After a historic season on the Plains, some members of the Auburn basketball program were given SEC honors. The conference announced earlier this week that Bruce Pearl is the SEC Coach of the Year, and Johni Broome is the SEC Player of the Year.
This is Pearl's second time to win the prestigious award, voted on by other head coaches, while at Auburn. The first time was for the 2021-22 season a few years ago. It was a big year for Auburn basketball, remaining at the top of the AP Poll for eight weeks straight, winning the SEC regular season title, and ending the regular season with a 27-4 record, matching the program's record for regular season wins.
“It’s not something you take for granted,” Pearl said on the Paul Finebaum Show, via AL.com. “I’ve won one Coach of the Year award at Auburn, and we’ve won the league championship four times. So, it’s not an automatic.
“We do a really good job. And our team, our kids, appreciate the fact that we have a great culture, and we work really hard, and God blessed us beyond what we deserve."
Meanwhile, fifth-year senior Johni Broome is the first Auburn basketball player to win the award since Chris Porter in 1999. He joins Porter and Charles Barkley as the only Tigers to have ever won SEC Player of the Year.
Broome averaged 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.4 blocks this season and racked up 17 double-doubles throughout the regular season. He was also named to the All-SEC First Team for the second year in a row. He is against Duke freshman Cooper Flagg for National Player of the Year in what feels like a two-man race heading into the postseason.
The Tigers return to action this Friday in the SEC Tournament.