Texas A&M men’s basketball is looking forward to a new season joined by a number of fresh faces.
The Aggies are coming off a difficult 2020-2021 season with an 8-10 overall record and a 2-8 record in the SEC. A&M head coach Buzz Williams has made a number of changes in preparation for the 2021-2022 season. This was due to the Aggies losing most of their players during the offseason, including last season’s leading scorer Emanuel Miller.
Williams said the team’s look has transformed from last season, in all aspects.
“Completely different,” Williams said. “A lot of brand new guys, brand new staff, brand new players. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Williams brought in a total of seven new players — three from recruiting and four from the transfer portal. Notable new players are 4-star shooting guard Manny Obeseki and transfer small forward Henry Coleman from Duke.
Due to recruiting and scheduling difficulties over the last 18 months, Williams said the upcoming season is a blank slate and compared the state of the team to his first season with the Aggies.
“It does feel like a reset,” Williams said. “So much [has] transpired. Some of it good, but a lot of it bad. And some of the bad was out of our control. I understand I won’t be judged according to the reset and I’m accountable to that, but I feel the energy of what we’re doing is Year 1-esque.”
Williams said the team’s new additions have forced the Aggies to adjust their philosophy on both offense and defense. This pivot stems from Williams’ emphasis on the importance of adaptability, he said.
“[We’ve changed] a little bit of what we’re trying to do on both sides of the ball relative to our personnel,” Williams said. “I think that’s the way you want it. I don’t think it needs to be based on how you would like to coach; it needs to be based on putting those guys in the best position they can be in.”
Williams said the majority of players are still learning what is expected of them while playing for the maroon and white.
“Everybody is kind of at a different point of what they know relative to what we do on the floor and relative to what we do off the floor,” Williams said. “Through four practices, I do think [Andre Gordon] and [Quenton Jackson] specifically, Zach [Walker] and [Everett Vaughn] as well, have at least heard remnants of what we’re saying. Most of those other guys are hearing it for the first time.”
Williams said one of the differences with this year’s players is the improved speed, which should help them break away on offense while covering more ground on defense.
“I think we’re faster,” Williams said. “I think we have a lot of guys that can put the ball on the floor. Hopefully a lot of those guys can get fouled and create rotation. Hopefully we can get the defense in rotation and keep them in rotation.”