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Johni Broome claps back at trash talk Tennessee fan left on Auburn star's car

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh01/25/25

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Auburn C Johni Broome
Jordan Godfree | Imagn Images

Eyes of the college basketball world are on the Plains Saturday. Two top-10 teams are set to battle from Neville Arena as Auburn plays host to Tennessee. A big storyline heading into the game is the health of Johni Broome, having a chance to play after missing time due to an ankle injury.

Broome has been on the receiving end of some trash talk before the game even gets underway. Some Tennessee fans apparently left a couple of drawings of the ‘Power T’ on his car Friday night.

A video from Broome’s Instagram showed as such, with the star big man captioning it “Ok let’s do it then.” Potentially a sign that Broome could wind up playing in one of the more anticipated SEC matchups of the season thus far.

The camera also panned to the parking lot grass, where another Tennessee logo was seen in the ground. You can see the whole video from Broome here.

Broome last played on Jan. 11 during a road game against South Carolina. An ankle injury was thought to be a bad one. Thankfully, evaluations showed the issue was not as serious as originally thought and Broome would be back in no time. Apparently, that’s Saturday against Tennessee.

In 16 games, Broome is averaging 17.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He was widely considered the favorite for National Player of the Year, competing with Duke‘s Cooper Flagg. Maybe coming back from his injury will get Broome back into the conversation, assuming the same high-level play is produced.

Bruce Pearl provides Johni Broome update on ESPN College GameDay

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl provided an injury update on star center Johni Broome ahead of the Tigers’ game against Tennessee Saturday night.

Pearl was asked on ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning if there is a chance that Johni Broome will be able to play against the Vols. He shared that there is definitely a chance.

“I think so. I think there’s a chance. Listen, he’s going to warm up. You know, you guys were at practice yesterday. He went yesterday, but he didn’t really push it,” Bruce Pearl said. “He wants to play. But if in warm ups he doesn’t feel good about it he’s not going to play.

“But I’m guessing, with you guys here, with these [fans] here, Johni Broome is going to take [the court]. That’s my guess.”