Austin McBroom's Basketball Career - Surprinsgly Good?
- Cyrus Choi
- Jul 23, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 5, 2022
Austin McBroom is a highly controversial figure. To his 'Ace Family' fans, McBroom is a wholesome YouTube family vlogger. On the other hand, others view McBroom as a disgraced social media influencer who constantly ends up in controversy. Allegedly, McBroom has not paid the participants of the 'YouTube vs. TikTok' boxing event due to the bankruptcy of his production company, Social Gloves.
However, this is just a controversy. Instead of looking at the petty drama that McBroom was involved in, I'm much more interested in Austin McBroom's basketball ability. After all, we arent' TMZ.
In 2019, McBroom hosted a charity basketball game amongst social media influencers and NBA players like Jordan Clarkson and Nick Young! Unfortunately, I don't have any in-depth stats for that game, but McBroom had 30 points, nine assists, and made eight three-pointers!
Obviously, this game was for fun, but it made me weirdly intrigued. In the video that I watched, he seemed like a pretty good catch-and-shooter and was a decent passer. I searched up 'Austin McBroom Basketball' in Google, expecting to see more about the charity game, so I was shocked when I found out that McBroom played D1 NCAA Basketball.
Not only did he play D1 Basketball, but he was actually good (for one season). I was so surprised that I'm right now, dedicating an entire article to Austin McBroom's basketball career. I guess the first time Champions in 50 years Milwaukee Bucks will have to wait.
Now, Austin McBroom doesn't have a Wikipedia page, so finding information on Austin McBroom's high-school basketball career is going to be difficult. If you're just as interested, which I doubt, comment down below if you have any other info about Austin McBroom's basketball career.
Campbell High School
Austin McBroom was a 5'9" - 6'0" point guard for Campbell High School's varsity basketball team. This really surprised me, but McBroom was teammates with 1x All-Star, 3x All-Defensive, and 2021 NBA Champion Jrue Holiday.
I genuinely had a spit-take when I read that McBroom and Holiday were teammates. However, they would only be teammates for one season (2007-08). While McBroom was a freshman, Holiday was already a senior, two years shy from joining the NBA.
Since they both played the same position, I assume that McBroom was Holiday's backup point guard. Unless the coach decided to start McBroom for 1-2 minutes, sit him out, then sub in Holiday. Technically, that makes McBroom the starting point guard.
Tangent aside, during his freshman season, McBroom averaged:
7.5 Points, 2.1 Rebounds, 4.0 Assists, and 1.9 Steals
44 FG%, 80 FT%, 35 3P%
36 Games Played
This is a pretty decent stat-line for a 5'9" point guard who probably didn't receive that many minutes. By the end of the season, Campbell High School (aka, the Vikings), led by none other than Jrue Holiday, won the California Division 4 state title.
If you're interested, in 2007-08 as a senior, Jrue Holiday averaged:
25.3 Points, 12.0 Rebounds, 6.8 Assists, 4.6 Steals, and 2.4 Blocks
57 FG%, 86 FT%, 40 3P%
36 Games Played
So yeah... Holiday was definitely the starting point guard.
After Holiday left to become one of the best two-way players in the modern NBA, it was time for McBroom to step up to the plate, and he did. In his sophomore season, McBroom averaged:
15.4 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 5.3 Assists, and 2.0 Steals
43 FG%, 78 FT%, 21 3P%
24 Games
Although McBroom would improve in points, rebounds, assists, AND steals, he shot horribly from everywhere. In his defense, three-point shooting wasn't a key skill that point-guards needed to have in their arsenal.
McBroom would only get better. In his senior season, McBroom averaged:
25.1 Points, 3.5 Rebounds, 3.9 Assists, 3.3 Steals, and 0.1 Blocks
45 FG%, 84 FT%, 33 3P%
27 Games Played
I know I skipped his junior season, but he had the same stat-line as his senior season. McBroom took a colossal leap in points and steals but didn't improve in anything else. However, he was selected to be a part of the All-CIF Division 3AA First-Team!
