Johni Broome: A Modern Monster for March Madness

Auburn basketball is all about strength in numbers this year. But one of the best players in America makes the Tigers even scarier.

C Johni Broome (SEC/Instagram)

SPOKANE, Wash. — Inside the practice gym at Neville Arena, a handful of banners line the walls.

Several of the ones on the sideline boast the biggest team accomplishments for Auburn men’s and women’s basketball: the Final Four runs, the SEC championship squads, the recent tournament appearances.

Down on the baseline, one banner lists all of the All-Americans in Auburn men’s basketball history.

There’s Jack Stewart, Rex Frederick, Henry Hart, Lee DeFore, John Mengelt and Mike Mitchell — the best before the program’s big breakout in the 1980s with Charles Barkley and Chuck Person. The 1990s are represented by Wesley Person, followed by Chris Porter and Doc Robinson. The list is rounded out by the 2022 superstar frontcourt of Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.

Over the last two years, Johni Broome has probably looked at that banner countless times during long hours of practices, workouts and shootarounds.

Soon, Broome’s name will be up there as the 14th All-American in Auburn basketball history — and a consensus one at that.

For many in college basketball, Broome’s breakout might have felt like it came out of nowhere. He was a great player in his first season at Auburn, capturing second-team All-SEC honors.

But jumping into All-American status in a season that was already filled with so many established big men? Who could have saw that coming?

Broome did.