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Steve Brugman, who played forward from 1985-89, was a key player on some of Nebraska Wesleyan’s best basketball teams in school history. For his career, Brugman was a part of four national tournament-qualifying teams, three conference championship teams and a pair of NCAA Division III Final Four teams.
The four-year letter winner came from Lincoln East High School and went on to help NWU capture third-place finishes in the national playoffs as a first-year player and again as a junior. Brugman served as a key sub early in his career and produced his best outing in Nebraska Wesleyan’s Final Four loss to LeMoyne-Owen College in 1986. After an 11-0 start as a junior, Brugman helped NWU obtain its second No. 1 ranking in school history in early January. The Plainsmen went on to defeat Hartwick College in the 1988 NCAA Div. III consolation game.
Nebraska Wesleyan recorded four consecutive 20-win seasons during Brugman’s career, and the team was consistently ranked nationally. As a senior, the Plainsmen were even ranked first in the Sports Illustrated NCAA Div. III poll.
In addition to team success, Brugman garnered a great number of individual awards, being named to the West Regional All-Tournament Team and the All-Conference team as a sophomore, junior and senior. On the team’s all-time charts, Brugman’s name can still be found in several categories, including 11th in career points (1,376), fifth in both career rebounds (752) and free throws made (330) and sixth in both career steals (131) and blocked shots (53).
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