Texas A&M's Buzz Williams Named SEC Co-Coach Of The Year
Sometimes the right "buzz" can do wonders for a program in time.
Texas A&M men's basketball coach Buzz Williams and guards Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece "Boots" Radford were recognized in the SEC awards that were announced Monday. Williams shared SEC Coach of the Year honors with Vanderbilt’s Jerry Stackhouse.
Taylor was named an All-SEC first-team guard, while Radford was named to the second team.
Williams, who also won SEC Coach of the Year in 2020 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, catapulted one of the biggest turnarounds in program history. After starting the season off 6-5 in non-conference play, with losses to Murray State and Wofford, the Aggies went 15-3 in conference play, finishing second behind No. 2 Alabama.
Since Christmas, A&M has gone 17-3, with six Quadrant I wins, including victories over Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama. Their 15 conference victories are their most in 100 years, matching the A&M 1922-23 team from the Southwest Conference.
“We’ve had a bunch of ups and downs,” Taylor said of the season following A&M's 67-61 win over Alabama Saturday. “Nobody thought we would be in this position that we are in today. This team is very resilient. We stayed together throughout this whole process. We are not done.”
Taylor served as the offensive catalyst for A&M in conference play. The sophomore averaged a team-high 16.3 points per game. He currently leads the conference in free-throw percentage (86.9 percent) and free throws made (152).
Taylor scored 20 points or more in nine contests this season. He also finished second in minutes (28.4 mpg) and 3-point percentage (36.5)
Radford leads A&M in minutes (30.9 mpg), and ranks second in points (13.3). Radford and Taylor have been one of the conference's better duos, combining to average 29.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game.
The No. 18 Aggies (23-8, 15-3 SEC) will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the SEC Tournament this week at Bridgestone Arena. As the No. 2 seed, A&M will receive a double-bye and will face the winner of No. 7-seed Auburn vs. No. 10-seed Arkansas on Friday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
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