The Auburn Tigers are a good basketball team, and there is no denying that. There isn't one player that makes the team great; it is a body of players, but it certainly helps if you have one player that can be considered the best in all of college basketball.
That is who Johni Broome is.
Broome leads the Tigers in scoring, rebounds, assists, and blocks, all as a power forward. Broome is currently averaging 18.6 points per game, 11.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game. He has helped lead this Tigers team to a 25-2 record, staying in the AP Top 5 for most of the season and ranked No. 1 for the past month.
In a lot of cases, that would mean that player is up for national Player of the Year, and head coach Bruce Pearl certainly thinks Broome would deserve the recognition.
"He’s our leading rebounder, he’s our leading scorer, he’s our leader in blocked shots, and he leads us in assists as a power forward," Pearl said on the 'Gary Parrish Show' on Monday. "That just tells you what an incredibly valuable player he is."
Auburn has 14 Quad 1 wins right now, the most of any other team in college basketball. They are playing in an incredibly competitive SEC that currently holds three of the top 5 spots. Broome is a huge reason for the success of Auburn this season, and there is no denying it.
Looking at his numbers, Broome is having the best season of his career this year as a fifth-year senior, so much so that he should All-SEC selection and be an All-American as well. While there are other players in college basketball who are playing phenomenally, like Cooper Flagg with Duke, Broome is the heartbeat of this Auburn team.
Pearl says there is one things that could seal a National Player of the Year award for Broome.
"You know, in my mind, in my (running), if we continue to win and close this thing out, he is the Player of the Year in college basketball," Pearl said.
If Broome can help lead Auburn to a National Championship at the end of the season, that just might be what seals the award for Broome. There is still a lot of basketball left to be played between the rest of the regular season, the SEC Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament, but Auburn has its sights set on a trophy and Broome is going to help them get it.