LOS ANGELES – Auburn junior center/forward Johni Broome (Plant City, Fla.) is a preseason watch list candidate for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Principal® as announced on Tuesday.
A consensus preseason All-Southeastern Conference First Team selection by the league's head coaches and media, Broome has already started off the season strong with back-to-back double-double performances versus No. 20-ranked Baylor and Southeastern Louisiana last week.
Broome is currently leading the SEC averaging 11.0 rebounds per game and is the only player in the league averaging 17.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He is 3-of-4 from 3-point range and is shooting 47.4 percent from long range over his last 10 games dating back to last season.
Broome is also one of only 22 Division I players to record two double-doubles already this season and one of 18 players to record a double-doubles in each game he has played so far this season.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes, who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award.
Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 41 are upperclassmen including 29 seniors.
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2024 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Principal. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award.
Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2024 John R. Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles in April.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All-America Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Breanna Stewart ('15; '16), and last year's recipients, Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Zach Edey of Purdue.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.