While his college coach was talking him up on NBA TV, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Johni Broome sank a 3-point basket to substantiate what Bruce Pearl was saying.

The Auburn coach came to see Broome play in Tuesday night’s NBA 2K26 Summer League game between the 76ers and Washington Wizards at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Broome joined Philadelphia from Auburn in the second round of the NBA Draft on June 26.

“They’re getting a great teammate,” Pearl said during an in-game interview. “A guy that wants to win. He wants to compete. And I think it’s important for coaches to continue to come and support their players even if they got no more eligibility. We would not be the Final Four without Johni Broome, and there’s no better way I can say thank you to him and his family than to keep coaching him.”

Broome had 14 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and one steal in Philadelphia’s 74-58 victory on Tuesday night. He had totaled 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot in the 76ers’ first two games in the NBA 2K26 Summer League.

Philadelphia got its prospects a jump on their summer work by playing in the Salt Lake City Summer League before coming to Las Vegas. Broome had 27 points, 21 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and four blocked shots in three games in Utah.

“I think the biggest thing is he represented the name on the front of the jersey and the name of the back of the jersey,” Pearl said. “He cared about Auburn basketball. But he also cared about the Broome family and knew where he came from.

“He’s a guy that was always overlooked, and he didn’t let that — he played with a chip on his shoulder, and as long as he keeps that chip and stays humble and hungry, he’s going to have a long career in the NBA.”

During the 2024-25 college basketball season, Broome’s accolades included consensus first-team All-American, the SEC Player of the Year Award, the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player Award, The Sporting News National Player of the Year Award, the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award as he helped Auburn reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.

Auburn alumnus Charles Barkley was picked for 11 NBA All-Star games and is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. But he has called Broome “the greatest basketball player in Auburn history.”

Pearl said Broome had had the “greatest impact” of any player on the Tigers’ program.

“Charles recognizes championships; he recognizes rings,” Pearl said. “But how humble and hungry is it for a guy like Charles Barkley — he’s one of the top, like, 25 players to ever play the game — to say that Johni Broome was the best player? And he don’t want any argument about it because, like, two SEC championships, National Player of the Year, Final Four. Yeah, I agree with Charles. He’s had the greatest impact of anybody in Auburn basketball history.”

Philadelphia has two games remaining on its summer-league schedule, with the 76ers facing the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. CDT Wednesday in Las Vegas in their next game. ESPN will televise the contest.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.