Texas A&M Basketball

Tipoff to 2023-24 season is just around the corner for Texas A&M

By David Sandhop

October 20, 2023

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With Southeastern Conference Basketball Media Days now in the books, that means we’re about to tip-off the 2023-2024 basketball campaign.

Buzz Williams & Co. will open the season on Nov. 6 at Reed Arena against Texas A&M-Commerce.

With the season on the horizon, one thing is certain: TexAgs will, once again, provide the most comprehensive coverage and analysis of the Aggies on the hardwood.

Thoughts From Media Days

Buzz Williams, Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford represented Texas A&M basketball and faced the press in Nashville this past Wednesday to discuss the upcoming season.

Olin Buchanan attended the SEC Media Days festivities and I’m sure you’ve read his exclusive content on the site this week.

I’m not going to rehash the specific details, but I wanted to add a few takeaways from what I heard from the group on Wednesday.

A big topic of discussion was Taylor’s selection as the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year and the turning point in his sophomore season that led to these preseason accolades. Williams hit on Taylor’s increased free throw production and his reduced turnovers as a major factor for his improved play in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign.

“He began to get fouled at a very high clip and his turnover rate continued to decrease over time,” Williams said. “I think these two things were intertwined.”

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Taylor was just one of three players nationally with at least 500 points, 125 assists and 50 steals while shooting 85 percent or better from the line in 2022-23.

The numbers clearly bear this out. Taylor became a free throw machine. He attempted the second-most free throws in the SEC (197) and made more shots (173) from the charity stripe than any other player in the league, and it wasn’t really close. He also led the SEC in free throw percentage at 87.5 percent. The ability to force opponents to foul, get to the line and make free throws is one of the single biggest components of success from a ball-handling guard.

That type of production is a game-changer, and we saw that first-hand last season.

A&M’s free throw story doesn’t stop there.

Radford was also one of the most prolific free throw shooters in the SEC, finishing third in free throws made (148). That’s A&M’s returning one-two punch at guard, and that’s a good reason why so many pundits are high on the Aggies.

That carried over to the team as a whole, where the Aggies dominated the SEC with a whopping 872 attempts from the charity stripe and making 75.9 percent of those shots. Both were tops in the conference. By comparison, second-place Alabama took just 777 free shots.

To show just how significant these numbers are, A&M made (not shot) 326 more free throws than South Carolina last year.

Just remember, 88 percent of last year’s offensive production returns for the Aggies this season.

So these advantages should only increase with an extra year of experience.

One Caveat to Next Year’s Free Throw Production

It must be noted that the NCAA is making what might be a very significant change to how referees interpret what constitutes a charge call in 2023-24.

Without going into too many specifics, the new interpretation states that a defender must be set when an offensive player’s plant foot hits the floor.

The NCAA is trying to eliminate the practice of sliding under an airborne offensive player to draw a charge. In a surprising comment this week from the coordinator of Big 12 officials Curtis Shaw, he indicated that over 95 percent of charge calls last year in the Big 12 would be considered a blocking foul on the defender this season based on the interpretation of newly written rules.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Before officially opening the season, Texas A&M will face Texas Tech in a charity exhibition in Denton on Oct. 29.

Now that was an eye-opener. Something will have to give early in the non-conference season as both coaches and referees will look for common ground and find a workable compromise here.

Considering that A&M’s defensive culture is built around drawing offensive charges from opponents, that does leave some question marks.

How will that affect how the Aggies play defense?

Will the NCAA actually enforce these changes, or is this just another offseason talking point that goes by the wayside after a few games?

I’m referring to the NCAA’s proclaimed emphasis on defensive hand-checking a few years ago.

Yeah, that didn’t last long.

But I bring this up not because the new rule could have a negative impact on A&M’s style of play defensively, but it could also create a huge opportunity for two veteran guards already near the top of free throw production in the SEC.

Anyway, you’ll be hearing a lot about charge calls in the weeks and months going forward.

Offseason Coverage Summary

As we enter official preseason basketball coverage, I want to repost several articles from my weekly summer basketball series. TexAgs published articles spotlighting top players on the roster, an analysis of what to expect this upcoming season and a review regarding the team’s Bahamas tour back in August.

This will provide a good start in getting you ready for what looks to be a very interesting 2023-24 season in Aggieland.

Player spotlights

Wade Taylor IV
Tyrece “Boots” Radford
Manny Obaseki
Henry Coleman III
Julius Marble II
Andersson Garcia
Solomon Washington
Jace Carter, Eli Lawrence and Wildens Leveque
Rob Dockery