There's a whiteboard in Bromo Dorn's room that has all his basketball aspirations written on it.
Some ambitious goals have been recorded over the years, but Gatorade Player of the Year in Hawai‘i? That idea seemed a little far-fetched for a player on a Division II team in Maui.
But on Thursday, that became Dorn's new reality, as the senior swingman was named the state's best boys basketball player by the organization after averaging 27.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.1 assists per game. Dorn was the star for the Spartans, who went 15-0 in regular season play and won the HHSAA Division II title with a 49-33 win over Hawai‘i Prep at the Stan Sheriff Center on Feb. 21.
Since 2012, Seabury has made the Division II semifinals eight times and reached the finals three times, but didn't win it all until 2025. Dorn's award was another accolade in a landmark 2024-2025 season for the school.
"Obviously, just very excited," Dorn told Aloha State Daily on Friday. "It was a great season, winning with my teammates, my coaches. I just grew so close with them. So, just winning with them felt amazing, and winning this award felt amazing as well."
Dorn's unique first name comes from his Indonesian mother, who named him after Mount Bromo, an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. Born and raised in the Valley Isle, Dorn is the first player from Maui to win Gatorade Hawai‘i boys basketball Player of the Year.
"It means a lot," Dorn said. "Just to represent my island that I've lived on my whole life that sometimes gets overlooked. Maui is a tight-knit community. There's a lot of support coming from everybody all over the island."
At 6-foot-6 with a smooth left-handed release, Dorn displayed the ability to score from a variety of levels on the court, whether it was from deep 3-point range or simply dunking on opponents.
At Seabury Hall, Dorn was coached by former Maui High standout Scott Prather. Prather, like Dorn, collected an MIL MVP award during his playing days. He went on to become one of the greatest players in UH-Hilo history.
Prather remembers meeting Dorn when the youngster was an eighth-grader preparing to join the high school team over the summer. Dorn's eagerness to attend workouts was evident, as he was usually the first to respond to texts Prather sent to the entire team.
The bond between Dorn and Prather grew further during a workout prior to the 2024-2025 season, when star player and coach spent multiple hours in the gym discussing life and basketball in between shots. The two were determined to bring home Seabury's first state title after coming painfully close the season before, losing 49-45 in overtime to Kohala in the 2024 state title game.
"He's amazing," Prather said of Dorn. "He's a great player, naturally talented. He's tall, he's athletic. But man, this kid works. He's a grinder. He doesn't rely on his natural gifts, he goes out to practice every day, and he competed so hard that he forced the guys around him to rise up to his level.
"That's what gives me so much confidence in him at the next level to be successful, is because I know he's going to go in there, he's going to work. He's really going to put in the time, the effort, whatever he has to do to get on the court, he's going to do it. I'm just blown away."
Dorn recently received a scholarship offer from Hawai‘i Pacific and visited the school on O‘ahu but will talk to additional schools before making a decision.
Once Dorn picks his college basketball destination, it could be time to go back to the whiteboard and evaluate what's within his grasp.
"I was thinking about putting Gatorade Player the Year, but I honestly thought that it wouldn't be possible as a D-II player out of Maui," Dorn said. "But I mean, anything is possible. I actually did not put that down on my goals, but it's feels really good to win it for sure."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
