Auburn basketball player preview series: Johni Broome

The Tigers reloaded in the front court with the addition of Morehead State transfer Johni Broome.

Auburn has shown tremendous success in the transfer portal under Bruce Pearl with former players like Walker Kessler, KT Harrell, Samir Doughty, and many more. Pearl and his staff went out this offseason and looks to continue that reign by getting a commitment from one of the top transfers on the market in Morehead State big man Johni Broome. The 6-foot 10 center from Plant City Florida, played two years at Morehead State where he averaged 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds combined between those two years.

On April 4th, Broome entered his name into the transfer portal, and in just 26 days later, Broome committed to come play for the Auburn Tigers.

Broome played incredibly well in Auburn’s trip to Israel, in three games he averaged 17.7 points, 8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per games. With the departure of both Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith for the Tigers frontcourt, Broome joins the talented group and looks to enter a big role right away.

Biggest Strength: Big Man Defense

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As much as Broome’s offensive game is appealing and his back to the basket post presence will be super valuable, he brings back a rim protecting aspect back into the frontcourt that Auburn lost after Kessler went to the NBA. Broome ranked third nationally last year getting 3.9 blocks per game which only raked behind Kessler and Jamarion Sharp from Western Kentucky. Broome’s timing around the basket shows that you don’t need to be over 7 foot 1 to block shots at a high level.

Broome also provides great lateral quickness at the frontcourt positions, with his ability to play either the power forward or center spot but still be able to switch onto a different position and lockdown, he is going to be hard to take off the court. Broome showed extreme defensive talent in Auburn’s third game in Israel versus the national team, when he had to guard former top 10 pick and current Washington Wizard Deni Avdija. The pro from Israel had a great game and scored 25 points, however, when Broome was the primary defender on Avdija, he didn’t score a field goal. Broome has NBA ready talent on the defensive end in many ways and will hope to continue to prove that. 

What they could improve on? Free Throw Shooting

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Broome shot just 63% from the free throw line last season and only 61% the previous season at Morehead State. He shot decent from the line while the Tigers were in Israel but due to his physical nature and where his shots normally come from on the court, some improvement with his percentage at the charity stripe would help his game and Auburn tremendously. 

Best Moment from 2021: OVC Championship

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Broome had several games last season for Morehead State that he showed out in, including a game versus UT Martin where he scored 19 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had a career high of 12 blocks. 

Broome also had a game versus Tennessee Tech where he scored 25 points and added 14 rebounds. However, those games didn’t get him on the block to be one of the most highly rated transfers this past year more than the OVC championship. 

Broome scored a career high 32 points going 13/20 from the field and grabbing 8 rebounds in the Tournament championship to a really solid Murray State team. That championship performance put Broome in the position to be an Auburn Tiger this upcoming season. 

Expectations for 2022: Starter

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With the absence of stars Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith for this upcoming season, Auburn needs to fill holes in the depth in the front court positions. 

Broome is more of a natural back to the basket center, which would have him competing with mostly Dylan Cardwell for the center starting job and playing time. Coach Pearl used three different starting lineups in the three games played in Israel. But in the first game that they played on August 2nd, they started their current ones or the guys who would have started if the season started then, and Broome was the starting center. I would expect Broome to be a very big part of the offense next year. Broome should be used more in the back to the basket post game and allowing him to use mismatches and scored at will down low.

Broome was a fantastic get by Pearl and his staff for this upcoming season. As we inch closer and closer to basketball season, the hype will just keep building for this team, especially guys like Broome. 

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