From claiming “That’s a bad man right there” to “He’s the National Player of the Year”, everyone from Chad Baker-Mazara to Tahaad Pettiford was in awe of Johni Broome during the Auburn Tigers’ 2024-2025 SEC Tournament run. The player had built up his performance by entering the season after already having 4 seasons worth of experience, 2 with Auburn and 2 with the Morehead State Eagles. The praise for the player continued throughout the ongoing March Madness series. Unfortunately, all it takes is one bad game to pull a star down the Earth. Given the sudden change in opinion about the player, even Michael Scott would say, “Well, well, well. How the turntables”.

The Auburn Tigers were recently eliminated from the ongoing March Madness series. The team was just one win away from entering the championship game, but could not get the better of the Florida Gators, and the latter was able to secure the win by a 79-73 score. Johni Broome fumbled majorly during the game. While he became the 2nd highest scorer on his team for the game by scoring 15 points, the player made 6-14 field goals, 0-2 3-pointers, and 3-7 free throws. The misses, especially on the free-throw front, did not make the player popular.

In light of this, opinions started to shift away from Broome and in favor of his rivals. Renowned ESPN sportscaster Stephen A. Smith even took to X, and wrote “Ladies and Gentlemen, just in case you did not know: this brother from @GatorsMBK, his name is Walter Clayton Jr, and he is something special. This brother is the real deal. Reminds me of @DetroitPistons big time guard Wade Cunningham.” What was supposed to be Broome’s night, as he led the Auburn Tigers to the championship game for the first time in program history, was soon diminished in favor of the Florida Gators star.

While Smith made a misstep of his own in mixing up a NASCAR driver (Wade) with Cade Cunningham, Broome was still omitted. However, he still got his mentions on social media. Unfortunately, they weren’t pleasant.

Fans criticize Johni Broome amid expected Auburn loss: “Maybe we were missing…..”

One social media user, just like Smith, sent his praise to Walter Clayton Jr. by writing, “All this talk about Cooper Flagg or Johni Broome(.) Maybe we were missing the actual best player in the country?” In case anyone wondered who this person was talking about, he/she also attached a highlight reel of the Gators star, with the No. 1, making a memorable 3-pointer.

Walter Clayton Jr. ended the night by scoring a jaw-dropping 34 points, accompanied by 4 rebounds and 2 assists. These points were the highest the player had scored in the ongoing March Madness series, and far surpassed the 18.1 points he had averaged, along with 3.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Clayton Jr. made his recent performance possible by recording 11-18 field goals, 5-8 3-pointers, and 7-7 free throws. If this isn’t enough for him to divert the attention away from Johni Broome and towards himself, then what is?

Another individual made his criticism against the Auburn player known, saying, “Johni Broome is f**king terrible..not sure what all the hype is about this bum, bc hes fucking awful”.

Johni Broome had entered the game with an air of confidence. He actually got the scoring started for the Auburn Tigers by attacking Alex Condon’s defense, making a fadeaway jumper, and setting a 2-0 lead. After making the shot, Broome felt energetic, which caused him to even talk trash to Condon. Despite the good start, however, Broome couldn’t remain efficient throughout the game.

One social media user wrote, “Johni Broome is not that guy.. gg buddy. Good career. Go home”.

According to ‘Busting Brackets’, Johni Broome was speculated to be in a two-man race for National Player of the Year with Duke freshman, and speculated No. 1 2025 NBA Draft Pick, Cooper Flagg. Flagg’s Duke Blue Devils have also reached the Final Four, and are speculated to be the favorite to win the NCAA championship. Therefore, the recent game was Broome’s chance to prove to voters that they were wrong in giving Flagg the coveted award. Instead, fellow First-Team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. stole the spotlight and a spot in the National Championship Game with his performance.

In the end, however, not only did he not get the better of Flagg, but Walter Clayton Jr. stole the spotlight from right under his nose. If Duke makes it to the championship game, then Clayton Jr. will get the chance to prove whether the voters had done HIM wrong by shunning him from winning the title.

One individual wrote, “Johni Broome is surely not fully healthy but Walter Clayton has been so much better than him down the stretch”.

Walter Clayton Jr. has certainly been proving that. As highlighted by Real GM, the Florida Gators and the Auburn Tigers had competed in 1 other game this year, and 2 back in 2024. Johni Broome had the better points in just 1 game, which took place back in March 2024, as he scored 19 points against Clayton Jr’s 13. However, in the matchups back in February 2024 and February 2025, Clayton Jr had 20 and 19 points, respectively, in comparison to Broome’s 14 and 18 points. Of course, one cannot omit that, in the recent game, Walter Clayton Jr. led by a 19-point margin.

One social media user wrote, “Walter Clayton is so much scarier to me than Johni Broome”.

Even the Auburn head coach couldn’t help but praise what the Gators’ star can deliver on the basketball court. Before the recent game, Bruce Pearl had said, “Obviously great players. Arguably the best players in the country at their positions. It’s hard to recognize a more complete point guard than Walter Clayton Jr. Look, he’s been the best guard on the floor almost every single night. He was when we played them in Neville Arena.”

At the same time, Pearl believed that possessing a player like Broome gave his team an advantage, since he played against Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler, and experienced successes. In the coach’s own words, “We have taken full advantage of the big fella over the last three years. He is arguably the best transfer because of the three-year impact he’s had, maybe in the history of the portal.” Once again, “Well, well, well. How the turntables”.

Overall, the majority of reactions were not in support of Johni Broome. With the eyes now on Walter Clayton Jr., it remains to be seen whether he can hold on to the praise or become the next Broome after the championship game.