Welcome to my team preview series for 2024-25. Each day between now and the start of the college basketball season, I will preview one team or conference, both on Instagram (@collegehoopsoutlet) and through an article here. The preview will go in-depth on the roster build of the team, my expectations for their upcoming season, and the state of the program under their current head coach.
Texas A&M (Projected: 5th in SEC)
Buzz Williams has garnered some positive momentum over the last three seasons at Texas A&M, leading the team to three top 35 finishes in KenPom and two NCAA Tournaments. He’s got an extremely strong core returning for year six at College Station, and a roster that should be the best he’s had while at A&M.
Wade Taylor IV (19 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg) may be the single-most important player returning to their school in all of college basketball this season. Taylor may love to shoot and score the ball more than anyone else in the country, averaging over 16 field goal attempts per game, over eight of which come from behind the three-point line. While Taylor’s efficiencies dropped off last season, I’m expecting a slight tick back up, with hopefully a bit more scoring surrounding him this season. Regardless of if he’s efficient or not, Taylor singlehandedly keeps A&M in a lot of games, if not by his scoring, then by his playmaking and defensive capabilities.
Continuing the list of returners in the backcourt, Manny Obaseki (7 ppg) must be mentioned. In the final eight games of the season, we finally saw Obaseki starting to breakout, something A&M fans had hoped would happen at the start of last year. The hope now is that Obaseki can fill much of the scoring load that was lost by the departure of Tyrece Radford. Jace Carter (7 ppg, 5 rpg) and Hayden Hefner (5 ppg) both spent time at the two and three for Buzz Williams last season, although they failed miserably in their roles as shooters. Part of the reason why this A&M didn’t match up to the hype was the lack of shooting, and it stemmed from Taylor all the way down. I’ve got hopes that Jace Carter can be another guy to step up alongside Obaseki, now entering year two with the Aggies after transferring in from UIC, he can hopefully bounce back as a shooter.
Three players in the frontcourt also return for the Aggies, led by Henry Coleman III (9 ppg, 6 rpg). Coleman’s numbers have slightly diminished over his three seasons with the Aggies, although that’s more on the fact that the Aggies have a lot of different guys they use than anything Coleman has done. Solomon Washington (7 ppg, 6 rpg) is coming off of a solid sophomore year, starting 20 games for the Aggies and putting up similar numbers to Coleman. Both Coleman and Washington are great rebounders, but the king of them all is Andersson Garcia (6 ppg, 9 rpg). Even at 6-7, Garcia is one of the best rebounders in college basketball, especially on the offensive end, averaging 4.3 orpg. With how many shots the Aggies missed last season, it was probably hard not to end up with a lot of offensive rebounds, but all three of Coleman, Washington, and Garcia were vital to keeping this team afloat.
The Aggies lost three players this offseason, all due to graduation. Tyrece Radford (17 ppg, 7 rpg) was the big loss, an important player on both sides of the court and an ultra-experienced leader. Deep bench pieces Eli Lawrence (2 ppg) and Wildens Leveque (2 ppg) were the other two departures for the Aggies.
Buzz Williams added three transfers to the roster this season, all of whom have a lot of experience and should have an impact from day one. Zhuric Phelps (15 ppg, 4 rpg at SMU) may be the most exciting of the trio, another scoring guard and good defender to add to the mix. The worry with the addition of Phelps is that the team’s shooting issue doesn’t get addressed, as Phelps shot 21.6% from behind the arc last season at SMU. CJ Wilcher (8 ppg at Nebraska) will have to be the guy the Aggies put a lot of stock into to shoot the ball, a 39.4% three-point shooter last season. Pharrel Payne (10 ppg, 6 rpg at Minnesota) is the lone addition to the frontcourt, and a possible opening night starter. Payne was one of the more promising young big men in the sport last season, continuing to develop at Minnesota and exceling at both ends of the court. Adding Payne to an already stacked frontcourt gives me full confidence in this Aggies squad down low.
Three freshmen round out Buzz Williams’ roster this season. George Turkson (4*, NAT 106) fits the billing of a Texas A&M recruit, a great athlete, rebounder, and defender who can impact the game beyond the stat sheet. Andre Mills (4*, NAT 116) is another freshman that could carve out a role in his first season, a 6-4 slashing guard who gives off some Tyrece Radford vibes. The latest addition to the Aggies’ roster was Polish forward Janusz Ratowski. Ratowski stands at 6-9 and is a skilled big man who can space the floor, something that is missing from the other frontcourt options for the Aggies.
The Aggies have some positive momentum going into year six under Buzz Williams, something that needs to be capitalized on with an extremely experienced roster. The Aggies are looking to make it a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and the goal beyond that should be to reach the school’s first Sweet 16 since 2018.
All eyes will be on Wade Taylor IV this season at Texas A&M, the scoring guard with capabilities to put up numbers that would land him on an All-American team. There’s no guarantee which Taylor will show up each night though, and the most important thing for Taylor this season will be to remain consistent. There can only really be one X-factor for this team though, and that’s Manny Obaseki. Obaseki broke out to end his junior year, and now with Tyrece Radford gone, it’s entirely on him to step up and be Taylor’s right-hand man. If Obaseki plays well, this backcourt will be fine. If he doesn’t take the step up, the Aggies may struggle to stay efficient from the field and behind the arc once again.
The SEC will be uber-competitive at the top this season, with Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M, Texas, and Ole Miss all projected as top 30ish teams. I’ve got the Aggies picked to finish 5th in the conference, a testament to their experienced lineup, but I think the ceiling lacks a bit unless the guards and shooters can prove to be efficient.