By Joel Flom
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 28, 1998

Worth the wait?

Ryan A. Mihalyi Arizona Daily Wildcat "I am a banger with a nice touch outside." -- Dion Broom

Want to get the Wildcats' newest addition excited?

Then ask Dion Broom of the men's basketball team about the time he played Duke's 6-foot-10 freshman Chris Burgess, who was considered one of the top recruits in the country.

"I lit him up, oh I lit him up, Broom said about the 1996 Basketball Congress International summer league game. "I was so hyped for that game. Everyone was talking so much about him. But, I am versatile, and he can do only one thing. That put me on the map."

Broom claims that performance got Arizona head coach Lute Olson's attention, and got himself a spot on the Wildcats' roster.

There was a time, though, when Broom, a power forward, did not think that he would ever find himself on Arizona's bench.

In the second half of a game against Phoenix North on Dec. 5, 1996, Broom, then a senior at Mesa's Westwood High School, had his left knee pushed out by a point guard as he went up for a rebound.

"I still played for a little bit," Broom said. "It collapsed when I tried to make a cut."

Later, Broom learned he had torn his ACL, ending his high school career. He averaged 26.1 points and 12.2 rebounds a game during his final campaign.

Then, Broom had trouble with his SATs and failed to qualify academically for the UA. He met the requirements to attend Arizona after a semester of junior college in Phoenix.

All of that is in the past.

The test has been passed, the knee is getting better and Broom is on the bench.

Well, in street clothes some of the time, but Broom doesn't mind.

"It feels great to be here," Broom said during a workout last week, with the excitement of finally being in college and at practice obvious on his face.

But Wildcat fans will probably not get a chance to seem him playing in a game setting this season.

Instead, Broom will most likely redshirt as he works on getting his knee stronger and his weight down.

"It has been a lot of rehab," Broom said. "I have been doing a lot more hard work."

"We are happy with the rehab," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "That should have been going on before."

Broom, who joined the team during winter break after enrolling for classes, is pleased with his progress so far.

"I have been doing a lot of running. (The knee) feels good," he said.

Olson is also happy with how Broom has come along.

"He has been losing weight, and the strength in his knee seems to be much better," Olson said.

"He has been working very hard," junior center A.J. Bramlett said about the freshman who will one day be going to battle with him under the boards.

The weight, however, seems to be the bigger issue with Broom. His 6-foot-8, 270-plus pound frame makes him difficult to miss.

Broom arrived on campus weighing in at 285. Two weeks ago, according to Olson, he weighed 277.

"He still has a way to go," Olson said.

"I have been watching what I eat," Broom said. "It seems to work. I have been sticking to a strict program."

And the fast food runs?

"No trips to McDonald's."

Broom's teammates feel his pain as he tries to shed some pounds.

"You can't expect someone his size and with his appetite to drop everything," sophomore forward Eugene Edgerson said. "It is not easy going from eating good food to nothing at all."

Olson wants to see Broom around 270 pounds, for both health and safety reasons.

"I am glad that we set a weight limit,"" Olson said. "That gives him a goal and commitment to make."

And will help him adjust to Arizona's up tempo offense.

"Dion, his only problem right now is getting up and down the court," Edgerson said.

The fact that Broom is unlikely to log any minutes this season, and has been subjected to watching the Wildcats play from arguably the best seat in the house, has not dampened his spirits.

"I love it here," said the lone freshman on UA's team. "It's really a good experience. The people are great. Tucson is a great small college town. I know that (sitting on the bench) is for the better. Plus, there are four guys ahead of me."

"I don't think that it would be in his best interest to waste a year," Olson said about Broom's first stint with the Wildcats.

In time he will get the opportunity to be a threat in the low-post - something the Wildcats have lacked since the Ben Davis-Joseph Blair era.

"He is quick for his size," Bramlett said. "He is a physical presence inside and he can score. He will be a big body that we haven't had for a while."

"I am a banger with a nice touch outside," Broom added. "I will be able to compliment the thinner guys."

An understatement, as Broom seems to resemble two Bramletts standing back to back.

Dion Broom's journey to the University of Arizona

Nov. 11, 1996: Signs national letter of intent

Dec. 5, 1996: Tears ACL during high school game

Dec. 12, 1996: Begins working out to strengthen knee four times a week, three hours each session

Early May 1997: Cleared by doctors to begin practice

Aug. 1997: Ruled academically ineligible for the UA

Dec. 1997: After a semester at a junior college in Phoenix, qualifies academically for Arizona and enrolls for classes

Dec. 21, 1997: Joins the Arizona Wildcat basketball team

Dec. 23, 1997: Makes first trip with team for the Florida State game