As the season for Texas A&M head coach Billy Gillispie and the new-look Aggies kicks off later this week, three transfers will also begin their A&M careers.
And it’s more than likely that the play of the junior college transfers will impact the direction of the A&M team.
Juniors Edjuan Green and Chris Walker and sophomore Marcus McIntosh are preparing for the Aggies’ opener Friday after brief stints at smaller colleges. Green starred at Temple College for two years, while Walker played one year at the University of Texas-Dallas. McIntosh, originally from Aurora, Colo., lettered for a year at Northeastern Junior College.
“(Junior college) is a lot slower pace,” McIntosh said. “It’s a different environment in itself. (It) is not about defense. Everyone can play here, and you have to come ready to play. Everyone can shoot, and you have to play (defense).”
Green is widely considered the gem of the group. At 6 feet 7 inches, he should be able to give immediate help in the paint with his skilled rebounding. Green ranked second nationally in rebounding last year at Temple College, where he grabbed 14.7 rebounds a game. He also recorded 24 double-doubles last year.
Green said any success this season will stem from playing hard, playing together as a unit and playing aggressively and energetically on defense.
“We’ve got to come out and play hard,” Green said. “As the season goes on, we’ll get better. It all starts on defense. We work hard on defense, and that makes our offense better. It’s about playing together.”
McIntosh brings a potent shooting touch to a team that desperately needs solid guard play to compete in the Big 12. The sophomore shot almost 52 percent from the field last year and is capable of consistently hitting the three-point shot. McIntosh said the biggest change between Division-I and junior college is the intensity level, especially in practice.
“You can’t get away with anything,” McIntosh said. “In junior college, you have two coaches who watch you in practice. Here, there are six or seven coaches who are watching you in practice, and you can’t get away with anything. (Gillispie) is intense, and he sets the tone for us. It’s a constant go.”
Walker, a 6-foot-5-inch walk-on, said Gillispie’s practices involve hard conditioning, but that the players are buying into Gillispie’s models.
“He stands by what he believes,” Walker said. “He’s a man of integrity, and that’s what he wants the program to be. He believes in a strong work ethic.”