2024 Men's Basketball Preview
Buzz and the Boys back at it starting tonight
I’m not going to talk about the football game today. That’s for Wednesday.
However, today marks the start of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season, and with it, the 13th-ranked Fightin’ Texas Aggies’ campaign. Buzz Williams and his guys are coming off of a strong end to last season, advancing all the way to the SEC Tournament semifinals and earning a Round of 32 spot in the NCAA Tournament before falling in a heartbreaker to top-seeded Houston after a near-upset.
Now, Williams returns with maybe his most experienced and deepest crew yet, returning the vast majority of last year’s production and adding a couple of intriguing new pieces in recruiting and the transfer portal to create an exciting roster in College Station. Yeah, the loss of Tyrece “Boots” Radford will undoubtedly be tough - after all, he was a three-year starter for the Aggies and provided a great complement to Wade Taylor in the backcourt - but I think this year’s Texas A&M team has a lot of talent able to step up and fill that void.
The Ags are set to tip off their 2024-25 season in an intriguing non-conference battle at Central Florida, but before that let’s take a look at the roster and get to know the guys donning the Maroon and White this year.
Returning Production
I believe the Aggies have the highest percentage of returning production from last year to this year, and it makes sense - Radford and maybe Wildens Leveque were the only two notable players to really leave the program from last year. I can immediately count, like, seven rotation guys that will likely see big minutes again.
It all starts with Wade Taylor IV. One of the best point guards in the SEC, if not the nation, Taylor is the leader and the heart and soul of this year’s group. He’s established himself as an A&M legend with his scoring ability at all three levels and his knack of heating up quickly when he gets a couple of shots to fall.
He’s a tremendous floor general and distributor for the Aggies as well, while also adding value on defense through leading A&M in steals last season. He struggled with efficiency and shot selection at times because teams keyed in on him so much, but I think with some more help around him he can have a much more efficient final year. Taylor will be the star of the show for the Maroon and White.
He’s got some help in the backcourt around him as well. Gone is Boots Radford, but in slides Manny Obaseki after he had an incredible end to last season. Obaseki really found his footing and confidence around late February or so, elevating his production to new heights and giving the Aggies a much-needed third option on offense. I said he’d be the X-factor last season, and when he was on, the Aggies were a much better team.
He has athleticism in droves and his shot has evolved to reach all three levels, and if he can maintain that form from the end of last season, I’ll feel really good about the potential of this year’s squad. He has all the talent in the world, but now he’s gotta replicate that over a full season. I’m confident that Obaseki can do it, though.
In the frontcourt, Solomon Washington has a new number and will likely be the one of the centerpieces there as he enters his junior season. Washington has progressed from sort of a project but with loads of athleticism to now developing his game on both sides of the court with loads of athleticism. He is probably the most athletic person on this A&M roster, and it shows with eye-popping blocks and dunks on seemingly a nightly basis.
He’s the best defender and hustle guy that the Aggies have, and it feels like his shot is starting to fall a bit more now to complement that. If his offense can take another step forward to pair with that elite defense, the sky could be the limit for him.
Aside from Washington, another mainstay in Buzz Williams’ rotation that will once again serve a big role is Andersson Garcia, who established himself as a cult hero last season with his miraculous three-pointer as time expired to complete a wild comeback in regulation against Houston and send that game to overtime. Like Washington, he provides a lot of his value on the defensive end, particularly being an incredible rebounder, but he can hit an occasional shot if he wants to. Ever since coming over from Mississippi State, Garcia has provided immense value as a sixth man and should continue to play that role very effectively. With his defense, rebounding, and hustle, he’ll still be a critical part of the Aggies’ rotation.
Heading back to the backcourt, I expect Jace Carter and Hayden Hefner to continue to still at least be part of the rotation this year. Carter was a pretty hyped transfer from the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he stood out for the Flames, but it took him a while to find his footing before eventually doing so later on in SEC play. I think with another offseason under his belt and that learning curve having hopefully passed, Carter will be a better player this season. Hefner really provides only three-point shooting off the bench, but he did struggle with his shot in 2023. If he can find that rhythm that he developed earlier in his career, I can see him with a role, but it’s up to his consistency.
Longtime Aggie Henry Coleman III should serve as another depth piece, and he had a strong start to the year last season before kinda tailing off after suffering an injury. I’m not really expecting him to return to starter form because of the depth ahead of him, but he’ll be a nice complementary piece. I’m also kinda intrigued to see if Rob Dockery will have a role as well - he’s a super athletic wing that needed some development coming out of high school, and he took a redshirt last season. The former four-star recruit could - could - play a factor in the wing rotation this year.
Finally, I don’t think wing Jaelyn Lee will play a lot, but he’s incredibly valuable for the culture that Buzz Williams has built at A&M.
New Additions
The Aggies were able to bring in three transfers that will all play crucial parts in this team, as well as four really intriguing freshmen that I’m excited to see develop for the future.
