Salem University Athletics

Born February 9, 1919, John "Brooms" Abramovic will go down as one of the greatest athletes in the school’s history.

Abramovic led the Salem College basketball team in scoring four years in a row from 1939 to 1943, and led the nation in scoring in 1942 and 1943.

In 1942, he led the nation in scoring a single-game high of 57 points against Rio Grande College of Ohio, and also set a single-season record by scoring 777 points in 26 games for an average of 29.9 points per game.

Brooms' 2,170 points for a career made him the first player to reach the 2,000 plateau in collegiate history. He was an All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection and named on several All-American teams in 1942 and 1943, including the top All- America squad which had members from all college divisions. He was also chosen for Clair Bee’s All-America team in 1942 as well as Sit Magazine’s squad the same year. Abramovic even represented  Salem College in the volume of the Who’s Who Among Student in American Universities and Colleges.

During his college days, he was captain of the basketball team for three seasons, and also played baseball. Brooms was a class representative twice while majoring in business administration and physical education and remained one of the all-time scorers in WVIAC history, as well as having his name permanently lodged in the scoring records of the NAIA. Among his greatest achievements in West Virginia was his selection as the outstanding athlete in the state in 1942 and his induction in the West Virginia Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1971.