Johni Broome named Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year

The first of the five major player of the year awards has arrived, and Auburn’s superstar is the winner.

Johni Broome was named the Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday morning, besting Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Broome becomes the first in program history to win one of the officially recognized National Player of the Year accolades.

Broome and Flagg could very well share the honors, considering how close their race is perceived to be. Sporting News is always the first of the primary sponsored outlets to announce. The other recognized player of the year awards come from the Associated Press and the Naismith Award, along with the Oscar Robertson Trophy, the Wooden Award and the NABC Player of the Year. Those will continue to trickle in over the coming weeks, while some will not be announced until the end of the season.

Named the third SEC Player of the Year in Auburn history earlier this week, Broome is averaging career highs in points (18.6), rebounds (10.6) and assists (3.3), and was the SEC’s leader in blocks (2.4). The big man was the clear best player in the best conference in college basketball, on the best team, and is also top 5 nationally in a slew of advanced metrics, including overall player efficiency rating and plus/minus. 

Heading for a No. 1 seed in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, Auburn next plays Friday at Bridgestone Arena (noon CST, ESPN) against the winner of Ole Miss vs. Arkansas/South Carolina.