A legendary former Waterloo High School coach passed away earlier this month at the age of 90.

Willard H. Sims died Sept. 2 near Houston, Texas.

Sims served as head coach of the WHS boys basketball team from 1956-57 to 1962-63, compiling an overall record of 120-58. 

His 1960-61 squad went 24-3 and won the Cahokia Conference title before capturing a district championship in exciting fashion. Trailing by 20 points with 7:11 remaining, the Bulldogs stormed back behind 32 points from Marvin Lich to edge Lebanon, 68-67.

Sims, who was inducted into the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013, also coached baseball and track for the Bulldogs and is credited with developing the WHS track program.

In high school, Sims starred in hoops at East St. Louis before going on to play basketball for Northeast Missouri State College in Kirksville, Mo., which is now known as Truman State University.

In fact, he was an all-conference college hoops guard in the 1951-52 and 1953-54 seasons.

While coaching at WHS, Sims also played for the successful Waterloo Hi-Fi’s independent amateur hoops  organization.

A February 1961 article in the Waterloo Republican reported Sims scoring 53 points for the Hi-Fi’s during an 85-76 victory at Columbia.

Following his WHS coaching days, Sims went on to serve as assistant coach for the Northeast Missouri basketball squad for seven years before eventually being named successor to his mentor Boyd King.

From 1971 through 1995, Sims amassed 310 victories along with the 1978-79 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular season title, the 1981 MIAA Tournament Championship and appearances in both the 1979 and 1981 NCAA Division II national championship tournaments. 

He was named by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as Division II Coach of the Year for the South Central Region and was a finalist for National Coach of the Year accolades.

Sims is a member of Truman State’s Athletic Hall of Fame.