I’ll be pretty brutally honest here. The Texas A&M roster is not the most inspiring compared to some of the other rosters you may see on this list. However, they have four essential components that are the hallmark of any college basketball team that makes its way into March. They’ve got continuity, experience, great guard play, and great coaching. Year in and year out, Buzz Williams has these guys ready to play and grind out wins, and this year is no exception. Given the constant roster turnover in Division 1, what Williams has been able to do throughout the past few seasons is nothing short of admirable. The Aggies have eight returners from last season’s Round of 32 squad. Of those eight returners, six were on the Aggie squad that lost to Penn State in the 2022 Round of 64. At this rate, they’re a shoo-in for the Sweet 16 based on incremental progress. It might be hard-pressed to see the Aggies make a deep run into the Elite 8 or Final Four unless a few key players take some leaps. That being said, this team will be tough to play against and is capable of beating virtually any team in the country with their slow, suffocating style. As I’ve discussed, they’ve got a core of players who embody that style, so on that note, let’s get to the roster.

Buzz loves having an experienced backcourt, embracing guards who can slow the game down, facilitate, and hit big shots when the shot clock runs down. We’ve seen the likes of Tyrese Radford and Dexter Dennis in the past, but now Wade Taylor IV is finally the main attraction. Although Taylor may not be particularly efficient (36.6% from the field, 32.5% from 3), he’s the go-to guy for the Aggies and generally takes good care of the ball (4.0 Assists to only 2.8 turnovers per game on heavy usage). He’s once again paired alongside plenty of experience. A&M didn’t dip too heavily into the transfer portal, but they did pad their backcourt with a pair of experienced guards to provide more of a scoring punch and take some of the pressure off Taylor. The first one is the likely sidekick alongside Taylor in Zhuric Phelps. Phelps is much more of a downhill, attack-the-basket-guard who can put more rim pressure on defenses and hopefully give Taylor more freedom to roam on the perimeter. They also brought in veteran backup CJ Wilcher. It’s likely Wilcher sees his minutes coming off the bench, but he can provide some more spacing as a 39% shooter coming from Nebraska. Returners Manny Obaseki, Jace Carter,  and Hayden Hefner. The group of guards, all between 6’4 and 6’7, averaged a combined ten rebounds per game. It’s expected that Phelps, Wilcher, and Taylor will take the shots while the others attack the glass and create defensive havoc. The Aggies do have a few incoming freshmen in backcourt positions as well. Rob Dockery is returning from a redshirt season, and newcomers George Turk and Andre Mills will need to fight to see minutes in a packed A&M rotation. 

Speaking of that packed A&M rotation, the frontcourt features more returners and an immense amount of rebounding. Henry Coleman, Solomon Washington, and Andersson Garcia terrorized the offensive glass for Buzz Williams last season. The Aggies love crashing the glass on both ends. Although I mentioned the guard rebounding numbers, it’s the forwards who create a majority of extra opportunities for A&M. Coleman tends to shore up the middle of the paint, receiving a majority of the post touches, but Garcia and Washington love to crash the glass from the wings and finish plays. Pharrel Payne is another name who could provide extra rim protection off the bench coming over from Minnesota. The transfer averaged over a block per game and is now the second-tallest player on the roster at 6’9. The honor of tallest player on the roster goes to Polish freshman Janusz Ratkowski, who is unlikely to play, given Williams’ tendency to lean on returners, but deserves a mention in case A&M needs a larger presence. 

There may not be a ton of NBA potential on this roster, which caused me personally to rank A&M lower than the consensus on the 6 Month Madness. However, there have been plenty of years where this A&M roster plays better on the court than it does on paper, and it’s likely that this year is no exception. Buzz Williams has built sustainability and continuity over these last three seasons, with an NIT final run in 2022, followed by back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. It looks like Buzz is figuring it out in College Station, and the Aggies are going to hope to grit and grind their way to more postseason success.