Let’s start with the transfers, and I think there will be none bigger (literally) than former Minnesota standout center Pharrel Payne. The Aggies desperately needed a dependable inside presence this offseason, and Payne should be able to fill that void. He’s a rebounding and block machine, averaging 10 points and 6.1 rebounds per game on less than 27 minutes per contest while also leading the Golden Gophers in blocks with a total of 44 on the 2023 season. I think he’ll be an instant-impact starter at center and should be a valuable piece for this team.
The Maroon and White also added two guys to round out the backcourt, and one of them that I also think will be an instant starter is former SMU Mustang Zhuric Phelps. Phelps was the best player on that SMU team for the last few seasons, and he heads to Aggieland already with a couple of connections, as he knows Taylor and Obaseki from his high school days.
The former Mustang was asked to carry a lot of the burden for that team, and as a result his efficiency took a little bit of a dip just because opponents focused solely on stopping him. That didn’t stop him from earning second-team All-AAC honors with a statline of about 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals per game. With a more talented roster around him, though, I think Phelps is going to have a really good year, especially with that pre-existing chemistry with his backcourt-mates.
Finally, the last transfer to arrive in Aggieland is CJ Wilcher, joining A&M from Nebraska after spending three seasons in Lincoln. If there’s one thing to know about the grad transfer, it’s that his job will be to shoot the three-pointer, and shoot it well. Wilcher emerged as one of the Big Ten’s best sixth men a season ago and is a much-needed addition for his outside shot for a team that really needed help there, as he shot 39% from three-point land in 2023. Combine that with shooting 45% from the field and 94% from the free-throw line, and that equates to a big offensive presence off the bench, a role he’s taken on throughout his career and one he will undoubtedly have in Aggieland.
As for the freshmen, I’m not really sure if we’ll see a whole lot of playing time from any of them, but they’re names to keep track of for the future, especially with three recruits ranking inside the top 150 players in the country. First, there’s Andre Mills, who averaged 31 points per contest in his senior year of high school ball. He’s kind of like a Boots Radford-lite, bringing a high motor and physical style of game to College Station, not afraid to drive it and score with great efficiency. If there’s one freshman that can maybe, maybe crack the rotation, it’d be him, I’d say.
Then, forward George Turkson Jr. prides himself on really doing a lot of the dirty work, as that’s what he did alongside another top-100 recruit in Michigan State’s Kur Teng in high school. He is a monster defender, rebounder, and competitor, and that energy should translate to the collegiate game as he develops on the offensive side. Basically fits Buzz Williams’ coaching profile to a tee. Chris McDermott was kind of a late commit in the recruiting cycle, but the Booker T. Washington standout provided great rebounding and effort as an undersized power forward and, like Turkson, should take this year to develop as a more complete player behind the scenes.
Finally, an extremely late addition to this year’s roster was Polish big man Janusz Ratowski, a 6’11” forward that is the first international signing for Buzz Williams in his Texas A&M tenure. He averaged close to a double-double in Poland’s 2 Liga (9.6 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game). Don’t really know too much about him, if I’m being honest, but having international professional experience and playing for his country should be good experience. Combine that with the coaches being high on his athleticism and jumpshot, and hes an intriguing project for this coaching staff to work with.
Season Overview
This is Buzz Williams’ deepest team since he arrived at Texas A&M. Loads of contributors in both the backcourt and frontcourt, numerous players that have played in his system for years now, and a team, I think, that has attempted to fix their weaknesses well this offseason.
There’s a reason why people are high on the Aggies to start this year, due to the sheer amount of returning production and overall experience that this group has, which is invaluable in the ever-changing environment that is college basketball. I feel better about the rotation this year compared to last, and even in a loaded SEC, I think the Ags will be in the mix. Led by their insane efficiency on the glass, ability to draw fouls and get to the rim, and the effort on defense that Williams has been known for throughout his coaching career, this team has the chance to make some noise.
If this team can hit more of their outside shots, avoid that slide in SEC play that I feel like they have had most years, and if they have that respectable interior presence that emerges this year (Pharrel Payne, perhaps?), I think this team can reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Very early bracketologies have the Maroon and White as a four- or five-seed, which is what I’m expecting from this group heading into the season.
The Aggies have to play a loaded schedule - they host Ohio State and Wake Forest and play Oregon, Creighton, Purdue, and Texas Tech at neutral-site venues just in the nonconference portion. Combine that with what should be a loaded conference schedule as always, and it will be a gauntlet, no doubt. But I think this team is better equipped to handle it than previous years’ squads have.
The expectations are there - just have to deliver on them.
Excited for this year of basketball. Get to Reed Arena to support them as much as possible.
Season starts at 6 as they travel to Orlando to take on the UCF Knights. Let’s have a good year, man.
Good vibes are needed.
BTHO everybody.
-Sourav