Freshman Bubz Alvarez seems to speak for a lot of his Jackrabbit teammates when he talks about why senior guard Matt Mims is a key leader on the South Dakota State men’s basketball team.

“The way he uses his voice, at practice, he’s loud. He motivates everybody,” Alvarez said. “[Even] when he was hurt, he was still the loudest on the court. I admire that a lot, I try to take after that as much as I can.”

Mims, a sixth-year senior, will help lead the Jackrabbits into the NCAA Tournament Thursday night against Iowa State in Omaha. The No. 2-seeded Cyclones are 27-7 and led by former Jackrabbit coach T.J. Otzelberger.

Coincidentally, Mims is the only player left on the Jacks’ roster who played for Otzelberger, who left SDSU in 2019 for UNLV before catching on at Iowa State in 2021.

Mims has spent the last few years after Otzelbergers’ departure molding himself into a key player for the Jackrabbits. He’s known for his long-range shooting and defensive abilities.

Growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mims was always involved in sport. He mostly played baseball and basketball, but quickly found basketball was his first love. He attributes a lot of his passion to his older brother and always wanting to follow in his footsteps.

As he rose through the ranks from high school to Division 1 basketball, he was recruited by then SDSU assistant coach-now head coach Eric Henderson, who met “Mimsy” in his junior year of High School. Henderson knew about Mims prior to their meeting because Henderson’s best friend was Mims’ neighbor.

Henderson says he recognized Mims’ obvious passion and talent in basketball. Meanwhile, Mims hadn’t really anticipated playing Division 1 basketball, and this became a possibility for him only in his sophomore year of high school.

His journey hasn’t always been easy. He hasn’t always been a starter, but every single year he has found a role to play. He said his consistency and strong support system, consisting of his parents, girlfriend, teammates and coaches, enabled him to become a regular contributor for the team for every game and achieve his goals.

One of his biggest accomplishments came when he earned a spot on the Summit League All-Defensive Team during the 2022-2023 season. He played as point guard in 32 games that season and experienced a career-high by going 8-8 on free throws in the game against nationally ranked Arkansas. He said that game represented the biggest competition he had been in; he had never played in an arena with that many people.

One of the biggest challenges in his career was the injury he sustained earlier this season. He had been at practice, doing a normal drill that he had done hundreds of times. After shooting a 3-pointer, he landed awkwardly and assumed he rolled his ankle. But as he began to walk on it, he realized it was broken. Turns out, it was a fracture of the bone on the outside of his foot. This injury resulted in a nine-week recovery period where he missed 13 games. During this time, he went through surgery where a screw was put into his foot to allow him recover.

The most challenging part for him was not being able to put any pressure on the foot for the three weeks. Mims had to sit back during practice and watch everyone. According to team doctor Verle Valentine, this was Mims’ last year and opportunity to play for his team, so he put his all into his recovery.

Mims also heavily relied on the motivation of his family and teammates during his recovery. They all helped him through his recovery. He showed up to practice and was the loudest in the room, chanting motivational words to his teammates. Henderson described him as having “a level of positivity that makes everyone around him feel good.”