Graduate student forward Rashaun Agee was the butt of a few jokes during 10-seed Texas A&M men’s basketball’s pregame media availability ahead of its NCAA Tournament Round of 32 matchup against the 2-seed Houston Cougars in Oklahoma City.

After Agee was asked how he became the Aggies’ vocal leader in his final year of college eligibility, senior guard Rylan Griffen cut in with a comment about the former’s seniority.

“Agee plays a part in it too,” Griffen said. “Let’s not fool. Don’t let him fool you. That’s a big reason. Unc over here.”

Even head coach Bucky McMillan got in on the fun.

“Well, he’s got no worries,” McMillan said. “Financially he’s getting Social Security right now, so he can just [have] no worries when he’s out there on the court.”

All jokes aside, McMillan said there was no doubt about the impact Agee had during his one and only year in Aggieland.

“I mean, he put a belief in the group, in the locker room, that we could go fight with anybody,” McMillan said. “They knew they had Rashaun with them and that he wasn’t gonna back down from anybody. And you know, when you stand eye to eye with him, doing an interview, y’all saw how tall he really is, and he’s out there getting double-doubles every single game because he’s got just a freaking huge heart, you know? I know these guys in this day and age of college athletics, they’re not guys you get to know for three and four years a lot of times. This was an extreme example of that. But I’ll tell you this much, every one of those players is in that locker room crying. Texas A&M meant a lot to these guys, you know, and hopefully they mean a lot to this fanbase.”

In the NCAA Tournament, Agee put up 22 points, nine rebounds and a trio of assists in A&M’s Round of 64 win over 7-seed Saint Mary’s, adding another seven points against Houston.

But Agee’s dream of playing in March Madness was nearly over before the year began. After transferring to A&M from USC, Agee was only able to obtain his extra year of eligibility via a court injunction. 

Playing for his fourth Division I school, Agee’s age and vocal leadership quickly turned him into the captain of a roster full of transfers after McMillan was left with just one returning player on the Aggies’ roster when he was hired in April.

“He’s a great leader,” junior G Pop Isaacs said. “Does a great job with the guys day in and day out. Better than, like, just the basketball player. He’s a great person to be around every day, which helps a lot. So Rashaun has been great all year, for sure.”

Agee’s postseason performance ended a year during which he led the team in scoring and rebounds — averaging 14.6 and 8.7 per game, respectively — while earning Third Team All-SEC honors, the only Aggie to earn a postseason honor from the Southeastern Conference.

Ever the team player, Agee was quick to focus on the team’s achievements — winning an NCAA Tournament game in a year that the Aggies were projected to finish near the bottom of the SEC standings — rather than his own accolades, even amid the emotions of a 88-57 Round of 32 loss to Houston that ended his college career.

“I feel like we put a lot of fight and energy into this year throughout ups and downs of our season,” Agee said after the game against Houston. “I mean, it was a lot of new guys this year that came in and fall together and allowed me to lead them. I would say my legacy is our first year we came in, we won our first [NCAA Tournament] game, and almost got to the Sweet 16. That’s the legacy right there, the team, how we did everything this year.”

The same words that Agee used to describe the Aggies’ style throughout this season — fight and energy — also fit how McMillan described the listed-as-6-foot-8 forward’s style of play.

“Well, he may be listed a little taller than he is, so for him to do what he does at his true height, it’s to have more double-doubles now in a season than anybody in the history of the Texas A&M basketball program, who would have thought that would come from someone who is — I’m not going to say it, whatever tall he is,” McMillan said. “He gets mad. That’s like Charles Barkley, you know? You remember Charles Barkley? He wasn’t the tallest, but he’s like the Round Mound of Rebound. He would just go get the ball.”

McMillan also said Agee’s effort mattered just as much off the court as on.

“So I think you got to admire someone whose determination is what it is, and it’s contagious to our team,” McMillan said before the Houston game. “But he’s just a delight to be around. He’s got such a great personality and is a joy to be around. There’s energy vampires that suck the energy out of a room. He’s the total opposite. He brings life to the party.”

For Agee, the lasting impact this year and A&M’s NCAA Tournament run has had on him goes far beyond the basketball court. He said that the impact McMillan had on him will last for the rest of his life.

“That’s always going to be my guy,” Agee said. “I always talk to Bucky 24/7. I tell my teammates, I tell my family, like, man, I appreciate him. No matter what goes on, I know — I’m thankful that he allowed me to come here and be here at A&M and allowed me to lead. A lot of coaches, you know, wouldn’t pick somebody the first year just to come in and lead. He helped me become a man this year.”