With the 2024-25 season under a month away, here are some recent updates about Texas A&M basketball:

The 2024-25 roster is officially set:

Graduates:
No. 2 G Hayden Hefner
No. 4 G Wade Taylor IV
No. 10 G CJ Wilcher*
No. 15 F Henry Coleman III

Seniors:
No. 0 G Jace Carter
No. 1 G Zhuric Phelps*
No. 11 F Andersson Garcia
No. 35 G Manny Obaseki

Juniors:
No. 9 F Solomon Washington
No. 21 F Pharrel Payne*

Redshirt Sophomore:
No. 24 G/F Jaelyn Lee

Redshirt Freshman:
No. 3 G/F Rob Dockery

Freshmen:
No. 5 F George Turkson Jr.
No. 7 G Andre Mills
No. 14 F Chris McDermott
No. 18 F Janusz Ratowski

Transfer*

[url=https://12thman.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster][/url]https://12thman.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Team Bus One - 2024-2025

🔗https://t.co/XrulypJ6EP pic.twitter.com/9k0gun1XLb

— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) October 9, 2024

Tip times and TV network assignments will be announced tomorrow:

I expect a couple of Saturday primetime matchups at Reed Arena this season with the tu game on 1/4, the Alabama game on 1/11, the Arkansas game 2/15, and the Tennessee game on 2/22.

Source: The SEC will release its tip times and TV assignments for the 2024-25 college basketball season on Thursday.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 9, 2024

SEC Tipoff 25 is next Tuesday and Wednesday:

SEC Media Days are next week, and Olin and I will be in Birmingham, AL providing coverage for TexAgs. Each team is sending their head coach and two players with the men's teams speaking on Tuesday and the women's teams speaking on Wednesday. Buzz Williams is bringing veterans Andersson Garcia and Hayden Hefner, and Joni Taylor is bringing her two star players Lauren Ware and Aicha Coulibaly. Former Aggie Jaxson Robinson will also be in attendance with the Kentucky Wildcats.

🚨 Lineups are officially set for #SECTipoff25!

🗓️ Oct. 15-16
📍 Birmingham, Ala.

🏀 https://t.co/0jMJEiWqKf pic.twitter.com/fyhZJoXnSV

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) October 8, 2024

Gonna go talk some ball in Birmingham 🫡#GigEm | @SEC pic.twitter.com/EyRkhHAR6U

— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) October 8, 2024

You can purchase season tickets here:

[url=https://12thman.com/feature/basketball-tickets?sidearmRedirect=true][/url]https://12thman.com/feature/basketball-tickets?sidearmRedirect=true

The wait is almost over.

Secure your season tickets now and catch every moment on the court!

🎟️🔗: https://t.co/zVk3g7BodN https://t.co/8UlaGIL4fR

— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) October 8, 2024

I think we need to shift our language on player classification and just go by how many potential years they have left.

Interesting that Taylor has graduated when he's a true four-year player compared to Hefner, Coleman, Garcia and Wilcher who are in their fifth year.

But all of those guys are done after this year.

bobinator said:

---

I think we need to shift our language on player classification and just go by how many potential years they have left.

Interesting that Taylor has graduated when he's a true four-year player compared to Hefner, Coleman, Garcia and Wilcher who are in their fifth year.

But all of those guys are done after this year.

---

I agree, classifications are getting confusing. Wade is technically in his senior season but he graduated early last year because he wanted his degree before he left and probably originally planned to go pro after last season and three years in college. Either way, regardless of his classification, I'm glad he's back.

Yeah absolutely. And it's really impressive he's already graduated.

I can't wait to see what he does this season. Gonna make a run at GOAT status here.

Wade continues to be super impressive in everything he does. Graduating in three years is awesome. With another great year this season (a potential third 1st team all-SEC), he should get his #4 hanging up there next to Acie Law's #1.

greg.w.h said:

---

Thanks Luke. Will you be writing the Acts of Aggie Basketball all season?

---

Yes!

bobinator said:

---

I think we need to shift our language on player classification and just go by how many potential years they have left.

Interesting that Taylor has graduated when he's a true four-year player compared to Hefner, Coleman, Garcia and Wilcher who are in their fifth year.

But all of those guys are done after this year.

