Eight college careers ended in Ball Arena in Denver as 4-seed Texas A&M men’s basketball fell to 5-seed Michigan 91-71 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Graduate guards C.J. Wilcher, Hayden Hefner and Wade Taylor IV, senior Gs Jace Carter, Manny Obaseki and Zhuric Phelps, graduate forward Henry Coleman III and senior F Andersson Garcia all have donned Maroon and White jerseys for the final time.
“I gave my all every night,” Taylor said. “ … We had a heck of a run these last four years, and I’m super proud of everything we accomplished.”
A&M’s postgame press conference saw only a few tears. The Aggies were crushed, to be sure, but the maturity of a group of players that had been playing college ball for four and five years won out.
There was talk of the game, sure. Junior forward Pharrel Payne’s career-high 26 points — just two days after he set a career-high of 25 points in A&M’s win over Yale — was highlighted. So too were the Aggies’ rebounding woes, and a Michigan run to end the game that sent the Wolverines to the Sweet 16.
But what does that matter compared to life-changing impacts and life-long connections?
“What has impacted me is the relationship with these guys,” coach Buzz Williams said. “Obviously, it’s an emotional time. We wanted not only to win for the right reasons, we also just wanted to stay together. And I know that sounds maybe like fluff. It’s actually the truth.”
Immediately after the final buzzer sounded, the Aggies huddled on the court as the Wolverines celebrated.
What was said in that circle will only be known to those players, and they’ll remember it as long as they live. But Coleman said faith had an impact in the discussion and his role in it.
“We thank God for wins and losses,” Coleman said. “I think it’s foolish if you don’t believe that God has orchestrated this, for all of us to come together, for all of us to have our families meet and for all of us to just be right here in this moment. We’re just super thankful for it.”
The result was not on Williams’ mind after the game. In a tradition he’s continued throughout his time as a head coach, he took the time to pray over each senior in the locker room.
“Every prayer is different because of my relationship with that young man and with their family,” Williams said. “And so I just tried to be precise, despite being overly emotional in letting them know how much I love them, letting them know how much I care for them and letting them know that no matter where they go or where I go, or who’s the coach or where they play, or if they don’t play, none of that impacts the relationship and that I’ll always be there to support.”
Perhaps unfairly, the wins and losses will be what fans and so-called experts recall. Three-straight NCAA Tournament first weekend exits on one hand, and a host of honors and four years of consistent 20-win seasons and postseason appearances on the other.
Such is the nature of college athletics.
“We didn’t hit every shot, we didn’t get every rebound, we didn’t get every steal, but we damn sure tried,” Coleman said. “And one thing you’ll never, ever say about this team is that we never tried. And even when everybody tweeted stuff about us and we saw it, we always tried and we always put our first foot forward, and we kept it going.”
A&M has adopted a mantra this season it likes to call “stay on that side.” In a sport and a digital environment dominated by what fans and members of the public say, the Aggies have stressed keeping a focus on themselves and ignoring outside noise.
Now that the season has ended, Obaseki has a message for those fans — the ones that supported the Aggies, and the ones who hurled insults when they weren’t satisfied: Yes, the players saw.
“I want you guys to understand that the people who orchestrated and played a part in what has transpired over these last four or five years was not by coincidence,” Obaseki said. “ … The people that are in the program, the players and coaches, all great people, pure hearts who want to do right by each other, want to do right by themselves and their family and for God.”
While this group of men will never take the same court again, they’ll be able to look back on a plethora of honors and records.
Taylor is the program’s all-time leading scorer. Coleman holds the school record for career offensive rebounds. In the game against Michigan, Hefner set a record for most all-time games played as an Aggie.
However, that’s not what they’re focused on right now.
It’s not just basketball that changed these players’ lives, they said. It’s each other. It’s Williams. And it’s A&M as a home, not just as a basketball team.
“Texas A&M as a whole, it’s impacted our lives — truthfully, changed our lives,” Coleman said. “And I think we’re thankful for it. It’s changed my life.”
There’s still a lifetime of relationships between a group of men who will never forget one another and the battles they fought together.
Though the heartache may never leave the Aggies, there are memories to be made in the future.
“I told [Hefner] ‘We’ll be friends forever,’” Williams said. “‘Now you can come to my house and we can watch a game and eat queso together. Nobody will say anything, nobody will tweet about it.’ I’m just honored.”
