By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
Over this offseason, Baylor men’s basketball acquired junior guard Dantwan Grimes, adding even more depth to the Bears’ stacked backcourt. Grimes comes from Kilgore College where he led the team in scoring and assists, while also helping the team reach two consecutive NJCAA National Tournaments.
“Out of high school I had no offers,” Grimes said. “Nobody really wanted to take a chance on me. I was an undersized guard, I wasn’t really athletic, so I decided to go to a junior college.”
Grimes credits a lot of his success to Cody McCoy, assistant coach at Kilgore who previously was on the coaching staff for Baylor. Grimes said when he first arrived, he didn’t fully understand what it took to be great yet and McCoy was instrumental in that process.
“McCoy was the one who taught me those things, like discipline, setting goals and working every day,” Grimes said. “Not really focusing on the end goal for a moment, just work and let all that pay off in the future.”
McCoy said Grimes was his first recruit to Kilgore, where they built their relationship. McCoy said they had a special connection from the start because of their similar personalities and starting similar journeys together.
“I remember picking him up from the airport, and he’s with his mom and he’s nervous because it was his first time on a plane,” McCoy said. “You know, from the very first practice you could just tell he had something different about him, and he had no clue.”
McCoy said he would tell Grimes stories about Davion Mitchell and other Baylor players’ work ethic and how it led to something bigger than themselves. He said Grimes came ready to work, and that he just did his best to help him along the way.
“These are the possibilities you can pull off, but it’s not going to be easy,” McCoy told Grimes. “Kilgore is an opportunity to springboard yourself somewhere different where a lot of people don’t think you can go. It’s going to be hard and it’s not always going to be fun.”
Fortunately for Grimes, motivation is something he has never lacked. His journey is bigger than basketball for him. His determination stems from his childhood in Ocala, Fla. He said his mom is his biggest inspiration to keep working in hopes of a better future.
“It was rough out there, so it was kind of rough growing up,” Grimes said. “My mom was someone who really influenced me. She had me young, so it felt like we grew up together. Having to see the things she had to go through put a drive in me to be successful and help her and my family have a better life.”
Despite not having a lot of time here under his belt, Grimes said he is enjoying the transition, and he likes what he sees from the team. He said the team gels very well on and off the court and he wants to give his all during his next few seasons in green and gold.
“The biggest thing for me is trusting the process,” Grimes said. “I got three years here so I’m not rushing. I’m going to come in and do my best and do the best I can for the team. Do my job and play as hard as I can, just trying to help us get to a national championship.”
