Rob Dockery's reclassification sees youngster in Aggieland a year early

The most recent addition to the 2023-24 Texas A&M men’s basketball roster is longtime 2024 verbal commitment Rob Dockery‍ out of Washington D.C.

Expected to sign his National Letter of Intent in November and join the basketball program next summer as a true freshman, Dockery recently reclassified and is now participating in team activities and workouts in preparation for the upcoming season.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman is currently rated as a four-star prospect in the 2024 class by most major services. Dockery is ranked No. 79 nationally by Rivals.com, No. 110 by 247Sports and No. 115 by ON3.

Two years ago, Dockery was a nationally unranked point guard known only by those in the DMV area, and he held no college offers. Between his freshman and sophomore campaigns, he hit a major growth spurt and went from a short, shifty point guard to a rangy 6-foot-6 athlete.

During his sophomore year, Dockery started receiving offers from smaller schools like Towson State, University of Maryland-Baltimore County and Howard University. It wasn’t until April of 2022 that he received his first Division I offer, and it came from Buzz Williams and Texas A&M’s coaching staff.

Shortly thereafter, Dockery’s hometown team Maryland extended an offer in July of 2022, which was then followed by a flurry of others, including LSU, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.

Texas A&M’s early offer and persistence paid off in a big way when Dockery made an early verbal commitment to the Aggies on Christmas Day last year.

The attention from some of the nation’s top schools comes from Dockery’s abilities in ball-handling and playmaking, which he developed through years of playing point guard and has now bundled into a long and dynamic frame.

He was named to the All-Metro First Team following the 2022-23 season and serves as the top 2024 recruiting prospect out of the fertile D.C. area.

It’s unique to have a young 6-foot-6 high school player who prefers to handle the ball, attack the basket and create opportunities for his teammates.

Dockery is still evolving as a player as he continues to grow into his body, and he will need to improve his outside shooting at the collegiate level. However, the decision was made that his development could evolve much quicker in Texas A&M’s program under the direction of Williams and surrounded by the Aggies’ experienced veterans.

He already had the credits to graduate, so he decided to forgo his last season of high school to move to College Station early.

This will be an important development for the basketball program.

The 2023-24 squad is a group with high expectations for this season. Seven players on the current roster are either seniors or graduate transfers.

The motivation to reclassify Dockery wasn’t to provide an immediate impact to a senior-laden and nationally-ranked squad.

This move allows the true freshman to ease into the program’s culture, further develop his skill set and be ready to hit the ground running next season after the Ags experience significant turnover.

In the era of the transfer portal, there’s a greater premium on acquiring players with experience and maturity who can contribute immediately.

Five years ago, the focus was on recruiting the most talented high school prospects, even if that meant they would have to spend a year on the bench as a secondary contributor.

In today’s college basketball world, you need players ready to contribute from day one.

In Texas A&M’s case, with so many returning seniors and an available spot on the roster courtesy of the COVID-19 rule that will be expiring soon, it made perfect sense to bring in a freshman like Dockery just to get acclimated this season.

A&M opens its season on Nov. 6 against Texas A&M-Commerce at Reed Arena before hitting the road to face Ohio State on Nov. 10.