It may be October, but the Auburn men’s basketball team is looking to the 2023-24 season. Head coach Bruce Pearl, junior forward Johni Broome and graduate forward Jaylin Williams attended SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday where they discussed the upcoming season.
The Auburn Tigers start the season unranked in the AP Top 25 and are slated to finish sixth in the SEC, one slot behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. Broome, who led Auburn in scoring (14.2), rebounds (8.4) and blocked shots (2.4), was selected to the All-SEC first team.
“I’m really glad for Johni [Broome],” Pearl said. “He's an old-school front line player. Throw him the ball in a block, he's going to up, under, fake. He can use either hand. He's going to score. He's going to get fouled. We're going to go through him.”
Broome returns to the Tigers this season after attending the NBA Combine in Chicago this summer where he was ranked the 30th player in the country by The Almanac.
“It’s exciting to be acknowledged as one of the top players in the league, but you can’t really look too much into it,” Broome said. “I feel like my teammates are not appreciated how they should be, but that’s why it’s preseason rankings.”
Williams returns this season for his fifth season on the Plains. In the 2022-23 season, Williams started in 33 games, was the team’s third-leading scorer (11.2), third-leading rebounder (4.7) and made the second-most 3-pointers on the team (40). With a win this season, Williams has the chance to become the winningest player in Auburn basketball history, surpassing Anfernee McLemore.
“To win that, whenever we win our first game, it’s going to be very special for me and my family,” Williams said of becoming the winningest player in the team’s history. “I’m blessed to share that with the Auburn family.”
Both Williams and Broome are seasoned players for Auburn’s frontcourt, but the Tigers are strengthening their frontcourt depth with transfer portal additions. University of Alabama in Huntsville transfer Chaney Johnson joins the Tigers this season after playing three seasons of NCAA Division II basketball where he was named the 2022-23 Gulf South Conference Player of the Year, averaging 15.9 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game.
“Chaney Johnson was one of the better players in Division II,” Pearl said. “And he is going to be one of the better players in our league this year or next.”
Along with Johnson, the transfer portal also brought Auburn junior guard Denver Jones. Jones transferred to Auburn from Florida International where he was the first player in program history to be named first team all-conference as a sophomore. 247Sports rated Jones as the No. 26 transfer in the country, and he averaged 20 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 2023.
“[Denver Jones] has worked. He's been in the weight room. He's in the gym all the time,” Pearl said. “By the way, my best players are my hardest workers. Whoever are my top three or four guys are the top three or four guys that are in the gym every morning, late at night. Denver Jones is one of them.”
Auburn’s 2023-24 schedule consists of 16 regular season home contests, 12 of which are against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Tigers additionally will face a tough nonconference schedule, including the likes of Baylor, Notre Dame, Indiana and Virginia Tech.
“I take great responsibility in our nonconference schedule,” Pearl said. “No team in the SEC has won more nonconference games than Auburn. If I don't schedule hard, then obviously I'm concerned we're not good enough. And we ain't afraid.”
The Tigers’ season officially tips off Tuesday, Nov. 7, against No. 20 Baylor in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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Grace Heim is a junior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in English Literature. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
