Ad Disclosure
Johni Broome injury: Auburn star receives early status for matchup vs. Tennessee
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Johni Broome remains sidelined for Auburn after an ankle injury forced the star forward to the bench. However, he appears to be progressing in his recovery, and there’s at least a chance he returns to the court this weekend.
On Friday night, Auburn released the first availability report for the matchup vs. Tennessee with Broome earning a “questionable” designation. That is not the most promising outlook, but it’s at least progress that Broome is not already ruled out for the game.
Tennessee has its own injury issues for the matchup with Jordan Gainey listed as questionable and Igor Milicic Jr. listed as probable. Those players are the 3rd and 4th-leading scorers for the Vols, respectively, while Milicic leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game.

Broome’s status, however, is more significant for the Tigers. He leads the team in every major category, including scoring (17.9 points per game), rebounds (10.7), assists (3.3) and blocks (2.7). Bruce Pearl has been able to get his group to weather the storm in the short-term but they would love to have Broome back healthy.
It is the first and only matchup of the season for Tennessee and Auburn, and it will be a top-10 matchup Saturday night. The Vols enter at No. 6 in the country while Auburn has maintained its No. 1 spot, even in spite of Broome’s absence.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.