ANDRE SIMS ARRESTED IN DRUG CASE

A former basketball standout at Edison High School and California State
University, Fresno, has been arrested on charges of possession of nearly 4
pounds of cocaine, Fresno police reported Saturday.

Andre Sims, 32, is being held in Fresno County Jail on three felony charges
of drug possession and possession of drugs for sale. His bail is $460,000.

In his basketball heyday in the 1980s, Sims was known as the "Distributor"
for his playmaking and clutch-shooting abilities.

Sims was arrested Friday after officers pulled him over at Ashlan and
Blackstone avenues for speeding and making illegal turns, said Sgt. Don
Mitchell.

While Sims cooperated with officers, a police drug-sniffing dog alerted
officers, who later found nearly 4 pounds of cocaine, Mitchell said.

"We hadn't heard from Sims in a long time," Mitchell said Saturday. "This
is kind of sad."

Sims had stayed nearly crime-free since 1995, when he was released from
prison after serving time for a cocaine sales conviction. He told police he
is on probation for domestic violence, but officers haven't been able to
confirm it, Mitchell said.

His life is a far cry from his days as a slick-passing point guard, who had
taken Edison High School to within a single point of the state Division I
finals in 1987 and cruised the campus in a letterman's jacket that had his
nickname -- the "Distributor" -- embroidered on the back in big yellow letters.

He was named player of the year in the Central Section and, of equal
importance to college recruiters, graduated from Edison with a 3.4
grade-point average.

A year later at Fresno State, he quickly won the applause of the Red Wave
and made the all-conference freshman team. He appeared to have a bright future.

The dream unraveled the next season when Sims missed the plane for a Fresno
State road trip. He was suspended indefinitely for cutting classes and
practices.

He was shot in the leg outside a Fresno motel in an argument over a pay
phone in May 1990. Later in October, he was arrested for selling rock
cocaine to police informants.

Sims was sentenced in June 1991 to seven years in prison after a Fresno
County Superior Court jury found him guilty of selling cocaine and of
possession of drugs for sale. After his release from prison, he told his
friends he wanted to put his checkered past to rest.

"Every day I get up and want to be a good person," Sims told The Bee in
June 1995. "I try to evaluate things before jumping in."