Broom the best
- Updated: November 10, 2022
Jacksonville’s senior leader signs with South Alabama, Buzan calls him ‘best I’ve seen walking through these halls’
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – It takes a lot to impress Jacksonville guard John Broom these days, but something his new coach said about him Thursday absolutely blew him away.
With a “wow” and an acknowledgment of all the coaches who’ve helped him along the way, Broom made his long-standing commitment official Thursday by signing his letter of intent to play basketball at South Alabama.
The Golden Eagles open their season Saturday against Georgia 1A private state runner-up Kings Ridge.
Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan has been around the school 20 years, but he called Broom, the anchor of last year’s Class 4A state championship run, “the best player I’ve seen walking through these halls.”
That got Broom’s attention.
“I thought like, wow,’” he said. “Just to come from this high school and just be considered one of the best to walk through this high school, that’s just great, honestly, and my mouth was like, ‘wow.’
“He’s been here for 20 years, that’s just, ‘wow.’
There’s no secret to John Broom. What you see is what you get – off the floor and on.
“He really is the real deal,” Buzan said. “I’m not just saying that, I mean it. I’m not saying we haven’t had some really good players because we’ve had some really good ones, but as far I’ve been around and been on the court with, John’s that guy. He’s a special player.”
Broom chose the Jaguars over Jacksonville State – where his mother, Tracy, was a star basketball player – Mississippi State, Clemson and Tulane. He picked them because of the consistency in their recruiting, their style of play and the way the coaches develop players. He is expected to be a 1 or 2 guard in their multi-guard lineup, which he called “perfect for me.”.
He is believed to be Jacksonville’s first Division I basketball signee since 6-foot-11 Cornelius Williams signed with North Carolina State in the late 90s.
The Jags are getting the total package in Broom. The 6-5 guard averaged 18.8 points in the Golden Eagles’ state championship season, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals. He led the county in free throw shooting (.848) and was second in 3-point shooting (.443).
Watching the Jags win their season opener against Mobile over the internet Wednesday night “made me more excited to sign the papers.
“I was talking to other recruits who signed. We were watching it all together on Face Time and we were all like, ‘Wow, this is going to awesome.’ We’re excited and hopefully we can get to the tournament and win the Sun Belt next year.”
He chose to sign Thursday instead of the first day of the early signing period so more family members could attend the ceremony. His sister Kayla plays volleyball at Georgia State and he wanted to make it early enough so she she’d be able to attend and get back for a match that evening.
That’s him, consistent and considerate to the end – unless, of course, you’re on the other side of the court.
“He’s kind of the silent assassin type,” Broom’s state championship coach Shane Morrow said. “He’s not going to say a whole lot on the floor, he’s not going to say a whole lot to me or you or anybody else., but he’s going to be there every day. He’s going to play hard no matter if you’re playing Spain Park or somebody else, he’s going to be John Broom and that’s one thing that helps him, the consistency he has.”
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