Before Bruce Pearl was a basketball coach, he was a management student at Boston College. And anytime a company like IBM came to campus and help interviews, Pearl remembers it being a “really cool” experience — one that he compared to Auburn men’s basketball’s Pro Day in Neville Arena Thursday afternoon.

“This is for the kids. That’s what this is about,” Pearl said. “These scouts, the pro scouts are interviewing our players and they’re laying eyes on them personally.”

Of the 30 teams in the NBA, 28 of them sent representatives to The Plains to put eyes on Auburn’s talent on Thursday.

The showcase lasted right around two hours and featured various shooting drills and a 20-minute scrimmage, complete with officials. Here are the notes:

Denver Jones highlights BAM testing numbers

The NBA utilizes Basic Athletic Measurement (BAM) as its testing service for the NBA Draft Combine and measures a player’s vertical jump, approach vertical, 3/4-court sprint, reaction shuttle and four-way agility drill.

Each of Auburn’s players participated in each of the five tests and their results were provided to each NBA scout in attendance on Thursday.

Junior Florida International transfer guard Denver Jones highlighted Auburn’s roster in terms of the most well-rounded results. Jones, who stands 6-foot-4, led the team in approach vertical (40 inches), tied for first in vertical (33.5 inches), tied for second in the 3/4-court sprint (3.235 seconds) and was second in the reaction shuttle (2.911).

Here’s how the rest of the roster fared at the vertical jump (by last name):

• C Haston Alexander (6-foot-10): 21.5 inches
• G/F Chad Baker-Mazara (6-foot-7): 26.5 inches
• G Lior Berman (6-foot-4): 30 inches
• F Johni Broome (6-foot-10): 29.5 inches
• C Dylan Cardwell (6-foot-11): 31 inches
• G Tre Donaldson (6-foot-2): 31.5 inches
• G Jalen Harper (6-foot-1): 32.5 inches
• G Aden Holloway (6-foot-1): 27.5 inches
• G Chaney Johnson (6-foot-7): 32.5 inches
• G KD Johnson (6-foot): 29.5 inches
• G Denver Jones (6-foot-4): 33.5 inches
• F Chris Moore (6-foot-6): 33.5 inches
• G Blake Muschalek (6-foot-3): 27.5 inches
• G Presley Patterson (5-foot-11): 26.5 inches
• F Addarin Scott (6-foot-9): 29.5 inches
• G Carter Sobera (6-foot-5): 31 inches
• G Reed Trapp (6-foot-6): 27 inches
• G CJ Williams (6-foot-2): 25.5 inches
• F Jaylin Williams (6-foot-8): 32.5 inches

All eyes on Johni Broome

Auburn junior forward Johni Broome dipped his toes into the NBA waters last year after leading the Tigers in scoring with 14.2 points per game, leading in rebounding with 8.4 rebounds per game and leading in blocked shots with 2.4 blocks per game through the 2022-23 season.

After initially submitting his name into the hat for the NBA Draft and earning an invite to the NBA Draft Combine, Broome elected to return to The Plains for his junior season and focus on improving areas of his game.

“Just playing hard, playing with a higher motor. You know, that always translates into the next level,” Broome said of his focus Thursday. “Rebounding and making open shots.”

Broome added that improving his shooting from the perimeter and the foul line, as well as his defense, were all areas scouts gave him feedback last year.

In Thursday’s abbreviated scrimmage, Broome went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, but just 1-for-3 from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, his patience, the pace in which he plays the game and his ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor were some things scouts commended him for.

Broome finished Thursday’s scrimmage with 10 rebounds — five on the offensive glass and five on the defensive glass. Broome also had a block, steal and turnover.

The unofficial skinny on the scrimmage

Auburn’s roster was split into two teams — a white team and a blue team.

The white team was made up of: Denver Jones, Tre Donaldson, Jaylin Williams, Lior Berman, Chris Moore, Dylan Cardwell and Carter Sobera.

The blue team was made up of: Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome, Chaney Johnson, KD Johnson, Addarin Scott and Aden Holloway.

After the first 10-minute half, the blue team had worked its was to a 21-17 advantage and went on to win the 20-minute scrimmage 39-38 in an abbreviated game that came down to the final seconds. Broome went 1-for-2 from the free throw line with mere seconds left to give the blue team the go-ahead point to win the game.

Baker-Mazara led the blue team’s scoring efforts with 14 points, while Jones led the white team’s scoring efforts with 12 points.

Broome was the only other player to finish in double-figures, finishing with 12 points, as well as 10 rebounds.

When combining the entire floor, Auburn was 25-for-59 from the field and 10-for-27 from downtown.

Here’s a look at the scrimmages full unofficial stats, courtesy of Justin Ferguson of the Auburn Observer: