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Building some Buzz?
Texas A&M was a popular pick to win the SEC vs last season. It didn't work out. Can Buzz Williams' program make a run this year? Plus, a do-it-all forward gets good news, schedule updates and Chris Mack's outlook.
Mike Miller
August 08, 2024
Good morning! Thanks for reading The Daily. In the middle of summer when hardly any college basketball news is happening, we appreciate ya.
Let’s dive into the news.
1. The Texas A&M conundrum
Few teams ran hotter — and colder — than Texas A&M last season.
The Aggies entered last season as a trendy SEC pick, and logged non-conference wins against Iowa State, Ohio State and SMU, while coming up just short against FAU, Virginia, Memphis and Houston.
They started SEC play 1-3 and were’ 15-13 in late February, then reeled off five straight wins, made the NCAA Tournament and took No. 1 seed Houston to OT in the Round of 32.
As Rob Dauster and John Martin discuss in the video below, A&M mimicked the high variance tendencies of star guard Wade Taylor IV. The preseason pick for SEC POY could catch fire (seven games with 30+ points) or go cold (11 games with a sub-100 ORtg) and sometimes both (his 31 points in a January win vs. Kentucky included missing 10-of-11 2-pointers, hitting 6-of-13 from deep and going 11-of-12 from the line).
Which version of Taylor shows up this season? And does A&M — which returns seven of its top eight scorers — follow Wade’s lead again? Or can it rise above that inconsistency?
The thing is, Taylor doesn’t have to do it all. Tyrece Radford (16.5 ppg) is gone, but guard Manny Obaseki, a 6-4 senior who shoots 40% from deep, could make a jump with an improved performance inside the arc. Returning starters Jace Carter (6.9 ppg), Solomon Washington (7.4 ppg) and Andersson Garcia (6 ppg, 9.1 rpg) are effective defenders and scrappers, capable of grabbing loose balls and scoring off hustle plays.
And their three newcomers — SMU senior Zhuric Phelps (14.8 ppg), Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne (10 ppg) and Nebraska transfer CJ Wilcher (5 ppg) should be solid contributors.
It’s Phelps, who spent three seasons with the Mustangs and improved his efficiency each season. who could end up making the biggest impact. From GigEm 247:
"Little better player than I thought, and I thought he was good," A&M head coach Buzz Williams told GigEm247 about Phelps. "Better with the ball than I thought, a better passer than I thought, fits our style of play.
"The camaraderie that he has with (Taylor) and (Obaseki), and knowing those guys before he got here, you can see that when they are playing. But you can also see that when they are off the court.
"It is like he has been here the whole time, which you can't quantify."
fwiw, the Aggies are viewed as the fourth-best SEC team from Waaaay Too Early Top 25s. Barttorvik slots them in fifth (behind Texas).
The returning experience should serve them well during their non-conference schedule (which dropped on Wednesday). At UCF, then home vs. Ohio State and Wake Forest then neutral-site games vs. Texas Tech, Purdue plus the Players Era Festival is a solid slate. If they emerge with three or fewer losses, it’ll be an excellent start.
Whether they’re consistent enough to finish ahead of the likes of Kentucky, Miss State, Florida and Arkansas — all of which are projected to finish with fewer wins — is the big question. I’d argue all four of those teams have more overall talent (Ole Miss too, but I worry about their defense), but more questions to answer early in the season.
But by SEC play? Texas A&M will be scrapping for every win it can. Any inconsistencies are going to be a big deal.
2. NCAA gives Tyzhaun Claude another season
Programs seeking an experienced player capable of filling several roles, and provide some intangibles along the way got another option on Wednesday.