AUBURN, Alabama — The Auburn basketball coaching staff is currently in the middle of figuring out what they need in the portal.
Bruce Pearl already brought in Furman transfer JP Pegues to play point guard next season, but the question for the Auburn Tigers had to do with Johni Broome's decision.
The All-American averaged 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on the season for the Tigers, leading Auburn to an SEC Tournament Championship.
In the Tigers ' season-ending loss to Yale, Broome was incredible, scoring 24 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
The part of Broome's game that he improved on this season was the three-point shooting. In his first season at Auburn Broome shot 29% from three. This year, he shot 35.4% and couldn't seem to miss once SEC play started.
It will be interesting to see if Coach Pearl will play both Broome and Dylan Cardwell, who recently announced his return, together with Broome as the power forward and Cardwell as the center.
If Coach Pearl does this, he will need to go get a true center out of the transfer portal.
Auburn will be one of the best teams in college basketball next season, with their All-American forward back for one more season.
The Tigers return three of their top four scorers as Denver Jones and Chad Baker-Mazara are coming back along with Broome.
Next season in The Jungle is going to be a lot of fun, and Broome has a real shot to be the preseason SEC Player of the Year.