Aggies look to take another step in second season under coach Bucky McMillan

Coach Bucky McMillan led the Aggies to a surprising NCAA Tournament berth in his first season after taking over when Buzz Williams left for Maryland. It was the fourth straight trip to the tournament for Texas A&M and the third consecutive time the team lost in the second round. The Aggies are predicted to be in the bottom half of the SEC in the preseason media poll, but McMillan’s team overperformed last season and could be even better this year.

Guard P.J. Haggerty, who is playing at his fifth school, is expected to lead the Aggies. He spent last season at Kansas State where he averaged 23.4 points after averaging 21.7 in 2024-25 for Memphis. He averaged 21.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in a career that began at TCU and included a year at Tulsa. The Aggies are also looking for forward Mackenzie Mgbako to have a big impact this season after a fractured foot limited him to seven games last season after two seasons at Indiana. The 2023 McDonald’s All-American started 64 games in his two seasons with the Hoosiers and averaged 12.2 points a game.

The Aggies have nine new players this season thanks to seven transfers and two incoming freshmen. Along with Haggerty and Mgbako, Texas A&M also added guard Jordan Pope, who joins the team after spending the last two years playing for the Longhorns where he averaged 13.1 points a game. The most notable departure is Rashaun Agee, who led the team with 14.6 points and 8.7 rebounds in his last year of eligibility. Also gone is guard Pop Isaacs, who transferred to Oklahoma State after averaging 9.8 points last season.

The Aggies open the season on Nov. 2 against Alabama State. They travel to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament where they’ll face Xavier on Nov. 25 and Marquette on Nov. 27. Texas A&M meets Florida State on Dec. 12 in Houston. They open SEC play on Jan. 2 at home against Auburn and get a visit from No. 12 Arkansas Jan. 12. They wrap up the regular season at home with a visit from rival No. 7 Texas on March 6.

The Aggies have won at least 21 games in each of the last five seasons. … Their current streak of NCAA tournament appearances is their longest since making six consecutive trips from 2006-11. … Texas A&M ranked 13th in the nation last season by averaging 86.1 points a game with McMillan’s high-octane Bucky Ball system. … The Aggies had a great assist to turnover ratio, ranking 24th in the country at 1.64. … They have three players on their team who are 6-foot-11 in Zach Clemence, Josh Irving and Jamie Vinson.

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