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BLOOMING PRAIRIE – Blooming Prairie grad Bobbie Bruns was back in her element last week.

She was next to her father and former head coach John Bruns as she helped to teach the game of basketball to the youth of her hometown as part of a three day “Summer of Swish” camp, along with Gustavus men’s basketball player Ashton Dingmannmm who is from Belgrade, Minnesota.

Bobbie is about to enter her junior year on the Gustavus women’s basketball team and she is staying busy this summer. Besides working the camp, she has coached the Minnesota Rise AAU team as she is driven to inspire the next generation to play basketball.

Besides basketball skills, Bobbie can also offer a lot of life lessons. Bobbie found a way to stay active in cross country, volleyball, basketball and softball as an Awesome Blossom, even though the COVID-19 pandemic and an injury she sustained in a car accident in the spring of her junior year were major hurdles.

“I’ve learned to not take things for granted. All of those opportunities you have on the court is time that you can’t get back,” Bruns said. “I’ve learned things that I wish I would’ve known in high school. Cherish the time you have and don’t take practice for granted. It’s also not always about how many points you score, but it’s the memories you make and the impact you can have on younger players (like this camp) where you can lead them in the right direction.”

John Bruns has coached basketball for 27 total years and Bobbie has been at his side since taking stats for his boys team when she was a young girl in the early 2010s. Bobbie’s sister Maggie Bruns ran the camera for the team in those days.

“This is fun. Bobbie’s been around basketball her whole life and she’s been in a lot of camps and around a lot of coaches,” John said last week. “For her to be able to come back and give that back to the boys and girls programs is a really nice feeling. It’s great to have someone be able to do that.”

John was once the head coach of the BP boys and BP girls basketball programs and he was also the head coach of the cross country team. He recently stepped down from the head girls basketball coaching position, but he’s stayed active as an assistant coach with the boys program and the state qualifying softball team this past spring.

John began his basketball journey next to his dad, who ran basketball camps while coaching Big Lake High School. The tradition has now cemented itself in the third generation of Bruns as Bobbie, who is pursuing a nursing degree, hopes to be able to coach in the future.

John has coached a lot of athletes and he is now working with the children of some of his former players. He said success often comes down to the work ethic of the team.

“The biggest thing is to have kids who are willing to work hard and buy into the system and the program. When you have that, the wins and losses kind of take care of themselves,” John said. “We haven’t really had too many miserable seasons, especially recently. We’ve had that buy in and we’ve had great kids and the young kids see that when they come to the games. They see the extra effort and the extra work kids put in and that kind of feeds the program.”

Bobbie has learned a lot from her dad and she’s learned even more as she’s gone on to play at the college level. Throughout her lifetime on the court, she has experienced adversity with officials and team chemistry, while also enjoying big wins and rewarding relationships with teammates.

“My dad has always been in a coaching role for me, whether it was cross country, basketball or softball. It’s been fun to see the game from a different perspective as a coach. I’ve learned a ton from my dad and the coaches at Gustavus,” Bobbie said. “You can’t control what you can’t control. You can only control your attitude and what you bring to the table. You have to be a good person, good leader and a good teammate. Those things will help you when you’re done with basketball.”

Gustavus has won two straight MIAC titles since Bobbie joined the team in 2022. They went 25-3 overall last season and had their season end on a 61-58 double overtime loss to Trine in the NCAA Tournament. Bobbie played in 17 games, while averaging 1.1 points per game in 4.7 minutes per game.

The Gusties will be loaded again this year as they bring back their top six players.

“It’s always hard in college to get in the lineup. But with experience and work in the offseason, that would be the goal (to have a bigger role),” Bobbie said. “We’ll see how things shake up but we have players just like me who are working hard for those spots. It’s challenging, but it’s rewarding when you do get those opportunities. It takes a lot of good players to win at that level and you go against a lot of good players every day in practice. You learn a lot about competing and you learn a lot of life skills and how to excel in academics. It’s always fun to be part of a winning team and we’re all the best of friends. We’re like sisters and we hang out outside of basketball.”

The Bruns family has learned to look back and appreciate the good parts of the journey.

“Every once in a while those pictures and videos of her rehab show up on social media and it doesn’t seem that long ago for how far Bobbie’s come,” John said. “She wasn’t even running that summer (after the accident) and she came back for her senior year and now she’s had two years on a Gustavus team that has won the MIAC in consecutive years. It’s been pretty fun to watch.”

Grand Meadow grads Riley Queensland and Kendyl Queensland are also members of the Gustavus women’s basketball team. Riley averaged 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game and Kendyl averaged .6 points and .9 rebounds per game.

Hayfield grad Isaac Matti and Southland grad Eli Wolff are members of the Gustavus men’s basketball team. Matti saw action in 14 games and Wolff played in five games.