomas of Villanova Church, painted by former player Matthew Valentine. None of Coach Sims' numerous awards are displayed here. The sole memento of his coaching career is a string of nylon, cut from the net and preserved in a deep frame after his team won Villanova's first national championship in 2028.
Since then, Coach Sims has cut down the net six more times, including each of the last three seasons. The national championship he won at Lafayette gives him eight such titles. No other coach in history has won more than three. In 31 seasons, Coach Sims' teams have won 987 games, triumphant 87 percent of the time. Both marks are the best in history, by a wide margin. There is no honor a college basketball coach can achieve that Coach Sims has yet to receive. He is now 63 years old, an age at which many coaches consider retiring. Many of Coach Sims' peers, the men he knew as a young coach, have done so. Does Coach Sims think about following them into his post-coaching life?
He smiles before he answers this question. "Not quite yet," he replies, very simply. Then he expands upon his response. "I don't think I'll ever stop loving coaching. Each team is different, each player is unique. That makes every experience a new one, and that excites and motivates me.
"Recruiting is challenging, and it requires a lot of energy," Coach Sims admits. He takes a sip from a water bottle. "When I begin to find it hard to summon that energy, I'll know it's time to step down."
Coach Sims can't tell you exactly how many games his teams have won. "Nine hundred-something," he offers. "It's not far from a thousand now." When he's reminded that a typical Villanova team will help him reach this milestone in December or January, he arches his eyebrows. "That's close," he admits. "That won't affect my decision, however. I'll know when it's time, and I can't imagine any one victory or any one defeat will convince me that it's time."
Coach Sims won't promise a recruit or his family that he will be coaching at Villanova for the player's entire career. "I've never made that promise," he points out, "not when I was at Lafayette, either. I tell high school players that they're playing for a program, not for a coach. They're attending a university, not joining a basketball team. If they're only coming to Villanova--or any school--to play for a coach, they're coming for the wrong reason.
"I said the same thing to my son, whom I recruited twice." he adds, with a grin. Duncan Sims first signed with Lafayette, and when his father moved to Villanova, Duncan followed him, sitting out a redshirt year before playing two years as a Wildcat and graduating in 2029. "Duncan decided this university was the place he wanted to be. I want to make sure all our recruits feel that way"...
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