Paul Bruns
2010 NIACC hall of famer Paul Bruns
Paul Bruns has always been a team first type of guy.
The former 1995 NIACC standout was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1995 NJCAA Division II national tournament after the Trojans claimed the school's only basketball national championship - a 64-63 victory over Grand Rapids, Mich.
Bruns said afterwards and still says today that the MVP honor was a team award.
Bruns says the same when he was inducted into the NIACC athletics hall of fame in 2010.
"It's shocking and exciting at the same time," Bruns said in 2010. "And it certainly is a team award in the end."
Bruns, who averaged 22.1 points per game as a sophomore, said he didn't win the national championship in 1995 all by himself.
"The thing about Paul is that he's a team guy," said Dan Mason, who was the coach of the 1995 team and current NIACC athletic director. "So that's really exciting to have someone recognized for individual accomplishments.
"He really epitomized that group of guys we had during that time of NIACC basketball and just just a tremendous shooter from a basketball standpoint."
The former Clear Lake standout compares that 1995 national title team to Hickory in the famous basketball movie "Hoosiers".
"It's as close to 'Hoosiers' as I've ever been a part of," he said. "Everybody on the team knew their roles and played together and we stressed defense.
"Everybody at the national tournament in Illinois probably look at our team and wondered how we snuck in there and obviously surprised a lot of people."
After NIACC, Bruns transferred to play NCAA Division I basketball at Middle Tennessee State.
He wasn't getting recruited by Division I schools before his strong showing at the national tournament.
Bruns said his time at NIACC prepared him for a four-year school both academically and athletically.
"NIACC was perfect for me," he said. "The teachers at NIACC were great and it was such a great atmosphere.
"The coaches were also instrumental in getting me ready for the next level. They showed me where I needed to get better. I'm very grateful."
Mason called his former player to inform him of his hall of fame honor.
"He was my coach and now he's kind of come full circle," Bruns said. "It meant a lot to me for him to give me the news.
"He was our captain and our chief. It was rewarding and fun to hear it from him."
- Story was written in 2010 as part of the NIACC hall of fame program.