Broman's Story
Anders Broman became a varsity basketball player in seventh grade, but it wasn't until his freshman year that his scoring ability took off.
Photo by Andrew Chiu
Anders Broman is somewhat different from Becca, who has a long family basketball history. He came to Lakeview Christian Academy as a kindergartner and while he definitely liked basketball, he had no heritage driving him to become a great player.
Still, he can recall when he was around age five and his brother, Bjorn, was 3 1/2, they used to have "full-court" games in their living room with miniature basketballs on short poles with attached hoops.
"We used to be in deep sweat before we went to bed," he described. "Our dad kept score and he tried to end each game in a tie. We caught on pretty soon."
Broman passed up the more popular sport
of hockey to pursue basketball.
Photo by Andrew Chiu
His father, John, represented the U.S. as a ski jumper in the 1980 Olympics and was the first American to win a World Cup event in 1981.
But Anders and his younger brother did not follow in their father's ski steps. They also passed up hockey, perhaps the state's favorite sport.
Anders explained with a laugh the possible reason for him taking to basketball: "Because my parents didn't want to have to pay for all the hockey equipment. Everyone up north loves hockey."
So he started playing in a local league as a first grader and joined the school team when he reached third grade.
"I was never bad, but never super good, either," he said.
At the end of his sixth grade year, Anders attended a meeting for the next year with new coach Bob Newstrom, who was quite surprised to hear the youngster ask, "How old do I have to be to play varsity basketball?"
Looking back, he explained, "I thought I could (make the varsity in seventh grade), but I wanted to find out and it worked out well."
Newstrom pointed out to the youngster that he had to earn the privilege.
"I really admired his confidence and over the years I've come to accept that," said Newstrom. "He quickly found a spot in our rotation (in seventh grade) and started after a while. The first year we managed to win our first-ever game against a public school team."
Broman averaged 8.1 points as a seventh grade point guard and the Lions posted a 6-19 record.
"The first couple years were kind of tough. The older guys didn't like me," he said. "I can understand that now, looking back. We weren't too good, either."
Broman elevated his game during the
summer before his freshman year.
Photo by Andrew Chiu
With the arrival of coach Newstrom and the Broman brothers, the Lakeview Christian basketball program began taking on a new look. It has evolved from somewhat of a "recreational" program to very competitive with a major schedule uprgrade, year by year.
The Lions began to growl when Anders shifted to shooting guard as a freshman and Bjorn took over at point guard as a seventh grader.
Anders' transition actually began the summer prior to ninth grade when he decided to do more than just shoot in his driveway. He joined an AAU basketball team and began playing at the YMCA.
Early in the year, Newstrom was running a drill and watched Anders sink three consecutive shots from the 3-point line.
He admitted, "That made an impression on me. It didn't take a rocket scientist. I ran it (the drill) a few more times and changed our offense."
After averaging 18.2 points as an eighth grade point guard, Anders averaged an outstanding 32.2 as a freshman shooting guard and the Lions posted a winning record (17-11). The Lions won their first-ever playoff game and Anders was greeted by something new — trick defenses.
However, he was greatly encouraged by his team's new-found chemistry and decided to dedicate himself to the sport year-round.
"I always loved playing, but never really did a workout — certain drills over and over," he said. "Before I was just shooting. Now I had a purpose. Every time I'd get in the gym, I'd try to get better."
Having reached 1,000 career points as a freshman, he quickly went over the 2,000-point mark during his sophomore year in which he averaged 37.3 points. The Lions compiled an outstanding 28-2 record and missed making the final eight in the state tourney by a single game.
Still, his game needed to improve.
Broman scored a career-high 71 points
in a game during his junior year.
Photo by Andrew Chiu
"It was kind of a frustrating year for me," he said. "They (opposing defenses) focused on me with a box-and-one or triangle-and-two with two on me and I had never played against that."
Whenever he is guarded by a single player, it's a rare but welcome sight.
"It's nice to see that," he said. "I try not to show any expression, but I'm definitely happy in my head."
As a junior, Anders exploded for 71 points, which is second in state history (the record is 90), during a 114-110 loss to Melrose (Minn.). The Lions trailed by 20 points at the half and nearly pulled it out.
"We both liked to run and we used a shot clock, but it was irrelevant," Newstrom related.
Anders finished his junior year with a dominating 43.7 scoring average and the Lions made the Class A state tournament. Anders was slowed by the flu and they lost their first-round game to the eventual state champion, finishing with a 25-6 record.
Breaking the boys state career scoring record this year was special for a couple reasons other than the obvious.
First of all, younger brother Bjorn got an assist on the record basket. Secondly, the Friday of that week was officially proclaimed Anders Broman Day in Duluth.
"It was kind of nice to get it done," he said. "Everybody always was asking about it. What really made it cool was that my brother got the assist. I love to play with him. It was kind of crazy. I felt very blessed about that."
It's no wonder that Anders shoots 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line.
Broman sticks to a rigorous workout
routine.
Photo by Andrew Chiu
His workouts are legendary. He said as a freshman he had to make his last 15 free throws before he could leave practice or a workout. Now he has to make 40 straight — or start over. Newstrom said that his star tries to make 400 three-pointers every day.
His tireless efforts have encouraged some teammates to join him, his brother and his father in workouts to seek their own self-improvement.
Anders has a 3.85 GPA and has received a full scholarship to Division I South Dakota State University where he plans to study exercise science so he can stay involved with sports throughout his lifetime.
Newstrom looks back fondly at Anders' still-incomplete career and says, "He's a great story and such an easy guy to pull for. In our circumstances — when one player scores most of the points — envy creeps into the picture. These kids are so remarkably absent of this issue. The rest of these guys who labor in relative anonymity are not begrudging him that."
Concerning whoever winds up with the career scoring record, Anders says his focus is elsewhere.
"Whatever happens, happens. I'm not thinking about records, because I can get caught up. I'm just trying to become the best player I can and win as many games as I can."
