Morehead State men’s basketball star Johni Broome (21) has spent his sophomore year battling Utah Valley’s Fardaws Aimaq (23), Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe (22) and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (21) for the NCAA Division I lead in double-doubles.
“Shout out to those other guys,” Broome says, “but I don’t think any of us is looking at it as competition between us. It’s more of helping our teams to win — if you can get a double-double, you are more likely to win.”
A season ago, the 6-foot-10, 235-pound Broome was one of college basketball’s breakout stories.
Lightly recruited out of Florida’s Tampa Catholic High School, Broome blossomed into an immediate star at Morehead State. While leading the 2020-21 Eagles to 23 wins, the OVC Tournament championship and the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, Broome almost averaged a double-double (13.8 ppg, 9 rpg).
In one season, a guy who had made all of one college recruiting visit — to Morehead — morphed into the OVC Tournament MVP and the league’s Freshman of the Year.
“It’s a great recruiting story,” Morehead State Coach Preston Spradlin says. “Coming out of high school, we didn’t have to beat out a lot of people to get (Broome). We saw some value that other people did not (see).”
As a sophomore, Broome has been even better.
Going into Morehead State’s Thursday night game at Eastern Illinois, Broome (four blocks a game) was battling Auburn’s Walker Kessler (4.56) and Western Kentucky’s Jamarion Sharp (4.46) for the national lead in blocks.
Broome was also the nation’s 10th-best rebounder (10.7 rpg) and its 32nd most-accurate field-goal shooter (55.7 percent) while averaging 16.6 points.
As it turned out, to secure one of the best players in the basketball history of Morehead State, all Spradlin had to do was sell a late-blooming Floridian on attending a university in Kentucky he had never heard of.
‘Family-oriented’ recruiting
The Morehead State coaching staff first saw Broome in an Adidas-sponsored national AAU event.
“He was there in front of every coach in the country — so every coach had a chance to see him,” Spradlin says.
What the MSU coaches observed was a willowy-thin prospect who featured a high basketball IQ and velcro-like hands.
“He was skinny as a rail, absolutely a little-bitty guy (in terms of bulk),” Spradlin recalls. “But the longer we watched him, he just had some tools, some tools you can’t teach.”
Broome had grown up in a family where football was king. His older brother, John Broome Jr., was a Florida International defensive end from 2015 through 2017.
“Football was my first love,” Johni Broome says. “I played football since I was, like, 4 years old.”
As a high school freshman, Broome says he stood 5-10 and was a basketball guard. “I was just shooting the ball the whole time, one of those-type kids,” he says, laughing.
By the middle of his sophomore year, Broome had undergone an Anthony Davis-style growth spurt and stood 6-8.
“Had to get all new clothes,” Broome says.
Recognizing that height can be sports destiny, Broome shifted his full focus onto hoops. His father, John Broome Sr., endeavored to teach his son how to play the post by having Johni watch videos of ex-NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon.
“I give my Dad a lot of credit,” Johni Broome says. “When I got taller, I worked with him long nights, 2 o’clock in the morning, sometimes on the court till 4 in the morning, working to make that jump to playing as a big. Worked on hook (shots), turnarounds, just all your footwork and moves.”
When Morehead State first saw Broome in that AAU event, Spradlin says the Eagles brain trust noticed that the skinny big man caught every ball that came near him and had a knack for making the right read on game situations.
“With Johni, we figured if we could get a little weight on him, he could be really good,” Spradlin says.
When Morehead first began to woo him, Broome had no idea where the school was. “Had not heard of it,” he says.
Broome says he was aware of former Eagles star big man Kenneth Faried, then an NBA power forward, “but I didn’t associate him with a school. I knew him from the NBA.”
Nevertheless, Morehead State’s family-oriented recruiting approach won Broome over.
“They would call my Mom, they would talk to my brother, my sister, see how they were doing,” he says. “They made it feel like it wasn’t just me being recruited, it was my family as well.”
A decision ahead
As Morehead State (20-9, 12-4 OVC) winds down its regular season, the Eagles’ goal is to replicate last season’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and trip to the NCAA tourney.
That won’t be easy in a league that also features No. 19 Murray State (26-2, 16-0 OVC) and traditional power Belmont (24-5, 14-2 OVC).
“We still believe we are the best team in this league,” Broome says. “People can’t forget, we are the defending OVC (Tournament) champs.”
Once the season winds down, Broome will face major decisions about his basketball future, starting with whether to turn professional, stay at MSU for his junior season or consider other options.
“Mainly, I will talk to my family. That’s my right hand. Gonna be a couple of long talks. And we will just go from there,” Broome says. “But the biggest thing is finish out this year right.”
For Johni Broome, leaving Florida to cast his lost with a Kentucky university he had never heard of has paid off handsomely.
“I came here to expand my game and become the best Johni Broome I can be,” he says, “and that’s what I am doing.”
