College Sports Wire just released its 5 late-season candidates for the 2023-24 SEC Player of the Year award. Among the list is Auburn star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag].
The junior is joined by Tennessee star guard Dalton Knecht, Alabama guard Mark Sears, Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves, and Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell.
Broome is notably the only front-court player on the list which is somewhat of an outlier considering the winner of the award has been a forward or center 7 out of the last 10 seasons.
It’s easy to see why Broome should be a favorite for the conference’s most prestigious individual honor at the end of the year. Auburn’s star has been nothing short of sensational in 2023-2024.
The 21-year-old’s 16.1 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game are both improvements from his first season on the Plains while his field goal and 3-point percentage have also seen significant improvements.
Broome has also become a leader both emotionally and on the court for the Tigers. Bruce Pearl’s offense clearly runs through him and fellow forward [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag]. Broome’s assist numbers are almost up a full assist per game this season because of that.
While Broome’s individual numbers are superb, it is going to be a difficult task to usurp Dalton Knecht or Mark Sears for the award considering they both are averaging 20+ points per game for teams ahead of Auburn in the standings.
If Broome were to make an improbable run at the honor, he would be the first Tiger to win SEC Player of the Year since forward Chris Porter in 1999.
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