---

instead of classification, I prefer the subjective thought of damn he's still on the team

New system:

"He must be new" - can be anyone from a freshman to a grad transfer
"I remember him from last year - "Sophs to seniors who didn't play much early on"
"He's STILL here?!" - four year contributors

I've been saying he's still here about Hefner for about 3 years

can you keep Olin from writing any embarrassing articles this season?

taylorswift13_ said:

---

I've been saying he's still here about Hefner for about 3 years

---

I think the question everyone has been asking is WHY is he still here?

to me this seems like our most diverse talented team we have had under buzz and probably the most talented team overall since the tyler davis led sweet 16 team from about 10 years ago. what i like is this team will be ten times tougher.

I think whether or not this team truly ranks up their with our best will depend on how much of a scorer Payne can be and how good of a passer Phelps is.

Last year's team was dependent on three point shooting in part because we didn't have independent scoring threats in the paint. By independent I mean players that can create quality scoring opportunities on their own. Garcia, Coleman and Washington can all score in the paint to varying degrees, but they need some external factors to get them a good look, whether that's it being an open basket off a rebound, a guard drawing out a post on a double team or whatever else, they're what I call dependent scorers.

We were also limited because Taylor was the only player who could pass most of the season. We made 926 field goals last season, Taylor either scored or assisted 39% of them. (His assist numbers are really incredible when you consider how terrible the rest of the team was at shooting threes.)

We were at our best when another player was also a passing threat. Boots had 9 games where he had four or more assists, we were 7-2 in those games (these included both Kentucky games, the Tennessee game and the Houston NCAAT game so they weren't just against trash teams). Manny only had more than two assists twice, both also games we won (Kentucky in the SECT and @Ole Miss.)

So if Phelps can be that guy and Payne can score in the paint enough that defenses have to worry about it then we're going to really have something.

Hates prime numbers

Because he's only gonna have 9 fouls a game this year

The Marksman said:

---

Any particular reason Solo has switched from #13 to #9?

---

After doing some research, I believe it's to honor where he's from. Solo is from the ninth ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. His high school, George Washington Carver is located right in the heart of northern New Orleans, which is in the 9th ward. I did some investigating in his instagram comments and it confirmed that him and his friends refer to where they're from as "the 9".

LukeEvangelist said:

---

The Marksman said:

---

Any particular reason Solo has switched from #13 to #9?

---

After doing some research, I believe it's to honor where he's from. Solo is from the ninth ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. His high school, George Washington Carver is located right in the heart of northern New Orleans, which is in the 9th ward. I did some investigating in his instagram comments and it confirmed that him and his friends refer to where they're from as "the 9".

---

That makes a lot of sense and is very cool. Thanks for digging up an answer!

LukeEvangelist said:

---

The Marksman said:

---

Any particular reason Solo has switched from #13 to #9?

---

After doing some research, I believe it's to honor where he's from. Solo is from the ninth ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. His high school, George Washington Carver is located right in the heart of northern New Orleans, which is in the 9th ward. I did some investigating in his instagram comments and it confirmed that him and his friends refer to where they're from as "the 9".

---

This is legit the best hoops related basketball reporting in recent memory on TexAgs. Between you and Travis Brown we might be onto something on the beat.

BuzzFan24 said:

---

What's the chances Solo stands out as a NBA prospect this year? Not talking lottery of course, but just a guy that could show up on some draft boards as a potential 2nd rounder.

---

I'm by no means an NBA scout, but strictly looking at his size, unreal athleticism, defensive ability, and the intensity he plays with, I wouldn't rule that out. Athletically, we know he can compete with just about anyone, but if you see him take the next step offensively into a more reliable scoring option and be more disciplined (no stupid techs please) while keeping that level of intensity, he should get some looks at the next level. He's the most physically gifted player A&M has on their roster, just need him to put all the pieces together.

Yeah he's gotta fix that shot of his. That's the difference between him being a real NBA prospect or not, it's really that simple I think because he's not tall enough to just live on his athleticism like Williams or Jordan were.

At his height he absolutely has to be a threat to shoot at the next level.

bobinator said:

---

You think Rodman gets drafted in the modern NBA?

---

Yes. NBA loves great defenders. They draft them and hope they can teach them to make open threes.

Wasn't that BuzzFan's question in the first place?