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Tampa Catholic High School is ready to hear alum Johni Broome's name called in the NBA Draft

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Published  June 24, 2025 3:07pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News
Tampa Catholic High School is ready to hear alum Johni Broome's name called in the NBA Draft

Tampa Catholic High School is ready to hear alum Johni Broome's name called in the NBA Draft

FOX 13's Mark Skol Jr. reports.

The Brief

    • Tampa Catholic High School grad and Plant City High School alum Johni Broome is expected to be selected in the 2025 NBA Draft.
    • Broome would be the second Tampa Catholic grad ever to be drafted, joining Kevin Knox.
    • The big man is inspiring current Crusaders to make the NBA someday.

TAMPA, Fla. - While the Tampa Catholic basketball season is still months away, Crusaders head coach Don Dziagwa is fired up for one of his guys. 

"This is really exciting," Dziagwa said.

That's because former Crusader Johni Broome is expected to be selected in the 2025 NBA Draft.

What they're saying:

"How many high school coaches are going to have one of their players drafted?" Dziagwa said. "We really hope he is going to have a great pro career. It's exciting when his name will be picked and I think he's going to prove some people in the pro ranks that he can really play."

The school has had just one player drafted to the NBA before. 2017 Tampa Catholic High School alum Kevin Knox was selected by the New York Knicks with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. 

"Johni, he's a great talented man," Knox said. "All the shine, all the fame goes to him. It's a big night for him."

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However, it's a night so many people did not think would ever happen for Broome. 

"That's a heck of a story, the Johni Broome story," Dziagwa.

The backstory:

While Knox was the five-star recruit and the McDonald's All-American getting offers from every blue-blood basketball school in the country, Broome did not get that same level of appreciation despite leading the Crusaders to two straight Final Four appearances during his junior and senior seasons. 

"Coming out of high school, he was not recruited by the power five schools," Dziagwa said. "He's just a great teammate. He wasn't really all about himself. It wasn't like, 'Me, Johni Broome, I want to do this. I want to do that.' He was really a team player. The two years he was here at Tampa Catholic, we went to the Final Four both years. He relished in the fact that the team was doing well as much as him doing well."

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Broome took his talents to Morehead State and flat out dominated. He was named first-team all-Ohio Valley Conference in both of his years as an Eagle putting up 16.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game during his final season in Morehead.

Dig deeper:

He impressed Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl so much that he offered the Plant City native a chance to play in the SEC. He played three seasons for the Tigers and averaged 18.6 points and 10.8 rebounds during his senior season while leading Auburn to the national championship game. He was named the Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year in the process. 

"He really knows how to play basketball," Dziagwa said. "He has gotten better and better and better. Tried to tell him how hard he would have to work if it was his dream to get to the NBA. Apparently, he listens a little bit to us."

The listening has paid off. However, just like out of high school, Broome is being overlooked. Some publications think he could be a second-round pick at best.

"He's always kind of had a chip on his shoulder," Dziagwa said. "If he falls somewhere in the first round, maybe second round, he'll want to prove himself again. I think that's helped him having that chip on your shoulder."

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However, there is nothing he has to prove to his Tampa Catholic family. 

"It is good to see another fellow student hopefully getting their name called," Knox said.

Broome is inspiring the current generation of Crusaders.

"I'm sure some of them look at it, 'Why can't that be me?'" Dziagwa said. '"Maybe I can be that guy like Johni Broome.' We'll huddle up around half court and go, 'Johni Broome used to be one of the guys in this huddle listening to me and now you are one of those guys. What are you going to do with your game because what he did - he certainly listened and worked and worked and worked. Are you going to do the same thing?' It is kind of that intrinsic motivation for the kids when they have a player like that [to look up to]."

Tampa Catholic believes that Broome will continue to do his thing and impress once again at the highest level. 

"I am sure there will be no stone unturned in regard to him working hard in terms of the coaches who draft him want him to do," Dziagwa said. "Hopefully that's going to prove that he's going to end up being a good pro."

READ: Plant High School alum Jac Caglianone hits first two home runs of his career in same game

Knox hopes he'll be a pro on his team - the Golden State Warriors - so the two Tampa Catholic alums can play together in the NBA. Golden State was one of the teams Broome worked out with and he's been projected to be picked by the Warriors in several mock drafts. 

"That would be kind of insane," Knox said. "Being able to take him under my wing, being a vet now in the league, it would be cool to have a fellow student on the same team as me."
Broome has also had workouts with the Timberwolves and the Suns.

What's next:

Round 1 of the NBA Draft tips off on Wednesday night at 8 pm. If Broome is not selected in the first round, he'll hope to hear his name called in Round 2 on Thursday at 8 p.m. Both nights of the draft will be televised on ESPN. 

The Source: This story was written with information gathered by FOX 13's Mark Skol Jr. 

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