Purely based on his stats, it seems like McBroom was probably a slasher/spot-up shooter. He might have been a good perimeter defender, but for his size (5'9"), it might have more to do with his agility and reading the ball well (i.e., intercepting), hence the 3.3 steals.
It was probably McBroom's size that led to the death of his pro-basketball career. If the previously described playstyle is accurate, then it wouldn't have worked well in the NBA (for someone his height). He would have needed to be 6'2" - 6'4" (ex: Russell Westbrook, John Wall) to have been at least decent in the NBA.
What makes this impressive is at the same time, McBroom was also playing for Campbell High School's football and baseball team. I don't know anything about either sport, but McBroom earned All-State honors in football! I don't understand football stats, but he had 47 carriers, 500 rushing yards, and seven touchdowns in his senior season. Make with that what you will.
McBroom's best game in high school was on December 20th, 2010, against the Sylmar Spartans. He put up:
35 Points, 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steal
58 2P%, 67 3P%, 79 FT%
Here were Campbell High School's records for each season that Austin McBroom was on the team:
2007-08: 31-5
2008-09: 19-9
2009-10: 20-8
2010-11: 17-10
Once it was time for McBroom to choose which college to go to, there wasn't that large of a selection. It didn't seem like many colleges sought to recruit McBroom. According to ESPN, McBroom was only a ONE-STAR recruit and had an overall score of 79.
Thankfully, McBroom would get an offer from Central Michigan University (CMU). The most notable players from CMU are Dan Majere and Chirs Kama. McBroom would eventually sign to play for CMUon April 20th, 2011, officially starting his college basketball career.
Central Michigan University
Austin McBroom would immediately serve as the starting point guard for CMU. The team also started two other guards (Trey Zeigler and Derek Jackson) since outside of McBroom, Zeigler, and Jackson, no one else was that good. Every other guard outside these three averaged less than 3.1 PPG.
In his freshman season, McBroom would average:
10.9 Points, 2.4 Rebounds, 2.7 Assists, 0.9 Steals, and 0.1 Blocks
39.6 FG%, 42.1 3P%, 81.6 FT%
29 Minutes
McBroom was CMU's second or third best player. He led the team in three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, and assists. He was also third in points and steals! For a freshman that was given a one-star rating, McBroom was over-exceeding expectations. CMU would go 5-11 in the Mid-American Conference, so they were obviously not good. Only the previously mentioned 'Big 3' averaged more than 10 PPG.
In the first game of the conference tournament, McBroom would carry CMU to upset Bowling Green State, 54-53. McBroom would put up:
20 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steal
7/11 FG, 2/2 3P, 4/5 FT
34 Minutes
This didn't matter because, in the next game, they would lose to Toledo State, 72-75. McBroom would only score thirteen points and shot a horrible 28.6% from the field and 16.7% from the three-point line.
St. Louis University
After his freshman season, McBroom would transfer to St. Louis University. I'm not surprised that McBroom did since St. Louis was MUCH better than CMU. In the same season as McBroom's freshman season (2011-12), St. Louis went 26-8.
However, this was probably not the best choice for McBroom. He would have to sit out for the 2012-13 NCAA season due to NCAA regulations. During this season, St. Louis was the A-10 Regular Season Champs and the A-10 Tournament Champs. This was the first time St. Louis were Conference Champions since 1999-00, and McBroom couldn't get to play with them.
To make matters worse, when McBroom came back for the 2013-14 NCAA season, he was downgraded to a bench role. In the 2013-14 NCAA season, McBroom would average:
7.3 Points, 1.9 Rebounds, 1.6 Assists, 0.7 Steals
35.2 FG%, 34.9 3P%, 90.3 FT%
21.5 Minutes Played
Besides his free-throw percentage, McBroom did worse in every stat. However, there was an upside. St. Louis was once again the A-10 Regular Season Champs. They went 13-3 and went 27-7 overall. However, once the A-10 Tournament came along, St. Louis would lose in the first-round against St. Bonaventure, 68-71.
