Cane Broome Hearing from High Major Programs, Not UConn
Northeast Conference Player of the Year Cane Broome is searching for a new school, but the UConn Huskies have yet to enter the picture.
Broome, who announced he was leaving Sacred Heart after averaging 23.1 points last season as the league’s top player, has started to compile a list of potential suitors. The 6-foot guard decided to leave the Pioneers after two seasons in order to play at a higher Division I program.
UConn’s AAC-rival Cincinnati, Creighton, Providence, Michigan, North Carolina State, Rutgers and Indiana have inquired about Broome, who played in Connecticut at East Hartford and St. Thomas More Prep School before joining the Pioneers. He took an unofficial visit to Providence Monday to check out the campus and plans to visit Creighton and Cincy in the next few weeks.
“Everybody and their mother wants him to go to UConn,” said Broome father, Sam Broome, on Monday night. “We haven’t had any conversations with Kevin (Ollie) or the school yet.”
The UConn coaching staff might not have expressed interest, but they are familiar with Broome's game from seeing him play in recent years, including this past season when SHU played the Huskies in Hartford.
Where ever Broome ends up he will have to sit out the 2016-17 season, but his father says it will allow the 6-foot guard a chance to work on his game.
“He has to sit out a year, but Cane wants to go somewhere he can play,” Sam Broome said. “He wants to be the first player to earn player of the year in two conferences.”
The Huskies had a transfer player sit out this past season in 6-8 sophomore Terry Larrier, who figures to be a key piece of Ollie’s rotation next season.
Ollie and the Huskies have four freshmen coming in next season, but sophomore forward Daniel Hamilton is testing the NBA draft waters and junior Sam Cassell Jr. announced earlier Monday he was graduating in May and looking to transfer, which maybe opens the door for Broome.
The Huskies’ heralded Class of 2016 includes Putnam Science Academy’s MamadouDiarra (142nd) along with fellow Rivals’ Top 150 players: point guard Alterique Gilbert (36thranked), forward Vance Jackson (72nd), and center Juwan Durham (31st).
The four freshmen will replace fifth-year players Sterling Gibbs and Shonn Miller along with seniors Phil Nolan and Omar Calhoun. The Huskies have at least two current open spots with walk-on turned scholarship player Nnamdi Amilo graduating plus Cassell now leaving.
Sam Broome said his son has no timetable for making a decision and stressed right now they were continuing to field offers while doing their homework on schools looking at the younger Broome.
“We are figuring out who needs what,” Sam Broome said.
The younger Broome is good friends with another guard the Huskies have offered - 6-2 senior Christian Vital, who is finishing up at St. Thomas More. Vital de-committed from UNLV and has heard fromUConn, Cincinnati, Dayton, Providence, Iowa, WVU, Bama, Marquette, Butler, Louisville, and Tulsa.
Broome ended the season leading the NEC, and ranked seventh in the country, while breaking SHU's D-I scoring average record. His 1,157 points lead all active sophomores in the country, and he is the leading active scorer in the conference.