News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
LAS VEGAS – The Texas A&M men’s basketball team faces a trio of college basketball powers in the Power MTE of the Players Era Festival, which will be contested at the MGM Grand Garden Arena during the week of Thanksgiving.
All three of the Aggies’ Power MTE opponents – Oregon, Creighton and San Diego State – won at least one game in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M opens against Oregon on Tuesday, Nov. 26 before taking on Creighton on Wednesday, Nov. 27. In the Championship Day matchup, the Aggies battle San Diego State on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Texas A&M at the Players Era Power MTE, Las Vegas (Nov. 26-27, 30)
|
Nov. 26 (Tues.) |
Oregon vs. Texas A&M |
3:30 p.m. CT |
TBS |
|
Nov. 27 (Weds.) |
Texas A&M vs. Creighton |
5:30 p.m. CT |
MAX |
|
Nov. 30 (Sat.) |
San Diego State vs. Texas A&M |
6 p.m. CT |
TNT |
The Aggies return seven of their top eight players in scoring and minutes played from a team that won 20-plus games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24. The Aggies finished 2023-24 with a 21-15 overall mark while advancing to the second round of the “Big Dance.” Williams’ 2024-25 Aggies are mentioned prominently in multiple “way-too-early” top 25 rankings, including No. 11 by CBSSports.com and The Athletic and No. 12 by ESPN.
Leading the way is two-time first-team All-SEC pick Wade Taylor IV, who is college basketball’s only player to log 500+ points, 100+ assists and 60+ steals in each of the past two seasons. Also returning is the SEC’s top rebounder from 2023-24, Andersson Garcia, who finished the year with 327 total rebounds to break the 42-year old school standard of 317 set by Claude “The Crockett Rocket” Riley in 1981-82.
Other top returnees include Jace Carter (16 starts in 2023-24), Solomon Washington (20 starts in 2023-24), Henry Coleman III (73 career starts), Manny Obaseki (started final eight games of 2023-24) and Hayden Hefner (18 starts in 2023-24).
The Aggies added three impact transfers in guard Zhuric Phelps (leading scorer at SMU), Pharrel Payne (leading shot blocker at Minnesota) and C.J. Wilcher (top bench scorer at Nebraska), along high school standouts Chris McDermott, Andre Mills, Janusz Ratowski and George Turkson Jr.
Players Era Festival Complete Schedule
(all games will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena)
POWER TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, November 26
San Diego State vs. Creighton – 2:00 PM (EST) | TBS
Oregon vs. Texas A&M – 4:30 PM (EST) | TBS
Wednesday, November 27
Oregon vs. San Diego State – 4:00 PM (EST) | Max
Texas A&M vs. Creighton – 6:30 PM (EST) | Max
Saturday, November 30
San Diego State vs. Texas A&M – 7:00 PM (EST) | TNT
Oregon vs. Creighton – 9:30 PM (EST) | TNT
IMPACT TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, November 26
Houston vs. Alabama – 8:00 PM (EST) | TBS
Rutgers vs. Notre Dame – 10:30 PM (EST) | TBS
Wednesday, November 27
Rutgers vs. Alabama – 10:00 PM (EST) | TBS
Notre Dame vs. Houston – 12:30 AM (EST) | TBS
Saturday, November 30
Alabama vs. Notre Dame – 1:00 PM (EST) | truTV
Rutgers vs. Houston – 3:30 PM (EST) | truTV
About Players Era
Players Era was created to provide NCAA sanctioned NIL opportunities for college basketball players and to expand the fandom and reach of the game itself. The Inaugural Players Era Festival will be a week-long celebration of college basketball, featuring elite teams, players and coaches, and creative and groundbreaking NIL activities surrounding the games. The festival will introduce an entirely new structure for early-season tournaments, where every second of every game will matter, in an intensely competitive atmosphere. Beyond the competition on the court, Players Era Festival will feature financial planning and educational programming for participating student-athletes, with a charitable partner to be announced at a later date.
While the debut event for Players Era will be the 2024 tournament in Las Vegas, the broader initiative will expand to add future events with the goal of continuing to grow the game of college basketball and create a year-round focus on the sport. This will include additional content opportunities, including women’s basketball tournaments, offseason events, nonfiction content and merchandising opportunities.
About EverWonder Studio
EverWonder Studio is a best-in-class content studio and production company across Documentary, Live, Experiential and Brand Partnerships, led by multi-Emmy-winning Producer and executive Ian Orefice (TIME Studios) and backed by legendary media executive Jeff Zucker (CNN, NBCUniversal) and RedBird IMI. The studio’s focus is on nonfiction subjects with worldwide appeal, transforming them into entertainment that has purpose and impact, and then expanding those projects as businesses across platforms, screens, and experiences. With projects that span sports, culture, and global affairs, EverWonder creates meaningful entertainment that sparks the imaginations of people around the world.
In addition to its documentary programming, the studio has hired Michael Antinoro as its President, created the EverWonder Live division, and announced an investment in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour director Sam Wrench to launch a new production company Next of Kin Content. EverWonder is also teaming with Meadowlark Media on a documentary feature examining the dynamic relationship between tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and announced a partnership with Emma Cooper’s Empress Films to produce Who Killed Diana?, a three-part documentary series that will be the first project of a broader franchise.