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Tommy Bruner

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Not to be confused with Tommy Brunner.

Tommy Bruner
Free agent
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (2001-04-22) April 22, 2001 (age 23)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolGray Collegiate Academy
(Columbia, South Carolina)
College
NBA draft2024: undrafted
Playing career2024–present
Career history
2024Santa Cruz Warriors
Career highlights and awards

Tommy Bruner (born April 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Denver Pioneers, the USC Upstate Spartans and the Jacksonville Dolphins.

High school career

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Bruner attended Gray Collegiate Academy in Columbia, South Carolina.[1] He led Gray to back-to-back South Carolina Class AA state championships.[2] As a senior, he averaged 16.2 points per game and was named the Class AA Player of the Year.[2]

College career

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USC Upstate (2019–2021)

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Bruner committed to play college basketball at the University of South Carolina Upstate (USC Upstate).[3] As a freshman in 2019–20 he averaged 14 points per game, good for second-best on the team, and was named a freshman All-American.[4] He was the Big South Conference's player of the week twice and later selected to the Big South All-Freshman Team.[2] In 2020–21, Bruner's sophomore season, he led USC Upstate in points per game (13.6) and total assists (85).[2] At the end of the season he was named as an honorable mention to the All-Big South Team.[2]

Jacksonville (2021–2022)

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Bruner transferred to Jacksonville prior to the start of his redshirt sophomore season.[5] He appeared in just 13 games before suffering a season-ending foot injury.[6] He averaged 8.8 points per game.[5]

Denver (2022–2024)

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After spending just one season at Jacksonville, Bruner looked to transfer. He felt an instant connection with Denver; he said "It was such a family vibe. That’s when I really knew I was in the right place."[7] During his redshirt junior year of 2022–23, Bruner averaged then-career highs of 15.9 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game.[8] He helped the Pioneers start the season with an 8–1 record, which is a program record through the first nine games.[8] While the team success was not sustained over the course of the season, Bruner's personal production was, and he was voted to the Summit League's All-Newcomer team.[8] He received an honorable mention nod on the All-Summit League Team.[8] Bruner also surpassed the career 1,000-point milestone on December 7, 2022 against Sacramento State.[2]

In 2023–24, Bruner was named to the All-Summit League First Team on March 7, 2024.[9]

Professional career

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Santa Cruz Warriors (2024)

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After going undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft, Bruner joined the Rip City Remix on October 28, 2024,[10] but was waived on November 5.[11] Six days later, he signed with the Santa Cruz Warriors[12] and was later waived on November 25.[12]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 USC Upstate 33 32 29.7 .413 .337 .802 2.1 2.3 .9 .0 14.0
2020–21 USC Upstate 21 17 32.5 .405 .327 .810 2.8 4.0 1.0 .0 13.6
2021–22 Jacksonville 13 1 20.1 .426 .340 .867 1.8 1.8 1.2 .1 8.8
2022–23 Denver 32 32 34.6 .402 .333 .844 2.8 4.2 1.1 .0 15.9
2023–24 Denver 34 34 33.8 .435 .353 .808 2.8 4.2 1.3 .1 24.0
Career 133 116 31.4 .418 .341 .818 2.5 3.5 1.1 .1 16.4

Personal life

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Bruner's sister Ashley played basketball at South Carolina and is retired from playing professionally overseas.[13] His older brother Jordan plays professional basketball.[14]

Bruner is also the founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization he named "Be Different."[7] The name is an homage to a slogan he once used on t-shirts in high school to encourage kids to stand out.[7] Bruner said that his long-term plan for Be Different will focus on funding preschools to establish an encouraging base for kids.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Former Gray Collegiate Academy guard leads USC Upstate over S.C. State". wltx.com. December 19, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Tommy Bruner player bio". DenverPioneers.com. University of Denver. 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "Well-traveled Tommy Bruner eyes another title at Gray Collegiate".
  4. ^ Shanesy, Todd. "Upstate's Tommy Bruner named freshman All-American". Spartanburg Herald Journal. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Tommy Bruner college stats". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  6. ^ "Tommy Bruner". JUDolphins.com. Jacksonville University. 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Graham, Pat (January 26, 2024). "Denver guard Tommy Bruner, nation's leading scorer, also runs his own charity". 9news.com. Denver, Colorado. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "Bruner Selected to Summit League All-Newcomer Team". DenverPioneers.com. Denver, Colorado. March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  9. ^ "SDSU's Mayo garners #SummitMBB Player of the Year award". TheSummitLeague.org. Summit League. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  10. ^ Rip City Remix [@ripcityremix] (October 28, 2024). "Your official 2024 Remix training camp roster 🫨💿" (Tweet). Retrieved November 4, 2024 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "2024-2025 Rip City Remix Transaction History". RealGM.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "2024-2025 Santa Cruz Warriors Transaction History". RealGM.com. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Bezjak, Lou (November 13, 2015). "Spring Valley Jordan Bruner picks Yale over Clemson". The State. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  14. ^ "Jordan Bruner basketball profile". Eurbasket.com. 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
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