Jericho Sims, the big man acquired from the New York Knicks late Wednesday, possesses some quality tools to help as a defender and rebounder off the bench for the Milwaukee Bucks. Here’s what to know about Sims, including his connections to the Midwest and Marquette University basketball coach Shaka Smart.

How old is Jericho Sims?

He’s 26 years old.

How tall is Jericho Sims?

He stands 6-10, 245 pounds

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Where is Jericho Sims from?

Sims attended college at Texas and was drafted in 2021 by the New York Knicks in the second round, the 58th pick overall. Only two players in the draft were taken later. The Bucks drafted Sandro Mamukelashvili at No. 54 that year.

Sims originally hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he attended Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, a school that retired his number in December. He committed to play at Texas and was coached by current Marquette University head coach Shaka Smart.

Sims played four seasons total with Texas and three with Smart, developing into a player who scored 9.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a junior and again 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds as a senior. His junior season was cut short by a back injury (and later cut short again by the COVID-19 pandemic). As a senior, he scored 21 points with 14 rebounds in the Big 12 title game, a win over Oklahoma State.

Sims has three brothers who played Division I athletics: brothers Ty (Kansas State) and Jason (Northern Iowa) played basketball, and brother Dominique (Minnesota) played college football. His father, Charles, played college basketball at Minnesota.

Sims played AAU basketball with future Wisconsin Badgers basketball player Nate Reuvers.

What are Jericho Sims’ stats?

Sims has only averaged 13.4 minutes per game in his career, and he’s averaging less than 11 minutes this season with the Knicks. He scores 2.4 points per game, including 1.6 this season. But he’s a presence on the glass (3.9 rebounds per game in his career) and also posts 0.3 blocks, 0.6 assists and 0.2 steals per contest. He’s a noted strong defender and rebounder. The New York Post wrote in December that Sims had become the Knicks’ “under-the-radar defensive juggernaut.”

From the story, published Dec. 2: “Opponents are shooting just 33 percent on Sims within 6 feet of the rim, according to NBA.com. That easily made Sims the NBA’s top paint defender among players who’ve logged at least 11 games heading into Monday.”

He does not shoot three-pointers, but posted a 44.5-inch vertical jump at the 2021 NBA combine. At the time, it was the third-highest leap in combine history.

Jericho Sims competed in the Slam Dunk competition

Sims participated in the annual Slam Dunk competition during all-star weekend in 2023, but he was eliminated in the first round. Mac McClung, the eventual winner, and Trey Murphy III advanced to the final, leaving Sims and Kenyon Martin Jr. out of the running.

He tried one maneuver to accentuate his leaping ability that unfortunately fell flat; he retrieved an envelope from inside the basket that he opened to reveal a perfect score of “50.” Judges did not give him a 50.

During the competition, Sims is shown chatting on the sideline with a spectating Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Bucks player Andre Jackson Jr. will compete in this year’s dunk competition later this month.

What is Jericho Sims’ contract?

Sims will be a free agent after the 2025 season. He signed a three-year deal worth $5.6 million with the Knicks in 2022 as a rookie.