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Bruce Pearl builds Johni Broome’s case to be National Player of the Year
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Bruce Pearl is among those interested in the National Player of the Year race now that the regular season is over, and he believes his star has the best case for the award.
At this point, the POTY race will come down to Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg and Auburn big man Johni Broome. During an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Pearl was asked who he believes should be POT, and it didn’t take the head coach long at all.
“I think Johni Broome should be the college player of the year because of all he’s accomplished and all he’s been able to do for our team,” said Pearl. “Leads us in scoring, rebounding and assists and obviously stepped up in the biggest games.”
Pearl certainly understands the case for Flagg, but there’s one thing that sets the two apart. For Pearl, it comes down to Auburn’s performance in Quad 1 contests.
The Tigers delivered an eye-popping 16 Q1 wins this year, a number that dwarfs what Duke encountered. The Blue Devils had just 10 Q1 games (7 wins) all season long.
Meanwhile, Auburn won the outright SEC title in a season of historically strong performances from the conference.
“I think Cooper Flagg and Duke if he’s not the first player drafted is going to be one of the first players draft (in the NBA), and Cooper is an amazing player who plays so hard and impacts the game so much. But what Auburn has done this year through this league, to have 16 Quad 1 wins has never been done before,” Pearl emphasized. “… To win 16 out of 20 (Q1 games) is unprecedented, so I think our best player is the best player in college basketball.”
It’s a simple formula, but it remains to be seen if others agree. According to FanDuel, Flagg is still the favorite to capture the Wooden Award at -290 while Broome checks in at +230.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
