Minnesota prep hoops star Anders Broman breaks state career scoring record for second time, thinking it was only the first
Anders Broman is a stand-alone talent. No one is disputing that. After all, there aren't many players who can score 71 points in a high school game, let alone in one of his team's losses. What people are arguing over is how to measure just how special a scorer Broman truly is.
As noted by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, by conventional accounting measures, Broman now stands alone as the as the all-time Minnesota high school basketball career scoring champion. The senior pushed past the previous mark held by University of West Virginia player Kevin Noreen -- a Minneapolis (Minn.) Minnesota Transitions High product -- in a game against Duluth (Minn.) Denfield. Broman’s scoring acumen is such that he should now put the state record far out of sight by the end of the season as well.
Yet there’s a catch, as there often is when it comes to statewide records. According to the Duluth News-Tribune, Noreen’s record isn’t officially recognized in the state record book because his point totals were not certified by the Minnesota State High School League. Making matters more complicated, Broman’s totals haven’t been certified either, and may not be. That’s because Broman played in at least 10 games against schools that aren’t certified by the MSHSL, and the association refuses to acknowledge stats from those contents.
Because of those reporting discrepancies, Broman’s career-long points total is notably inaccurate. Yet, in a bizarre twist, the invalidation of Noreen’s statistics and a chunk of Broman’s ensure that the sharp shooter was already the all-time career scoring leader before the season began. A revised record book means that Broman actually broke the state record with absolutely no fanfare during the second half of his junior year, when he surpassed Ellsworth (Minn.) High graduate Cody Shilling’s 3,428 points.
The confusion has led to a stange set of circumstances at Broman’s Lakeview (Minn.) Christian Academy, where boys basketball coach Bob Newstrom sparked a deeper look at the state records when it became clear Broman would be close to what all believed to be the state record held by Noreen.
He claims that the MSHSL has held back from authorizing Noreen’s record in part because Minnesota Transitions failed to submit proper paperwork authenticating the record. As Newstrom told the News-Tribune, “It’s like there are two different records – the public one and the official one.”
Now, Broman can rest easy knowing that he’s broken both marks, even if he may have celebrated breaking the official record belatedly by breaking the unofficial mark. Luckily for the senior and his teammates, he apparently could care less about the career marks so long as he and his team are successful.
“I want to just go out and play again without everyone always asking about this,” he told the News-Tribune.
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