Texas A&M Basketball Turns Eyes To Nashville For SEC Tournament

It’s Tournament week, and the stage is set.

Texas A&M will be the No. 6 seed heading into Thursday, awaiting its opponent. Either it’s Oklahoma or South Carolina.

One of those programs will look to knock off the Aggies come Thursday afternoon, but head coach Bucky McMillan and Co. have no preference on who they take on. Just winning.

“We got to go in and do our job,” Agee said. “I just want to win.”

Coach and Player Mindsets

Not every month or every week does an opportunity like the SEC Tournament come along, so the team is taking it day by day with the goal of bringing home the trophy.

“Obviously, that’s what you’re playing for when you go up there, but we want to bring one home every year,” McMillan said. “I would like to bring home a regular season and in the tournament, and just bring home an NCAA one too. Get all three of them.”

That’s the mentality the Aggies’ program has had all season, especially with the next several weeks being a huge piece in achieving their goals, where legends can be made.

It’s not the first time that McMillan has been to the SEC Tournament, and it isn’t the first time he’ll take a team to the NCAA Tournament, but he remembers the memories that he has made over the years.

“I’ve gone to this tournament so many times,” McMillan said. “I’ve got so many stories from just watching coaches, sitting behind the bench when I was younger, some from coaches we may play. I know the vibe of it, we’re looking forward to it.”

For Rylan Griffen, it isn’t his first parade either, but it will be his last one as a senior, and he acknowledged that it would be his last time on a college floor to play in a conference tournament, so he wants to make the most of it in his final season.

“If we get to the tournament and do something special, it’s something we can remember and be remembered for,” Griffen said. “It’s Bucky’s first team, and for all the things we’ve overcome, it’s bigger than just us; it’s for the program.”

Chicago native Rashaun Agee also knows this is his last time to go out there and mentioned that he would never have envisioned this happening a year ago before coming to A&M.

“I told my family when I first got into basketball, my dream school was always SC, but this is a wonderful university,” Agee said. “I love being here. I love being a part of this. Just seeing this atmosphere and just being a part of this was great, and I’m grateful for this opportunity.”

Now that the regular season has wrapped up, coming off two strong wins, it’s kept the Maroon and White off the bubble with having to play for its tournament lives. The urgency, though, for bigger and better things is the next step of this journey, and it starts soon.

“I think the way we ended the season, we aren’t going out there with the weight of the world on our shoulders, so our players should be able to go out there and play loose, and that’s what you’re going to have to do,” McMillan said.