Texas A&M Basketball
“In late April or early May of my senior year was when I committed to A&M. It was very late. There was only one school looking at me prior to the start of my senior year and that was Liberty University. They actually pulled back too near the end of the season, so I basically had no offers on the table. I really thought I would have to go the JUCO route to play. My AAU coach told me, 'You come play spring ball with us.' So I went and played two tournaments and played my butt off and it was a blessing that Coach Gillispie and Coach Turgeon at Wichita State at the time and Miami reached out to me. Of course, I stayed home and went to A&M and I believe it was the right choice.”
“I think my high school coaches did a good job of preparing me for Gillispie's style. They emphasized a lot of defense and having full range in my game. I learned how to translate that when I got to A&M. I knew I wasn’t going to be “The Guy” that made all the plays but I knew there was a different style that I could play. Coach Gillispie did a good job of giving me range to go play defense on the other team's best player.”
“2005 was the first year of our program to make the postseason in a long time. The NIT at Reed was a great atmosphere. Of course, you’re main goal is to make the NCAA tournament, everybody knows that, but it was an important stepping stone for us.”
“The early days under Gillispie were tough, it wasn’t easy by any stretch. Once we realized we were winning games, I know we weren’t playing the best competition at the time but we were winning by 30-40 points and we were starting to buy in a little more. Then, when we played Penn State in our first true road game, we came back and won that game. Our first conference game was on the road at Kansas and we shocked the world by only losing by five. That was the turning point.”
"I had the responsibility of guarding the other team's best player for three and a half years. It is probably the hardest task on defense because they’re the best for a reason. When I was guarding those players, I tried not to let my emotions show. I knew my assignment and what I had to do. There were times I got angry when I didn’t do the correct thing, but you have to move on to the next play. I trained myself where I felt like I was a robot and I would go out there, go through it and keep playing. That is what my team needed me to do, so I did it.”
“Coach told us before the Big 12 started that this nine game stretch would be tough but if we could get through it, we’d be alright. I think we went 3-6 and everyone wrote us off. We had a team meeting and all the captains told us, 'Let’s win out.' That started with Colorado. I was very focused and in tune that game. I was just ready to shoot the ball. We went on to Oklahoma State and then Joe hit a game winner and of course Acie hit the shot to beat Texas. Everything was just falling in place. To go from 3-6 and being written off to winning seven in a row in the Big 12 was special.”
“My memories of playing Syracuse are great. We didn’t complain and hearing that Gerry McNamara didn't know about us ... He should have prepared himself a little better. We were watching the film and Syracuse looked like the best team in the country. Coach put together great films and we had everything from top to bottom. Our scout team played Syracuse better than Syracuse at the time. They played it so well to the point that we were so focused and Syracuse struggled with us defensively. We were clicking on all cylinders and they had a hard time with the pace of the ball and the way we moved the ball. That day we spread the floor out and it was remarkable to be in that environment.”
Aggie Flashback: Part I with former basketball player Dominique Kirk
Key quotes from Dominique Kirk interview
“I’m very excited about this recruiting class. I did get to see the guys from Plano West play this year, D.J. (Hogg) and Tyler (Davis), but I didn’t get to see Elijah (Thomas) or Admon (Gilder). Those kids are very talented and I’m excited about next year. Hopefully it will change the culture around there. I know Kennedy has been changing it from year one to year four, but I think this recruiting class will be big.”“In late April or early May of my senior year was when I committed to A&M. It was very late. There was only one school looking at me prior to the start of my senior year and that was Liberty University. They actually pulled back too near the end of the season, so I basically had no offers on the table. I really thought I would have to go the JUCO route to play. My AAU coach told me, 'You come play spring ball with us.' So I went and played two tournaments and played my butt off and it was a blessing that Coach Gillispie and Coach Turgeon at Wichita State at the time and Miami reached out to me. Of course, I stayed home and went to A&M and I believe it was the right choice.”
“I think my high school coaches did a good job of preparing me for Gillispie's style. They emphasized a lot of defense and having full range in my game. I learned how to translate that when I got to A&M. I knew I wasn’t going to be “The Guy” that made all the plays but I knew there was a different style that I could play. Coach Gillispie did a good job of giving me range to go play defense on the other team's best player.”
“2005 was the first year of our program to make the postseason in a long time. The NIT at Reed was a great atmosphere. Of course, you’re main goal is to make the NCAA tournament, everybody knows that, but it was an important stepping stone for us.”
“The early days under Gillispie were tough, it wasn’t easy by any stretch. Once we realized we were winning games, I know we weren’t playing the best competition at the time but we were winning by 30-40 points and we were starting to buy in a little more. Then, when we played Penn State in our first true road game, we came back and won that game. Our first conference game was on the road at Kansas and we shocked the world by only losing by five. That was the turning point.”
"I had the responsibility of guarding the other team's best player for three and a half years. It is probably the hardest task on defense because they’re the best for a reason. When I was guarding those players, I tried not to let my emotions show. I knew my assignment and what I had to do. There were times I got angry when I didn’t do the correct thing, but you have to move on to the next play. I trained myself where I felt like I was a robot and I would go out there, go through it and keep playing. That is what my team needed me to do, so I did it.”
“Coach told us before the Big 12 started that this nine game stretch would be tough but if we could get through it, we’d be alright. I think we went 3-6 and everyone wrote us off. We had a team meeting and all the captains told us, 'Let’s win out.' That started with Colorado. I was very focused and in tune that game. I was just ready to shoot the ball. We went on to Oklahoma State and then Joe hit a game winner and of course Acie hit the shot to beat Texas. Everything was just falling in place. To go from 3-6 and being written off to winning seven in a row in the Big 12 was special.”
“My memories of playing Syracuse are great. We didn’t complain and hearing that Gerry McNamara didn't know about us ... He should have prepared himself a little better. We were watching the film and Syracuse looked like the best team in the country. Coach put together great films and we had everything from top to bottom. Our scout team played Syracuse better than Syracuse at the time. They played it so well to the point that we were so focused and Syracuse struggled with us defensively. We were clicking on all cylinders and they had a hard time with the pace of the ball and the way we moved the ball. That day we spread the floor out and it was remarkable to be in that environment.”
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