Johni Broome has announced his commitment to Bruce Pearl and the Auburn basketball program.
With the departures of Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler to the NBA Draft, Auburn’s frontcourt was growing depleted. Thanks to the transfer portal, this is no longer the case.
Broome, a center from Morehead State, was one of the best remaining transfers on the market before announcing his intentions to join the reigning SEC regular season champions.
The Florida native was a force on both sides of the court this past season.
During his sophomore year Broome averaged 16.8 points while grabbing 10.5 rebounds per game. Broome’s points per game were good for the fourth most in the Ohio Valley Conference, and his 10.5 rebounds led the conference.
Replacing a shot blocker like Kessler who broke the school record for blocks in a season with 131 is nearly impossible, but if anyone can block shots like Kessler, it is Broome. The 6-foot-10-inch center rejected 3.9 shots per game which led the OVC by far and ranked No. 3 in the country, one spot behind Kessler.
In his freshman year, Broome was named the OVC Freshman of the Year, First-Team All OVC, OVC All-Tournament Team and the OVC Tournament MVP. Broome also set the freshman rebounding record and blocks record for a single year in his first season at Morehead State.
Broome is not a threat from behind the three-point line like Kessler was, but the dominant big man shot 55.5% from the field last season and 63.6% from the free-throw line.
Broome released a top eight schools list of Auburn, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Houston, Kentucky, Louisville and Memphis but elected to continue his basketball career at Auburn.
The commitment from Broome marks the first transfer commitment for the Tigers for the upcoming season.
After recruiting Kessler, Wendell Green Jr., K.D. Johnson and Zep Jasper from the transfer portal last year, the new age of recruiting has treated Pearl well.
Broome joins the frontcourt of Jaylin Williams and Dylan Cardwell from last season’s rotation as well as five-star forward Yohan Traore who committed to the Tigers on March 31 after decommitting from LSU.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
