The Auburn Tigers may have found their answer after losing one of the best players in college basketball, Johni Broome. Broome has used all of his eligibility and will enter the 2025 NBA Draft.
This meant the Tigers had 10 open spots to fill entering the offseason. Head coach Bruce Pearl has filled nine of those spots, six of those have been through the transfer portal and three through the 2025 recruiting class. One transfer is KeShawn Murphy who transfers to the Plains from Mississippi State.
Murphy is joining a Tigers team that is losing its entire rotation including their starting five and several crucial members of their bench. While their sixth-man, guard Tahaad Pettiford, is testing draft waters as a freshman, he is 50/50 on returning to the Tigers for the 2025-26 season. If Pettiford returns, he will likely start at point guard next season.
For Mississippi State a season ago, Murphy averaged 24 minutes, 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks over 34 games. The power forward is 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds and could be the best available player to fill the hole left by Broome. While Broome was averaging just over 30 minutes a game, Murphy was playing significantly less at Mississippi State. If he adjusts well to an increase in his minutes, he could be the best Tigers’ transfer to fill the Johni Broome role as forward/center.
“KeShawn is going to be versatile; he can play 4 or 5,” Pearl said. “My 4s and 5s are very interchangeable. And he can play both. He played mostly center at Mississippi State, but he’s going to be a guy that can stretch it.”
One thing that Murphy will be better at than Broome is his athleticism and mobility, something more and more bigs need in order to be successful in the SEC. We won’t see the Tigers play any SEC teams until 2026, but they will likely play some difficult non-conference teams this fall. Murphy will have to take every opportunity to prepare himself for the SEC schedule. If the SEC is even remotely as good as it was this year, they will have a very difficult road again next season.
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