Bruce Pearl believes Johni Broome is the National Player of the Year 'if we continue to win'

Over a five-year collegiate career, Auburn’s Johni Broome has become someone that is now in contention for National Player of the Year.

Bruce Pearl spoke about Broome’s candidacy for the award while on the ‘Gary Parrish Show’ on Monday. He noted Broome’s value as the leader in almost every stat for the Tigers, who have been a top-five team for much of the season and been the top-ranked team in the country for the last month at 25-2 overall. So, if they continue to win at that same pace, he thinks he should absolutely be National Player of the Year.

“The difference in that race, I think right now, is simply the body of his work,” said Pearl. “If we have 14 Quad 1 wins? He’s a huge part of what that’s all about. He’s our leading rebounder, he’s our leading scorer, he’s our leader in blocked shots, and he leads us in assists as a power forward. That just tells you what an incredibly valuable player he is.”

“You know, in my mind, in my (running), if we continue to win and close this thing out, he is the Player of the Year in college basketball,” Pearl said.

Broome is having a career-best season as a fifth-year senior at 18.6 points (50.7% FG), 11.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks for Auburn. That should again have him as an All-SEC selection as well as an All-American.

With that, Broome is also a leading candidate for this award along with Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

Still, it was the whole story that Pearl couldn’t tell enough of when talking about Broome. He has come a long way from Plant City, Florida to a half-decade spent in Morehead, Kentucky and Auburn, Alabama to become the player he is today.

“Well, it’s the American Dream. It’s, this is what makes our country so great that you can start from humble beginnings, you know,” said Pearl. “Again, a young man that wasn’t even good enough in high school to make a decent shoe company team in the summertime, in AAU. He goes to Morehead State and what he does is he takes advantage of the opportunity, live in the moment, do the best you can with what you got and he got a chance to be recognized for the next step. So, what do you do? He goes to Morehead State. He becomes the best player in the OVC and helps Morehead State win.”

“We get him at Auburn. His first year? That’s a big jump from Morehead State to the SEC – you know, he wasn’t fast enough, he wasn’t quick enough, he didn’t move well enough. Well, all he does was he is All-SEC. His second year? He’s All-American,” Pearl said. “And, now, his third year, he’s running for, you know, obviously, the Player of the Year.”

Broome has not only become the best player for Auburn over his three years but has become one of the very best in the SEC and in the NCAA. Now, if he can lead the Tigers to a few more wins, they believe he’ll be recognized as such as NPOY.