Florida basketball misses out on transfer PF Johni Broome to Auburn

It came down to Florida and Auburn for center transfer Johni Broome on Saturday, but the Gators and Todd Golden came up short and will now have to plan against him in the 2022-23 season.

Broome averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game for Morehead State as a freshman in 2021-22. The Eagles finished 23-11 and Broome quickly became one of the most intriguing names in the portal after announcing his intentions to move on from the program. Some of college basketball’s best (Gonzaga, Duke, etc.) were in the hunt early on, but Broome decided that the two SEC squads presented him with the best opportunity to take the next step in his development.

Bruce Pearl’s recent success with Auburn beat out Todd Golden’s year one pitch to the Florida native. Golden previously served as an assistant coach for the Tigers, so this was the first true battle between the former mentor and protege.

It would have been nice for Florida to add some more depth to the frontcourt for Golden’s first year at the helm. Colin Castleton is set to return as the team’s starting center and has LSU transfer Alex Fudge, CJ Felder and Jason Jitoboh around him. Broome would likely have been paired with Castleton in the starting lineup, but instead, he’ll replace Walker Kessler at Auburn.

There are still some decent big men in the portal for Florida target, but this was a priority target for Golden. Now it’s time to go back to the board and figure out a different solution with three potential roster spots still open.

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