The Stretch 4: Johni Broome is No. 1, Tahaad Pettiford's fit and more
Plus: Bruce Pearl previews the massive trip to Houston, and I share my preseason All-SEC ballot — which includes a 1-16 prediction.
(David Gray/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — On Wednesday, Auburn basketball garnered even more preseason hype, looked ahead to a monster early-season clash with Houston and wrapped up a stretch of practices before the university’s quick fall break.
Another round of preseason ratings drops was kind to the Tigers, who will enter the 2024-25 season as one of the most talked-about teams in the SEC and the entire country.
Auburn isn’t going to coast on that preseason reputation, though. It’ll put it to the test early, with the Houston game in early November kick-starting a stretch that includes a massive Maui Invitational field, a trip to Duke and neutral-site games against Ohio State and Purdue.
“I like my kids, and I like the culture in our program,” Bruce Pearl said Wednesday, while virtually participating in a press conference for the Battleground 2K matchup with Houston. “I like how hard they’ve trained. I do feel like we’re prepared. I guarantee you one thing about our early season schedule: We’re going to get exposed.
“We’re going to find out really quick how good we are, or how much work we’ve got to do.”
Pearl had more to say about his team and the early-season tests that await it Wednesday. We also have some good stuff from our first interview with 5-star freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford that happened earlier this week, right after we talked with transfer guard Miles Kelly.
Let’s get into all of that, plus my ballot for the SEC Basketball Preseason Awards, in this edition of The Stretch 4.
C Johni Broome (David Gray/Auburn Tigers)
Johni Broome rated as the nation’s No. 1 player
Last season, Auburn was an analytics darling. Even though the Tigers’ overall record — and their seeding by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee — didn’t put them among the absolute elites, the computer rankings did.
Auburn finished the 2023-24 season as the No. 4 overall team in KenPom. The Tigers were also No. 4 in T-Rank. They were also No. 4 in Haslametrics. EvanMiya had the Tigers at No. 3.
Yes, all of those were finalized after the national championship game. The upset loss to Yale in the first round of March Madness factored into those ratings.
Fast-forward several months, and Auburn is right back up there in the eyes of the numbers. While KenPom hasn’t released its preseason projections yet, T-Rank has Auburn at No. 7. Haslametrics puts Auburn at No. 6.
And, on Wednesday, the first round of projections by EvanMiya put the Tigers at No. 5 — and ranked Auburn center Johni Broome as the No. 1 player in the entire country.