Former LSU basketball player Wayne Sims dead at 54

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Wayne “Big Daddy” Sims,who played in four NCAA Tournaments with LSU from 1987-1991, diedWednesday at age 54.

LSU’s athletic department confirmed Sims’ death. No cause ofdeath was immediately disclosed. Sims’ coach at LSU was Dale Brown,and his teammates included Shaquille O’Neal, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf andVernel Singleton. During Sims’ senior season, LSU won theSoutheastern Conference championship. “He brought the best out inplayers, and everyone liked him,” Brown said. “He was a team player— didn’t get the credit maybe he deserved for the great run theyhad, but he was a wonderful person.

“He was never a flashy guy that needed stardom, but he was thebase to our team.”

Wayne’s son Wayde, also played for two seasons for the Tigersbefore he was fatally shot during an off-campus altercation on theeve of LSU’s first scheduled practice before the 2018-19season.

Following their son’s death, Wayne Sims and his wife, Fay, setup the Baton Rouge-based Wayde Sims Foundation.

“He and Fay worked tirelessly to keep Wayde’s memory alive,”said McNeese State coach Will Wade, who was Wayde Sims’ coach atLSU. “I’ll never forget Wayne and Fay saying that God will find away to save lives through Wayde’s death.”

Wayne Sims, listed at 6-foot-7, 247 pounds during his playingdays, appeared in 117 games for LSU, starting 74, and scoring 1,107career points and grabbing 603 rebounds. He is one of 21 LSUplayers to reach 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds, and one ofnine players in program history to appear in four NCAATournaments.

Sims scored 24 points in one of LSU’s most memorable upsetvictories, an 82-80 triumph over No. 2 Georgetown on Jan. 28, 1989— a game played in the Superdome in New Orleans in front of a crowdof 54,321.

Sims grew up in Deridder, Louisiana, and was a two-timeAll-State selection at Deridder High School, where he averaged 21.9points and nine rebounds as a senior.

Funeral arrangements are pending.