Is Auburn basketball returning the nation’s best big man in Johni Broome? It seems likely

BIRMINGHAM — Minutes before Auburn basketball senior center Johni Broome met with media members inside the Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook in Birmingham on Tuesday morning, LSU head coach Matt McMahon was asked about Auburn’s returning big man.

McMahon, who coached at Murray State before taking the reins of the LSU program, is a seasoned vet when it comes to coaching against Broome. McMahon first ran into the current Auburn Tiger when Broome was starting his college career at Morehead State.

“Yeah, it seems like it’s been a decade or so coaching against him,” McMahon joked.

Since then, both Broome and McMahon have settled into their new homes in the SEC — Broome, arguably, settling in a bit better having been named a first teamer to the preseason All-SEC team on Monday.

“He’s always been a dominant scorer around the rim. You look back at that Morehead State team, one of the best shot blockers in the country, and that’s clearly translated here at the SEC level. But now you see him shooting the three with time,” McMahon said.

“I think there’s a reason why a lot of people say he’s the best big man in all of college basketball,” LSU’s head coach concluded.

Coming on the heels of an All-American- and All-SEC-worthy season that saw him average 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game, in addition to being named the SEC Tournament’s MVP, Broome didn’t have to come back to Auburn as both the NBA and the transfer portal were right there for him to flirt with.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl told reporters in May that transferring “was not an option” for Broome, who weighed the advice of NBA scouts before ultimately deciding to return to The Plains for another season in April.

“My three-point shot, shooting a better percentage, my free-throw percentage and then just showing my athleticism a little more — being more athletic on the defensive side,” Broome said Tuesday when asked what he’d heard from NBA scouts.

Last season, Broome notched 28 makes from beyond the arc on 35% shooting. From the free throw line, Broome was good 61.5% of the time with 112 makes — all marks that were significantly better than his sophomore season in 2022-23.

Asked if Broome had unlocked another gear this offseason, teammate Denver Jones assured he had.

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“I’ve seen him work out a lot as far as during the summer and even now,” Jones said. “And what he’s improved on in practice? He’s really improved on his three-point shooting. … His percentages in practice is up there with guards and I feel like that’s a very great improvement, especially in the big man position.”

Told that an opposing coach said he considered Broome one of the best big men in college basketball, Jones let out an emphatic “Hm,” paired with a shrug of his shoulders.

Asked if he agreed and if he felt like Auburn had the best big man in the country on the floor in Broome, Jones was quick to reply.

“Yes,” he said. “Every single time.”

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn basketball’s Johni Broome unlocked another gear this offseason