Inside the commitment: Johni Broome's outlook
Johni Broome committed to Auburn on April 30, marking the second consecutive offseason that Bruce Pearl‘s Auburn Tigers have landed one of the top transfer bigs in the country.
Broome is a 6-10, 235-pound center from Morehead State University. He averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.9 blocks per game during the 2021-22 season.
Broome led Morehead State to a 23-11 record and won the Ohio Valley Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in the process. He also won the conference’s Freshman of the Year award in 2021.
The 411
Auburn has its next potentially great center just weeks after losing Walker Kessler. However, Johni Broome and Kessler aren’t the same player. Broome might not be as elite of a defender, but he’s still great in that department and has a better looking scoring-game at this point in his career.
Broome’s bread and butter is his back to the basket post game. He finished his conference tournament run with a 32-point performance against a talented Murray State team that featured 6-10, 245-pound NBA prospect KJ Williams defending Broome.
Morehead State’s final game against Murray State was a defining performance for Broome. Auburn’s newest commitment was force-fed the ball. And, with everyone playing and watching knowing who would get the ball, Broome was still winning his matchups and scoring.
Broome is also a talented defender and has a capable shooting form when left open. He’s a great rebounder and offers good potential as a shot blocker and also some potential as a versatile defender in the SEC.
Broome was third nationally in blocks per game last season, set the Morehead State recofd for blocks per game, and—along with Kessler—Broome was the only player in college basketball with 12 or more blocks in a game last season.
Recruitment Recap
Johni Broome’s recruitment was as quiet as the come. Auburn and Florida were the two finalists after Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville, Memphis, Kentucky, and Houston made his top eight. However, neither finalist seemed to know Broome’s final decision until he made it on Tipton Edit’s Instagram Live.
Florida is Broome’s hometown school, as a Plant City, Florida native. Florida also had a new staff that might be able to keep a commitment quiet. That made me think the Gators led, but an effective in-home visit on Thursday and strong lead recruiting from Steven Pearl changed the momentum if it ever was pointed in Florida’s direction.
Program fit
Johni Broome is a great fit for Auburn thanks to his defense and rebounding and with how much Auburn is losing between Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith. However, Broome hasn’t shown himself to be the kind of scoring threat that Auburn usually likes to have at center. I think Broome can transition into being an “Auburn big” with the freedom he’ll get on the Plains and the guard play he’ll have. I also think Auburn can utilize some of the things Broome does to give themselves new looks at times on offense.
How Broome’s offense translates to Auburn
Broome shouldn’t have a problem filling the roles Auburn needs him for, and he brings some new skills to Auburn’s center position with a postgame that looked elite last season at Morehead State.
Low post – Broome’s ability to get baskets in the post might be his biggest strength. He can operate out of the high post, mid post, or low post, but he is dominant in the low post.
Broome has a deep bag of moves that he uses to create space and get by defenders in the post. He’s good at drop stepping, shaking defenders off his back, and can work in the post until he gets his defender in the air or gets by him. Broome’s performance in the OVC Championship against a talented Murray State team was a great example of this. Murray State press Morehead aggressively from start to finish and made it hard for Broome’s team to initiate its normal offense. Morehead countered by getting the ball across halfcourt and dumping it to Broome. Despite getting dominated on the boards and it several others areas, Broome went for 32 and kept Morehead State in the game to the point of forcing overtime.
High/middle post – Broome has a decent enough handle and shot that defenders are forced to extend their defense on Broome. He’ll make jumpers and find easy lanes to his post-up spots without a hand in his face. Even with a hand in his face, Broome is capable of backing down defenders from the high and low post. He can also take them off the dribble in some instances. His shot is sometimes to slow for me to think he’ll get off many contested jumpers in the SEC without switching things up.
What else Auburn might see from Broome
What Auburn normally wants out of its big men (on offense) is someone who can run the floor and/or stretch the floor and someone proficient in ball screen offense.
At Morehead, Broome didn’t do much of either. The lack of shooting might be related to his skill set. He doesn’t have an extremely great shot. He is also so good in the post that it can be a waist to stretch the court with him. Still, the lack of ball screen offense seemed to be more on Morehead State. Broome moves well for his size, is big and strong, and he does well with lobs, so I expect him to fill in well. He also shows the ability to play around screens and thrives using off-ball screens.
This is like the Spain PNR action Auburn ran a lot of this past season. Scoring on off-ball movements is one of Broome’s strengths. He’ll constantly run around screens and play two-man games away from the ball with other bigs to fit in. I think this is promising in general. Especially for a team like Auburn that will always pair Broome with a good-to-great forward.
Broome’s defensive fit at Auburn
Defense is where Broome fits the best already. Not only due to Auburn’s normal recruiting patterns but also because Auburn is losing the country’s best shot blocker in Walker Kessler. They’ll now replace him with last season’s No. 7 shot blocker in Broome.
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Broome is a smart and dominant shot blocker who uses timing, length, and good hands to deflect an insane amount of shots at times. Between Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome, Auburn could have the best rim protection in the conference once again.
Broome doesn’t have the recovery ability Kessler has and can’t cover as much ground as the 7-1 big man did at Auburn, but his rim protection is on a similar level.
Rebounding: Broome is also an excellent rebounder on both ends of the court. When Auburn played Morehead State for the Tigers’ opening game in 2021, Broome had eight rebounds and helped Morehead State outbound Auburn by three boards.
Broome had a career-high 18 rebounds last season against Belmont and finished the season with a whopping 22 double doubles. The Morehead State transfer was one rebound away from a blocks triple-double against UT Martin.
SEC readiness, what Broome needs to improve
Broome already has the looks and resume of a great college player. Regardless of conference. He is elite at defending the rim and scoring from the post, has good size, and is capable of just about anything else, but there are still areas Broome could improve in.
His outside shooting, jump shooting in general, and his face-up game all need work if Broome wants to turn into a legit first round draft pick. Broome can make some open midrange shots but his 3-point shooting was non-existent last season. Broome attempted five threes and missed them all.
Auburn will likely give Broome a greenlight if he’s even somewhat capable. So, there’s a chance he looks a little better off the bat. Still, he has a slow release and doesn’t elevate much on shots.
Improving shooting would help his face-up game as Broome’s handle would then become an actual weapon if defenders had to step all the way out to the perimeter on him.
Broome could also work on his non-interior defense. He is a great shot blocker and rim protector, but Broome doesn’t have the athleticism and burst necessary to defend many players besides centers and forwards. However, he has the IQ and length needed to play a switching style of defense.
Broome could give Auburn another contender for National Defensive Player of the Year if he steps up his non-rim protection defense.
Final word on Johni Broome
Auburn will have arguably the best transfer big for the second year in a row after turning Walker Kessler into a transfer “one and done.” Broome has a little more multi-year potential than Kessler. That’s thanks to Broome being a little smaller. Auburn’s newest commitment also has three years of eligibility.
I don’t think there’s much question regarding if Broome will be effective. The question is how dominant he is in the SEC could depend on how many of those improvements are made. At the least, I think Broome will be a very solid 20-ish minutes per game big man for Auburn. I think he could also generate some draft buzz with a good season or two at Auburn.
