Four years, 11 months and 13 days.
The last time Texas A&M men’s basketball tasted the sweetness of victory in March Madness was in 2018 with a stunning 21-point victory over No. 2 seed North Carolina. Since then, the Aggies have been marred in mediocrity, just making the tournament for the first time in almost half a decade last season before a swift exit at the hands of Penn State and have still yet to secure a postseason win under Buzz Williams.
That changes this year. It has to.
The 2023-24 roster is loaded with both experience and talent — the experience and talent that can take them past the first round in March Madness. The stars have aligned in Year 5 of Williams’ tenure, and the Aggies must capitalize on it this season.
Williams’ has gotten closer and closer to a win in March Madness each year. Two years ago, the Aggies barely missed the tournament and had to settle for an NIT run. One year ago, A&M finally returned to March Madness but couldn’t secure victory. Now, it seems that the Aggies have everything they need to not only win one game, they have what it takes to be sweet. They have what it takes to be elite. They have what it takes to be in the Final Four.
A&M has never had a Player of the Year in either the Big 12 or the SEC but has a chance for once this season with junior Wade Taylor IV, who will have to be the catalyst to spark the Maroon and White’s success this season.
The Dallas native has already racked up a myriad of preseason awards, including SEC Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC, Bob Cousy Award watch list and the NABC Division I Player of the Year Watch List. There hasn’t been an Aggie this heralded since Robert Williams who, you guessed it, was on the 2018 tournament team.
You see it in March all of the time. A wild circus shot here, a half-court heave there, but you have to have someone who can pull it off. The Maroon and White needed star power, and that’s exactly what they got in Taylor, who has shown he can make shots no one else can.
But one star does not make a team, and the supporting cast around him is exactly what the doctor ordered, as graduate guard Tyrece Radford shores up a strong backcourt alongside transfers in junior Jace Carter and graduate Eli Lawrence.
The frontcourt is the same, with senior forwards Henry Coleman and Julius Marble — if he is able to play this season — forming a formidable tandem of big men down low. Senior forward Andersson Garcia provides crucial depth and has the ability to inject energy into every Aggie on the court.
The Aggies only have two underclassmen who could see the court in freshman guard Bryce Lindsay and sophomore forward Solomon Washington, speaking to the wealth of experience for A&M. Three juniors, four seniors and three graduates make up the Maroon and White’s roster, which in the transfer portal era, is a feat in itself.
It feels as though everything else in the Williams’ era has been set up for this season. They have the stars, they have the experience and you have the depth. They have shown you can compete with the best in the conference already and return almost everyone who did so last season.
Anything short of a Sweet-16 run this season would be a bust. Even cutting it there could be taken as a slight with all of the promise the team presents.
A&M’s campus went crazy for the Aggies last season. Now, it’s time that they return the favor and give them some madness.