On Saturday Morehead State beat Belmont by 15 PTS in the OVC tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Eagles lost 19 games last year but bounced back this year to claim the school’s 1st NCAA tourney bid in a decade. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Johni Broome about being named OVC ROY and what it feels like to make the NCAA tourney.
You grew up in Florida: what made you choose Morehead State? Coach P and his staff did a great job of recruiting me: they talked to my family and were honest with what they wanted so it felt like home.
You play for Coach Preston Spradlin: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you learned from him this year? There are so many things that make him a good coach but 1 thing is that he gets on you to make you better. He expects a lot out of all of us and it builds confidence in everyone. Off the court he has taught me how to be a man and be honest.
Last summer you gained 25 pounds of muscle: how did you do it, and how has it helped? Our strength coach did a really good job. I drank a lot of protein shakes and worked out in the weight room, and the coaches made sure I was eating well and getting a lot of calories because I would burn them off so fast. Fast forward 4 months and look where we are!
The original plan was for you to back up Tyzhaun Claude, but in November he tore an ACL in practice: how were you able to make the overnight adjustment from being a sub to being a starter? It was not an overnight thing but was very traumatizing when he went down. The whole team helped boost my confidence, including Tyzhaun critiquing my game from the sideline, which was a big help. My other teammates told me to stay patient and would help me move on by giving me advice after timeouts.
Your team lost 6 of its 1st 10 games before Christmas, then won 19 of its past 20: what happened over winter break to change your entire season? We have been here a long time and over Christmas break we finally got to go home and see our families and hit the reset button. Everyone came back refreshed and after that it became hard to stop us.
You led the OVC with 53 BLK this year: what is the key to being a great shot-blocker? Our defense is amazing. The blocks are mine but our guards work their butts off on every play, which gives me more time to come over and help out. I have their backs when they need help and they have mine.
Last week you were named conference ROY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It means a lot and showed that my hard work has paid off…but winning an OVC title meant a lot more.
In the OVC tourney title game last Saturday you had 27 PTS/12-19 FG/12 REB in a win over Belmont en route to being named conference tourney MVP: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what did it mean to you to win a championship? I knew that I did not have to do anything special for us to win: I just had to play my game. My teammates put me in a good position to win and our guards started hitting shots, which gave me more room to go out and hoop. Winning the title means a lot. It is the 1st time that I have ever won a championship on that stage: I remember losing my state championship title game exactly 1 year earlier.
In addition to Belmont you faced other tourney-caliber teams this year including Ohio State/Clemson: which 1 of them impressed you the most? I would say Ohio State: they are very disciplined and their defense is top-tier. They do a very good job of minimizing their turnovers and stay together as a group.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? Honestly it does not matter: I have confidence that no matter who we play we will keep it going like we have done all year long.