How Bronzden Chaffin's emotional side led to Upperman's to first-ever TSSAA basketball state title game

Yahoo

22-03-2025

MURFREESBORO — Bronzden Chaffin picked up the basketball, secured it in his right hand and flung it as far as he could towards the ceiling of the Murphy Center.
Screaming and flexing throughout the afternoon, Chaffin showed more emotion than anyone on the court during Friday's Class 3A semifinal between Upperman and Greeneville. And as the Bees' 55-47 win became official, the junior's teammates joined in the display.
The Bees (31-3) advanced to the TSSAA boys basketball state tournament championship game, where they'll face Tullahoma (32-4). Before Friday, they were 0-4 in state semifinal games, including a loss to Fulton last season. Now they have a chance to win the first title in program history.
It's especially sweet for Chaffin, who's come achingly close to a championship in not one, but two sports.
As a sophomore in 2023, he started at quarterback for Upperman's football team, which lost to Pearl-Cohn in the Class 4A BlueCross Bowl, and helped the Bees reach the state basketball semifinals as well. Last football season, Chaffin guided the Bees to another undefeated regular season before eventual champion Macon County brought their run to an end.
"It's crazy," Chaffin said. "We work at this every day in both programs. Our school is known for a good program in sports. We love to work for it, and this is always our end goal."
On Friday, Chaffin came up huge on both ends of the floor. He began the game defending Greeneville's Trey Thompson, a Mr. Basketball finalist with offers from Tennessee and Purdue, and held him scoreless in the first quarter despite giving up four inches of height.
After halftime, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound forward gave Upperman a needed secondary scoring punch to complement Mr. Basketball winner Ty Cobb, who finished with 33 points. Chaffin helped the Bees extend their lead from 18-17 to 38-27 with eight points in the third quarter.
"I just knew to let the game come to me," Chaffin said. "We have one of the best sophomores in the state, so they're gonna bring a lot of focus on him and we'll get the rest of the team involved."
Then with 6:54 to play, Chaffin showed the athleticism and size that's made him such a sought-after football recruit. He turned the corner on Thompson, drove from the perimeter and threw down a one-handed dunk to send Upperman fans into a frenzy.
MORE: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule and scores
"(Thompson) was coming behind me, and he's 6-8," Chaffin said. "I was just trying to jump as high as I could."
Chaffin threw for 1,383 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024 and also had 1,115 yards and 15 TDs on the ground. He has offers from Middle Tennessee State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Southern Mississippi. While his college future's on the gridion, Upperman basketball coach Bobby McWilliams raves about how much Chaffin's grown on the court — growth which has the Bees one win from a gold ball.
"Our guys are going to do what the game presents and what's necessary," McWilliams said. "He just was a little bit more aggressive tonight."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [e-mail] and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament 2025: Bronzden Chaffin sparks Upperman