By JOEY JOHNSTON

Tribune Sports Writer

(c) Tampa Bay Times. Originally published April 21, 1982.

PLANT CITY — Horace Broadnax’s whole life may have changed because of one shot.

Despite a brilliant career for the Plant City Raiders, the college interest in Broadnax was minimal at the end of the Class 4A-District 7 tournament. And in the regionals at Clearwater, the Raiders were two points down and seven seconds away from the end of their season.

But Broadnax got the inbounds pass, whirled around two Clearwater defenders and calmly deposited a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded, prolonging the game and Plant City’s season. The Raiders won that one in overtime, then continued the roll and captured the state championship.

Some said Broadnax had the best state tournament in Florida history.

Suddenly, the modest 6-foot-1 guard was noticed by everyone. His simple list of five schools increased daily. Broadax had made his way onto college basketball’s Most Wanted List.

The mad race ended Tuesday when Broadnax announced he has signed a basketball scholarship with Georgetown University. But the memories of what it’s like to be recruited will long remain in the Broadnax household.

“I’ll never forget guys like John Thompson (Georgetown), Norm Sloan (Florida) and Lee Rose (South Florida) coming to my house,’’ Broadnax said. “It was an experience for me to go through.

“I never expected things to get so busy. People started calling me all the time. It sort of distracted me a little bit.’’

Before the postseason began, Broadnax’s list of colleges included USF, New Orleans, Tulane, Florida A&M and Stetson. Nice, but there were no NCAA finalists on that list.

However, when the Raiders won the 4A crown and the Broadnax name was flashed for all to see, Florida, Florida State, Jacksonville and UNC Charlotte hopped aboard. Those schools showed serious interest, but there were many others that called or wrote.

Broadnax, who some said was not cut out for Division I basketball, was now a hot commodity.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,’’ Broadnax said. “There were so many schools coming in at the last minute. The thing was, they all sounded so good. All those coaches built up their schools to be something great.

“It was the biggest decision I’ve ever made in my life.’’

Then Georgetown called.

Thompson, the Georgetown coach, and Broadnax were impressed with each other from the very start. Broadnax’s trip to Georgetown last week sealed the deal.

“Coach Thompson came in to see some videotapes of Horace, but he never actually saw him play,’’ Plant City coach Jimmy Smith said. “A big part of his interest was Horace’s personality and class alone.’’

Broadnax’s parents, Horace Sr. and Ann Broadnax, were impressed with Thompson and the Georgetown way of life, as well. But they weren’t exactly certain about how their son felt about things.

“He (Horace) doesn’t volunteer too many things to us,’’ said Broadnax’s father. “We kind of have to dig it out of him.

“I got the news that he was going to Georgetown from his mother. He sure didn’t make any big announcement to me. I felt he was learning toward Georgetown toward the end and I was happy about it. I was kind of sad to know that he would be playing out of state, though.’’

Broadnax’s father said he’s glad the recruiting of his son is over, but he has learned greatly from it.

“We met a lot of nice people,’’ he said. “Most of those coaches are very well-versed and very nice. I think it was an experience for us to go through. I had no idea things got this competitive.

“At the start of this season, I really didn’t know if Horace was a big-time college player or not. I know Coach (Jimmy) Smith kept saying he was. I guess it’s true now.’’

And to think it all happened because of that desperation shot at Clearwater.