Williams & Co. are just one week away from opening 2023-24 campaign

Fightin' Texas Aggie basketball is officially back this week as Buzz Williams and Co. begin their 2023-34 campaign against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday. The head coach joined TexAgs Radio to discuss A&M's exhibition game against Texas Tech, his preseason thoughts and more.

Key notes from Buzz Williams interview

• Any time we can raise money for charity, that is a priority. The last two weekends have been great. We played Baylor a week ago in what was supposed to be a secret scrimmage. We played at North Texas against Texas Tech on Sunday, and it was a road environment. We lost by five. There are so many lessons learned from both games. What we learned from Baylor, we were better in doing those things against Tech. What we didn't do well is staring at us in the face. We are ahead of schedule in terms of what is ahead of us. Not everything will go well. How do you handle the good and bad? The last two weeks have been good for our program.
   
• Everyone talks about the returners, and it's a special thing because it's hard to do that. We play five games in November, and five of our first eight are not at Reed Arena. We have opportunities coming up. We are foolish as a staff if we don't practice situations that could happen over the next 30-45 days. We have to do those things to be successful.
   
• Henry Coleman III's weight fluctuates more than any offensive lineman playing in the NFL. He is our most vocal player and plays with a high IQ. He anchors us a lot because he will do right and make his teammates do right. He is best at putting pressure on the rim because of his size, strength and athleticism. We were tremendous on the glass yesterday. Saturday against Baylor, we were awful. Coleman is important to what we are doing on the boards.
   
• Tyrece Radford is a Swiss army knife, and he is hard to take off the floor. “Boots” isn't elite in any part of his game, but there is no part where he is bad. He is really good at helping his team win. He is vital to what we are doing. When he doesn't play well, A&M will not be nearly as effective.
   
• Wade Taylor IV's turnover rate is critical. We lost yesterday because of turnovers, and a lot of them were live-ball. Taylor only had one turnover, but our team rate was so high. It's important that he plays with a low turnover rate.
   
• Taylor is such a dynamic player. We need his scoring, but we need the other four guys to know our team will get a shot. When we don't get a shot, we aren't putting ourselves in a good position on the offensive glass. We have a higher ratio of good things happening if we get a shot on the rim. Taylor is a great defensive rebounder, but he is also all over the floor.
   
• I tell our guys all the time: Do you think your mom is listening when I talk in public? Everybody is always listening. I always tell the truth. Everybody wants to talk to you after an emotional three-hour ringer. I have to improve there. I have to have emotions but can't be emotional.
   
• Kenny Chesney was texting me this summer and asked if I would be a guest DJ on No Shoes Nation. He wanted me to do it before the season started. He sent his people to me. It was really fun. I have never been a DJ. I picked 16 songs, three to four of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs and said what I wanted to say about them. I was stiff and a little anxious the first three of four songs, and then I got the vibe. If I am not able to coach, maybe I can get an AM station radio job. Chesney said he would text me when they released it. They have done it with 60 different people.
   
• I could host TexAgs Radio for an hour and get some pretty good guests.