The preseason recognition from national and SEC media continues for Bruce Pearl and the Tigers, as Auburn ranks second in the newly-released SEC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, media outlets announced Monday afternoon.
This comes a couple of hours after the team was voted No. 11 in the first AP Poll of the year. Auburn is projected to finish behind only Alabama, which stands at No. 2 in the AP Poll. However, the Tigers are still picked to finish ahead of a plethora of conference foes who also appeared in the AP Top 25, like No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Arkansas and others.
Additionally, Auburn had two players named preseason All-SEC.
Senior forward/center Johni Broome earned an All-SEC First Team bid after a dominant campaign on the Plains last season, averaging 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. Broome finished the 2023-24 season with an abundance of accolades, collecting 2024 All-SEC First Team, 2024 SEC All-Defensive Team, 2024 SEC All-Tournament Team and 2024 SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He was also a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
Broome is accompanied by Alabama’s Mark Sears, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler and Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor on the All-SEC First Team. He also received numerous votes for preseason SEC Player of the Year, but it was instead gifted to Sears.
The other Tiger is senior guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara, who was named to the All-SEC Third Team and joined by Alex Condon of Florida, Jaxson Robinson of Kentucky, Collin Murray-Boyles of South Carolina and Tramon Mark of Texas. Baker-Mazara had a breakout season last year, as he was third on the team in scoring (10.0 PPG), rebounding (3.7 RPG) and second in steals (36). Like Broome, Baker-Mazara was also a member of the 2024 SEC All-Tournament Team.
Chad Baker-Mazara rising up for a corner three during the first half of the SEC Semifinals vs Mississippi State on March 16, 2024.
Pearl and company will look to these two weapons for firepower and leadership in hopes of another SEC Championship and a deep run in March – something the Tigers haven’t done since their journey to the Final Four in 2019.
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Gunner is a freshman majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @norene_gunner10
