BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl and senior All-American forward/center Johni Broome claimed the Southeastern Conference’s top men’s basketball postseason awards in a vote by the league’s head coaches released on Monday.
Pearl, in his 11th season on the Plains and 30th overall of his career, earned SEC Coach of the Year honors for the second time during his time at Auburn, where he led the Tigers to a No. 1 national ranking twice and to its fifth conference title (regular season or tournament) in the last eight seasons. Pearl is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 227 career wins. This is his fourth all-time SEC Coach of the Year nod by his peers (2006, 2008 and 2022).
“This award voted by the coaches means a great deal to me, because of the historic season the entire SEC had," Pearl said. "This year, many of the coaches in our league had historic seasons as well. I voted for Todd Golden, because his team finished three or four places above where they were picked in the preseason polls. I thought he did as good of a job as anybody in the country. This honor is a direct reflection of my coaching staff and the incredible job they do with our culture, our chemistry, our teaching of the game and developing our players on-and-off the court.”
Broome became the third-ever player in program history to be honored as SEC Player of the Year along with Auburn legends Charles Barkley in 1984 and Chris Porter in 1999. He garnered a spot on the All-SEC First Team for the second year in a row. Broome currently ranks among the Top 10 players all-time in career points (9th, 1,582) and Top 5 in career blocks (3rd, 227) at Auburn.
Joining Pearl and Broome with postseason honors were senior forward/guard Chad Baker-Mazara on the All-SEC Third Team, senior guard Denver Jones on the SEC All-Defensive Team and freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford on the SEC All-Freshman Team.
2024-25 SEC Men’s Basketball Awards
First Team
Johni Broome, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida
Mark Sears, Alabama
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Second Team
Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State
Tre Johnson, Texas
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina
Otega Oweh, Kentucky
Third Team
Chad Baker-Mazara, Auburn
Alex Condon, Florida
Jason Edwards, Vanderbilt
Mark Mitchell, Missouri
Sean Pedulla, Ole Miss
All-Defensive Team
Denver Jones, Auburn
Jahmai Mashack, Tennessee
Cameron Matthews, Mississippi State
Anthony Robinson II, Missouri
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
All-Freshman Team
Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma
Tre Johnson, Texas
Asa Newell, Georgia
Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
Labaron Philon, Alabama
Coach of the Year: Bruce Pearl, Auburn
Player of the Year: Johni Broome, Auburn
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk, South Carolina
Newcomer of the Year: Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Freshman of the Year: Tre Johnson, Texas
Sixth-Man of the Year: Caleb Grill, Missouri
Defensive Player of the Year: Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee