In a game full of episodic under-successes for the Houston Cougars, that moment could have been viewed as yet another disappointment on the way to parting with the 2021 NCAA tournament. Star Guard Quentin Grimes was five points behind Rutgers at 2:53 in the second round and was approaching the foul line with the opportunity to reduce it to the edge of a single 3-point shot. Grimes, usually 77 percent reliable, missed both free throws.
That could have been it for Houston, the champions of the American Athletic Conference and number two in the NCAA Midwest region. However, dirt is nothing if not resilient. He fought for his own ricochet, restarted the Cougars offensive and fired a 3-pointer within seconds that seemed to convince Rutgers that he wasn’t going to hold that lead.
Quentin Grimes became the Sweet 16’s best basketball story.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a young man where he started from where he is now,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson this week. “And it all depends on his work ethic. Before a workout, during a workout, after a workout, all year round – I don’t think he’s ever two days where he’s not in the gym.
“At a time when guys have a million distractions, that kid’s distraction is the gym.”
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Throughout Sweet 16 there are sure to be charming stories of family relationships or obstacles overcome which they specialize in presenting the Olympics.
In the purest sense of basketball, however, Grimes is what college basketball is about: fully developing as a player, however long it takes – as long as it happens within the allotted four seasons.
Grimes arrived at the same location in college basketball on the same night as Zion Williamson. They were part of the 2018 Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and Grimes was so standout he almost stole the show before Zion could even take the seat.
Ranked number 8 in his class by a consensus of analyst recruitment, Grimes started his first college game for Bill Self in Kansas against Michigan State, lighting the Spartans with a 6-of-10 hit from 3 points -Range. His muscular build and compact form seemed indestructible. He scored 21 points and passed three assists – and a star was born.
It turned out to be Zion, not Quentin. That night was really as good as it would get for a Kansas freshman Grimes. In the remaining 35 games he scored only 12 double-digit goals. He made only five of his next 28 3-point attempts and ended six times without three in that 10-game stretch. He shot 34 percent from a distance for the season.
What was supposed to be easy – getting to college, dominating, entering early, dubbed the lottery choice by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver – had become an expected, undesirable challenge.
Grimes put his name on the 2019 NBA draft, and it seemed from afar that he was going to do what so many other newbies have been doing lately: exit the college game, ready for the NBA or not , and see how it all works. Instead, Grimes withdrew from the early contestant list and then moved closer to his home in The Woodlands, Texas. He chose Houston.
Grimes told ESPN.com last season that he wasn’t fixated on doing well as a KU freshman, but it was evident that he couldn’t be comfortable on the Kansas offensive.
“Every situation doesn’t always match the person’s particular abilities,” Quentin’s father Marshall Grimes told ESPN. “Coach Self is a great coach. He is a hall of fame trainer. Most of the people there are really good people. “
In Houston, it took Grimes a while to regain the gamer the Boy Scouts had so enthusiastically endorsed, but his assimilation as a Cougar was immediate.
“When I got in I was kind of a newbie,” Grimes told reporters this week. “I’ve just learned everything and what coach Sampson wants in practice every day. I’m really trying to get a sense of being comfortable, and that’s how I did it this year.
“Some teams may get jealous or selfish when another player walks in. But they hugged me like I’d already been there. It just made the transition easier. “
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As a second year student last season, he averaged 12.1 points and shot 32.6 percent from depth. Sampson saw that some work would be required to repair the damaged Grimes trust. Without a belief in the infallibility of the next attempt, without the talent to forget the shot you just missed, no shooter can thrive.
“I think a lot of people let him down because he didn’t live up to other people’s expectations,” said Sampson. “Since he came here, we have been able to convince him that his work and preparation build his confidence. He plays with great confidence. “
Grimes specifically mentions assistant coach Quannas White, the point guard of the Oklahoma Final Four team from 2002 and UH employee since 2017, who takes responsibility for training Grimes on his jumper.
“I just feel like there’s never a day off,” Grimes said, meaning that as a compliment rather than a complaint. “We work every day to get to my places where I like to get it: every day before training, every day after training. It never lets me down, even on days when I’m tired. He never lets me walk slowly. It’s always 110 percent. I just have the feeling that these people are always pushing you and always seeing what’s inside of you that you may not be able to bring out yourself. I think that is the main key that stands out in this program. “
Grimes and the Cougars will play Syracuse in the Midwest region semi-finals on Saturday night. As a 6-5, 210-pound guard, he averages 18.1 points and 6.0 rebounds. He connects 41.7 percent of his 3-point attempts. He scored 22 points in the Rutgers game, 21 in the narrow AAC semi-final win over Memphis that led Houston to the league title, and 17 in the season win over the Tigers, which kept Houston’s hopes for a No. 2 NCAA seed alive. He’s rarely had a rough night at one of the Cougars’ greatest games.
For all of this and more, he’s been named the All-America Third Team by all four NCAA-recognized main voters, including Sporting News. If the third team seems skimpy, keep in mind that one player out of 4,000 or more Division I players is in the top 15. Grimes is also a finalist and possibly the favorite for the Jerry West Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the best marksman in college basketball.
That was Houston’s turn against Rutgers in those closing minutes, and the expectation after seeing him at work this year was that everything would surely work out. It just didn’t go as planned.
