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Johni Broome captures national honor ahead of Final Four tilt
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Johni Broome has been the driving force for Auburn basketball all season long, and the star forward landed a prominent national award ahead of the Final Four.
On Saturday, Broome was announced as the recipient of this year’s Karl Malone Award, given annually to the top power forward in all of college basketball. Broome took home the award from a group of 5 finalists that included Michigan’s Danny Wolf, Texas Tech’s JT Toppin, UAB’s Yaxel Lendeborg and Villanova’s Eric Dixon.
The award, named for the iconic Hall of Famer who attended Louisiana Tech, was first given out in 2015. Broome becomes the first Auburn player to capture the honor, and he also becomes the first player from SEC basketball to be given the award.
Auburn is in Saturday’s Final Four to face Florida, and Broome’s contributions have been the driving force for Bruce Pearl’s group all year long. He leads the Tigers in nearly every major category, including points (18.7), rebounds (10.9) and blocks (2.1) while tying Tahaad Pettiford for the team lead with 2.9 assists per game. Broome’s 10.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game led the SEC this season.
As we hit the Final Four, Broome is 4th in the odds to win March Madness Most Outstanding Player honors. Broome is +850 at DraftKings with Cooper Flagg, the freshman phenom for Duke, leading the way at +110 and Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. coming in behind Flagg at +400.
A big step toward capturing the MOP award involves taking care of Florida first with Auburn in the unusual role of underdog, checking in at +2.5 vs. the Gators Saturday night. Tip-off for that game is set for 6:09 pm ET on CBS.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