Thankfully, St. Louis still had a change in the NCAA Tournament. In the first round, St. Louis won, 83-80 against NC State, who had T.J. Warren. However, in the second round, St. Louis lost to Louisville badly (51-66). Louisviille had future NBA players, Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier.
Now, I didn't mention McBroom in any of these games because he did nothing. The most minutes he played was thirteen against Louisville, and the most points he ever scored was TWO against St. Bonaventure and NC State.
To make matters worse, in the following season, St. Louis would go from the BEST team in the A-10 Conference to the worst. In the 2014-15 NCAA season, St. Louis went 3-15 and went 11-21 overall. As for McBroom, he averaged:
6.7 Points, 1.2 Rebounds, 1.6 Assists, 0.8 Steals
37.7 FG%, 42.9 3P%, 76.7 FT%
20.2 Minutes
Somehow, McBroom got worse. The only stat he improved in was three-point shooting. To lighten the blow, McBroom's first game in the 2014-15 NCAA season was surprisingly good. He put up:
24 Points, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal
6/14 FG, 5/7 3P, 7/10 FT
35 Minutes
Eastern Washington University
After the 2014-15 NCAA season with St. Louis, McBroom would transfer AGAIN to Eastern Washington University (EWU). With EWU, McBroom would see a HUGE improvement.
In the 2015-16 NCAA season alongside EWU, McBroom would average:
21.0 Points, 2.5 Rebounds, 3.7 Assists, 1.1 Steals
43.4 FG%, 40.2 3P%, 83.2 FT%
37.4 Minutes
Even though McBroom didn't improve his three-point shooting, he still stayed pretty consistent. Besides that, McBroom improved in EVERY SINGLE stat! Obviously, when you play seventeen more minutes, you're going to put more stats, but, surprisingly, McBroom's efficiency got better. He shot nine more field goals and four more free throws per game, yet, still improved his efficiency.
Although EWU wasn't that good either, they were a lot better than St. Louis. EWU would end the season with a 10-8 record and an 18-16 overall record.
McBroom was so good with EWU that he was awarded Player of the Week. On February 11th, 2016, against North Dakota University, McBroom put up:
35 Points, 4 Rebounds, 5 Assists
9/17 FG, 5/8 3P, 12/14 FT
40 Minutes
In the following game, on February 13th, 2016, against Northern Colorado University, McBroom would put up:
37 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 3 Steals
9/22 FG, 3/8 3P, 16/16 FT
37 Minutes
It makes sense that McBroom was awarded Player of the Week since these were terrific performances by McBroom. McBroom set a record for the most points in back-to-back games in EWU history with 72 points!
To keep the hype train going, McBroom and EWU would demolish Northern Arizona University in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, 74-52. McBroom would record FIVE STEALS this game.
However, in the second round, McBroom single-handedly ruined EWU's chances of winning the tournament. This was, without a doubt, the worst performance I've ever seen a player have. Against Idaho University, McBroom put up:
12 Points, 2 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal
0/10 FG, 0/6 3P, 12/14 FT
39 Minutes
Although he did have five assists and shot accurately from the free-throw line, to play 39 MINUTES and miss EVERY SINGLE shot is horrible.
McBroom would redeem himself as in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational Tournament against Pepperdine University, and he would put up:
24 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists
7/17 FG, 6/13 3P, 4/4 FT
40 Minutes
However, similar to the Big Sky Conference Tournament, McBroom would mess up again in the second round. McBroom would have 17 points but shot 1/9 from the three-point line. At least it wasn't as bad as his game against Idaho University.
After the 2015-16 NCAA season, McBroom would enter the 2016 NBA Draft. However, he would go undrafted. Although he had an excellent senior season, McBroom was already 25-26 years old. Unless McBroom played like Michael Jordan in his senior season, there was a 0% chance he was making it into the NBA.
However, I will still give props to McBroom. A small percentage of the population gets to say that they played D1 Basketball, so even though he didn't get into the NBA, it's still impressive that he made it to the D1 level.
According To:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/oct/02/former-eastern-washington-basketball-standout-aust/
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