Ten things to know about Winthrop’s Bjorn Broman
Winthrop freshman guard Bjorn Broman has quietly motored along through his first college basketball season, not really making much noise negatively or positively. Let’s learn more about this quiet contributor:
South Carolinians’ reaction to snow is funny to him: Broman remembers at least once – maybe more often - a foot of snow falling on his hometown of Duluth in the span of just over a day. “I’m excited to see snow; haven’t seen it since I went home for Christmas break.”
Snow makes him feel at home: “We’re known for our long, cold, rough winters, so just having snow makes it feel a little bit more like home, like Minnesota.”
Having his brother, Anders, at Winthrop has helped the freshman transition: Broman’s older brother Anders – the all-time leading scorer in Minnesota high school basketball history and a dead-eye long distance shooter – is sitting out this season after transferring from South Dakota State. “It’s been very good,” said Bjorn. “I was gonna be all right coming out here on my own anyway. I don’t want people thinking I needed him or nothing, but it has helped a lot. Just adapting to college life and living in the south, but also college basketball. Freshman year is a roller-coaster so it’s nice to have him who can relate to that stuff.”
The brothers don’t live together: Yet. They probably will at some point in the near future, but Bjorn is required to live in a freshman dorm. It’ll be interesting to see how their sleep habits align because Bjorn – a night owl that likes to sleep in the next morning – said his older brother lives like an old man. “He’s in bed way too early. I mean you’re in college, come on now.”
Broman has a 38:18 assist to turnover ratio: Pretty darn good for a freshman point guard. The 6-foot rookie has had eight games (out of 19) with no turnovers, and five more contests with just one.
His play has been a mixture of smart and safe: “Depending on who I’m playing, situation, all that stuff. I want to be aggressive as possible, but at the same time smart.”
Broman has scored 121 points in 19 games: It took Broman, who averaged 49.6 points per game his senior year of high school and was named a Parade All-American, two and a quarter games to score that many points last season as a 12th grader at Duluth’s Lakeview Christian Academy. This year’s competition is a little more stout, though, and Broman and Winthrop’s coaching staff always knew he wouldn’t put up numbers like that in college.
He’s not happy with how he’s shooting the ball so far: Broman came to Winthrop with a reputation similar to that of his brother’s, as an accurate long range shooter. Broman made just 6-of-29 in a one-month stretch earlier in the season but he’s starting to rediscover his touch. He’s still only hitting 34 percent even after making 4-of-9 in his last two games. “I’m happy with how I’m coming along right now, so my shot’s feeling good. Been putting a lot of time in the gym and coaches are working with me. Those early conference games, I mean I don’t even care about those statistics. Lately, I’ve been playing better, shooting the ball, improving on my shot percentage and I’ve just got to keep that going.”
He really enjoyed the Frozen singalong the team did for a Winthrop Coliseum promotion during the Liberty game: “That was hilarious. They did a great job on that. It was a lot of fun; kind of hurt my ears listening to some guys. One thing’s for sure, we’re basketball players not singers.”
Broman has no singing or choral experience in his background: None. “They wouldn’t allow me.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Ten things to know about Winthrop’s Bjorn Broman."