FARMINGTON, Utah – Idaho men's basketball forward Julius Mims was selected to the Big Sky Conference All-Defensive team, announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon.

Selections were voted on by the league's 10 head coaches. 

Mims closed the regular season ranked inside the top 10 in several defensive statistical categories in Big Sky play. The Billings, Montana native placed tied for sixth in blocks (22) and blocks per game (1.29) and fifth in defensive rebounds (91). He also ranked tied for 14th in steals per game with an average of 1.1 per game. 

A defensive force all season, Mims led the team with a total of 46 blocks and 32 steals in 31 starts. 

After his first-half rejection at Portland State on March 4, Mims passed Frank Waters and Deon Watson for the seventh most in a Vandals' single season. Waters and Watson both recorded 45 of their own in the 1991-92 season. The junior forward has posted two or more blocks in a total of 15 games this season, including a career-high five blocks against Northern Arizona (1/25).

He recorded five steals in Idaho's home win over Idaho State on February 17, the third most by a Big Sky player in a conference game this season. 
 
The ninth-seeded Vandals open the 2024 Big Sky Conference Tournament on Saturday, March 9 against the 10th-seeded Sacramento State Hornets at 4:30 p.m. PST inside the Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.

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