Johni Broome injury update: New details emerge on status of Auburn star

Auburn star Johni Broome underwent an MRI following Saturday’s injury, revealing that he suffered “a non-surgical ankle sprain,” per Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson. There is no timeline for his return as of this report.

The injury occured during the second half of the Tigers’ 66-63 road win over South Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Broome appeared to roll over the foot of Chaney Johnson while coming down from grabbing a rebound.

The Auburn big man immediately yelled in pain as he grabbed for his left leg, and he needed help from the training staff to get to the locker room.

Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl revealed after the game the first steps in Broome’s recovery. At the time, they did not know the extent or specifics of the injury.

“He’s got a significant sprain,” Pearl said to SEC Now after the game. “When we get back to Auburn tonight, we’ll get him an MRI and see if it’s anything else going on there.”

At the time of his injury, Broome had six points and three rebounds in 24 minutes of action. He entered Saturday’s game averaging 18.7 points and 11.2 rebounds, ranking fifth in the nation in the latter category. He’s also averaging 2.7 blocks through the first 15 games, including two in SEC play, as he continues to generate buzz as a potential Player of the Year candidate.

Saturday’s injury is the second for Broome this year. He previously hurt his shoulder late in non-conference play, but didn’t miss any significant time as a result, quickly returning for the next game against the Purdue Boilermakers.

Losing Broome for the South Carolina could have been disasterous for Auburn. They trailed South Carolina 40-34 at halftime and trailed 47-45 with 13:45 left in regulation when the injury occured. However, the Tigers held strong without their centerpiece to improve to 15-1 on the season.

Of course, Auburn’s schedule won’t slow down anytime soon as SEC play gets into full swing. Auburn hosts No. 14 Mississippi State on Tuesday night, and also has matches against a white-hot Georgia team on the road as well as No. 1 Tennessee at home.

Their tough schedule bleeds into February, and so on. For now, at least, it appears that Auburn will have to move forward without its start play for the time being.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.