COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Basketball season is back in Aggieland and fans will get their first chance to see the Texas A&M men’s basketball team on the court at Reed Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the program hosts its annual Maroon & White Scrimmage.
Admission to the event is free to fans, who are invited to stick around for a post-game interview session with the team. Additionally, fans will have the chance to win Aggie gear and register for a VIP experience and backstage pass to see the Aggies prepare for their final exhibition game vs. Texas A&M International on Nov. 6.
Expectations are high in College Station as fifth-year head coach Billy Kennedy brings the most talented roster of his tenure at Texas A&M into the new campaign. Last week, the Aggies were projected to finish third in the SEC during a poll of media that covers the league with Danuel House garnering pre-season All-SEC first-team recognition while Alex Caruso was named second team.
In addition to several other college hoops prognosticators putting the Aggies among their preseason top 25, the Aggies are regarded as the No. 22 team in the nation according to the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
The squad’s returners are highlighted by a trio of seniors in Caruso, House and Jalen Jones, who each garnered All-SEC recognition from various media outlets after last season.
Texas A&M, which is coming off a 21-win campaign and a second-round showing in the NIT a year ago, stands out as the only school in the SEC to return more than one player who garnered All-SEC first or second team honors from the league’s coaches last season.
House, who ranked fourth among all league players in scoring during league games at 16.2 points per game, joins Vanderbilt’s Damian Jones and Ole Miss’ Stefan Moody as the only first-team All-SEC performers back on the court this season.
Meanwhile, Jones was key contributor during his first season at Texas A&M, garnering second-team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches. The Dallas native reached double-digit scoring in 25 of 31 games played last year to average 13.7 points per game, a figure that ranked 11th in the SEC, while leading the Aggies in rebounding at 6.6 boards per contest.
During his third year in the A&M program, Caruso saw his scoring average rise for the second straight season, finishing with a 9.1 point-per-game pace for the season including a 10.1 point-per-game clip during league play. The College Station, Texas, native led the SEC in assists for the second straight season (182) becoming the first SEC player since Nick Calathes of Florida in 2008 and 2009 to do so.
Supplementing the returning seniors will be graduate transfer Anthony Collins who comes to Aggieland after drawing 98 starting assignments in 101 games played at South Florida.
In addition to the outstanding senior class, A&M brings back three players –Tavario Miller, Alex Robinson and Tonny Trocha-Morelos – who played in at least 25 games last season and are poised to take another step forward on the court. The Aggies’ roster will also be boosted by the arrival of a much-heralded recruiting class, which is regarded by many as the best in school history and is ranked as a consensus top-10 group by all the major recruiting services.
The Texas A&M men’s basketball team is already ahead of schedule in preparations for the upcoming campaign after the team took part in a 10-day European tour of Italy and Greece in mid-August. The voyage served not only as a unique bonding experience for the team’s mix of veterans and talented newcomers but also gave the Aggies a chance to hit the court early with the squad competing in four exhibition contests.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics