LAHAINA, Hawaii — Down John Broome went, descending the wooden bleachers inside the Lahaina Civic Center as quickly as his legs could carry him.
Anything for a better view.
By the time Broome’s feet hit the hardwood, he’d already whipped his iPhone out of his jorts pocket, to stream the entire scene on Instagram Live. With one hand holding the phone, and the other adjusting the plaid Auburn cap affixed backward atop his head, the proudest father in the entire gymnasium Wednesday gave the world a glimpse of life from the peak.
A glimpse of his middle child, Johni, at the summit of the college basketball stratosphere.
“It’s a blessing come true,” John told The Athletic with his phone trained on Johni at midcourt, seconds after No. 4 Auburn’s 90-76 win over Memphis in the Maui Invitational title game. “He’s been working hard all of his life, he’s been overlooked, and now he’s on the stage to show the world who he is — and I’m just proud of him.”
As he should be. As all of Auburn should be, especially after Broome led the Tigers to their first Maui title in program history. And “led” is doing some heavy lifting there. Broome had — deep breath — 21 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, two 3-pointers and one steal against Memphis. His opening sequence of the game was as masterful as we’ve seen this young season. Simply, he was the best player on the floor on Wednesday … and Tuesday … and Monday … and maybe this entire season.
KenPom ranks the 6-foot-10 graduate center from Plant City, Fla., as its too-early National Player of the Year, and anything less wouldn’t feel fair. He has been that good, that dominant — and the reason why Auburn will emerge from Feast Week as arguably the best team in the entire sport.
Kansas, the current No. 1, has wins over North Carolina and Duke. Not bad, not bad.
But Auburn? Bruce Pearl’s team has three top 12 wins in its first seven games — another program first in the season’s first month — and that doesn’t even include Memphis, which entered this week unranked but will surely be in the Top 25 come Sunday’s tally.
It’s not all because of Broome — but he’s sure a big part of why.
“He’s the biggest dog,” said his mother, Julie, clutching a miniature plush tiger and an orange-and-blue pom-pom. “Everybody’s smaller than big dog.”
When Broome, a former three-star recruit, first arrived on the Plains three seasons ago after transferring in from Morehead State, he was a fine back-to-the-basket big. But he was also, in Pearl’s words, “a young 19, even though he’s a large man.” Basically? Broome needed to grow up. Needed to lock in. Even Memphis coach Penny Hardaway — whose Tigers played Pearl’s Tigers back in Broome’s first season at Auburn — remembered so.
“Probably a little distracted and thought it was going to be easier,” Hardaway said. “He got a reality check of what it was like to come up.”
And now? The player who torched his team from the opening tip? Who had nine points, four boards, three blocks, three assists and a steal in the first nine minutes Wednesday, as Auburn built an insurmountable 12-point lead?
“Now he understands the lay of the land,” Hardaway added. “He knows how serious he has to be, knows he has to be a leader — and he’s doing that now. That’s a total difference from two years ago to now with him.”
There’s no short way to summarize two-plus years of teenage maturation, but one example hits the nail on the head. When Broome first joined the program in 2022, fellow center Dylan Cardwell wasn’t the biggest fan.
“I looked at him as an opponent rather than my teammate,” Cardwell acknowledged. “I wasn’t cheering for him. I wasn’t really happy for him as I should have been.”
Early last season, when Broome had his first 30-point breakout vs. Virginia Tech — banishing Cardwell to the bench for all but nine minutes — you can imagine how the incumbent felt. But then he remembered two games prior, when Broome was parked on the bench while Cardwell went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
“The loudest person in that arena,” Cardwell said, “was Johni Broome.”
A brotherhood was born in that instant, the ramifications of which Memphis felt Wednesday. Not only did Broome carve up the Tigers, but his gravitas opened up everything else for his teammates — including Cardwell, who had a career-best 18 points and six assists and was the beneficiary of a handful of Broome’s best assists.
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