Cal Poly Humboldt announced DJ Broome Jr. as the new men’s basketball head coach on Friday, with the ‘Jacks bringing back a former player to lead the program after Chris Tifft took a head coaching position at Cal State San Bernardino.
Broome joins Humboldt after working as an assistant coach with the Division I Montana Grizzlies, where he helped Montana land Humboldt County basketball star Luke Moxon. Broome has worked with Montana since 2023 spending two seasons as the director of student-athlete development for Montana.
After playing with Humboldt as a guard from 2008-2012, Broome began his coaching career with the Humboldt Wild AAU team, the Arcata High’s JV girls basketball team and Humboldt State, working as an assistant for the 2013-2014 and 2016-2017 seasons. During the 2015 season, Broome accepted a position with Cal State Monterey Bay.
In 2017, Broome took on his first collegiate basketball head coaching job, hired to coach the College of the Redwoods women’s basketball coach, but it was a short-lived stint. Broome left CR before ever coaching a game, as he left the Redwoods and took an assistant coaching job at Sonoma State men’s basketball team.
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From 2019-2021 Broome served as the associate head coach at the Academy of the Art University before heading over to Montana and was a part of the Grizzlies’ team that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025. Broome now returns to Humboldt looking to continue the positive momentum for the program after an exciting 2024-2025 season.
“This opportunity at Cal Poly Humboldt is a dream come true for me,” Broome said in the university’s release. “Since I stepped on campus in 2008, this program, university and community has held a very special place in my heart. I want to thank Dr. Pettit for his trust in me and everyone who has supported me along the way and helped me get to this point. I will work every day to build a program this university and community are proud of, helping student-athletes grow both on and off the court. We will compete and honor the special tradition and success this program has had in the past.”
The ‘Jacks went 18-11 last year and made it to the CCAA tournament semi-final, but it’s unclear how different the roster for Broome’s first season will be. Leading scorer Rob Diaz III committed to Long Beach State after an impressive two seasons in Humboldt and dynamic freshmen forwards Josiah Sanders and Marsai Mason both remain in the transfer portal, as does guard Kalib LaCount and forwards Court Franklin and Jaeden Hutchins.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Broome back to campus to lead our men’s basketball program,” Nick Pettit, Cal Poly Humboldt’s athletic director, said in the release. “He brings a tireless work ethic and a vision to create a culture of excellence on and off the court. His understanding of our community and what it takes to be successful at Cal Poly Humboldt made him a clear choice as our next head coach.”
Humboldt has a new head coach after a two-year stint from Tifft, where the ‘Jacks suffered through a rough 6-21 campaign in the 2023-2024 season before turning things around this past season. Broome will have reigning Freshman of the Year, guard Aidan Fowler, but outside of that the ‘Jacks roster has yet to come together, as the team has yet to announce any recruits this offseason.
It will be interesting to see if the ‘Jacks take some lumps as they did in its first year under Tifft after he was brought in during the summer months or if Broome will be able to field a competitive team later this year.
Dylan McNeill can be reached at 707-441-0526.
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