“Culture is a main part of basketball,” said IUPUI men’s basketball coach Byron Rimm II. “It’s about getting the right kids in the program.”
Rimm has an interest in being coach of the Jaguars for the long haul and has plans to develop the culture of the program, an important piece of groundwork for any successful team.
Last year Rimm was promoted to interim head coach after the resignation of Jason Gardner. After the Jaguars completed the 2019-20 season with a 7-25 record, Rimm was a candidate for the position and said that he was in the final list of candidates when the search was halted due to the pandemic. Suddenly, Rimm had another season to prove his abilities as head coach.
Rimm has been a head coach for 15 seasons. His teams have had a record of 189-268. During his tenure at Prairie View A&M, Rimm’s teams won 155 games, the most in school history.
In the past year, Rimm has made an impact in recruitment, adding freshman guard Bakari LaStrap from Houston Texas. While this is the first season LaStrap has been coached by Rimm, their relationship did not start here in Indianapolis.
Rimm stated that he saw him play at a camp in Houston, where future professionals play in a very competitive environment.
LaStrap had not committed to IUPUI prior to Rimm being appointed as head coach and discussed the role the coach played in his recruitment process.
“Once he got the head coaching job, he circled back around,” said LaStrap. “We built more and more of a relationship and by July I ended up committing.”
LaStrap is a talented player from The Woodlands Christian Academy in The Woodlands, Texas, which won Class 4A state championships in 2018 and 2020 and was runnerup in 2019. Rimm was interested in recruiting LaStrap for more than just his skillset, but because of the character and pure love of the game. Rimm made it clear that LaStrap is the epitome of the culture the coach is trying to build at IUPUI.
“He was an excellent student and he just really loves the game of basketball,” said Rimm.
Rimm is focused on bringing more than just talented young men to play here, establishing a team with a solid work ethic and a deep love for the game of basketball.
“They handle their responsibilities in basketball and society,” Rimm said.
While this offseason held challenges as a result of the pandemic, Rimm feels he has been able to prepare this team to play for the upcoming season.
“I believe we will perform and work hard every day,” Rimm said when asked how he thinks the team will do this season. “I think we will compete and be an upper echelon team in the conference.”
