Auburn star center Johni Broome is returning to the Tigers for his final season, he announced Wednesday, positioning himself to open next season as a preseason All-American.
Broome wasn’t a lock to be selected in June’s NBA draft, and he still had one year of college eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 6-foot-10 Florida native, Broome has been one of the best frontcourt players in the SEC since arriving from Morehead State two years ago. He was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2022-23 after averaging 14.2 points and 8.4 rebounds, but took his game to a new level this past season, putting up 16.5 points and 8.6 rebounds.
He was named to the All-SEC first-team and the league’s All-Defensive team, and won SEC tournament MVP after leading the Tigers to the conference tournament title.
Broome earned third-team All-American honors; with at least four first-teamers and two second-team selections either out of eligibility or going to the NBA draft, Broome could end up as a preseason first-team pick next fall.
He started his career at Morehead State, earning first-team All-Ohio Valley honors in both seasons and winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.
Auburn, which finished second in the SEC and won the conference tournament before suffering an upset loss as a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament, is now very likely to be ranked in the next update of ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25. The Tigers lost guards Aden Holloway, Tre Donaldson and KD Johnson to the transfer portal, but Bruce Pearl landed Furman transfer J.P. Pegues and now has his anchor back up front in Broome.
The NBA broke six ties among 15 teams Monday to determine the order of selection for the 2024 NBA Draft, which will be held June 26 and 27.
The Charlotte Hornets won a tiebreaker with the Portland Trail Blazers after both teams finished 21-61, tentatively slotting them third and fourth respectively in the NBA Draft order. Charlotte can now finish no lower than seventh and Portland could pick as low as eighth depending on the results of the NBA Draft lottery on May 12.
Charlotte has a 13.3% chance of winning the draft lottery, while Portland is now at 13.2%.
The Sacramento Kings won a tiebreaker over the Golden State Warriors and will have the No. 13 pick if it does not move up in the draft lottery. The Warriors receive the No. 14 pick — the last selection in the lottery — and their pick will be conveyed to the Portland Trail Blazers unless the Warriors move into the top four, of which they have just a 3.4% chance.
