AggieYell Mailbag
It’s Thursday night, and you know what that means: it’s Mailbag time!
Q: Most Impressive coaching performances across A&M sports. (lots of candidates: tennis, track, Volleyball, basketball, football)
– Top 5
- Bottom 3 (Richard23)
A: This is a really good question. I may step on some toes on this one, but let’s give it a go.
Top 5: Volleyball, Football, Women’s Tennis, Track & Field and men’s basketball.
Bottom 3: Women’s basketball, baseball (though that’s coming around this year), and I guess swimming and diving.
I kind of feel bad leaving off softball, but the rest were either in the playoffs, national champions or conference champions save basketball, and Bucky may have done the most impressive job of them all.
Q: We’re all mostly aware of the timing challenges that Bucky faced with the transfer portal last year, and the results this season have exceeded most people’s expectations. What can we expect from the portal this cycle now that Bucky’s got a year under his belt to prove his system to the top transfer recruits? Do you think Aggieland with Buckyball would be a desirable destination for players? (RoosterTAMU)
A: Bucky already has some big names seriously looking at the program, something Buzz Williams never managed to do here (but is at Maryland, which makes me wonder if effort was an issue). I think transfers looking to establish themselves as NBA-level scorers will certainly be interested. This is a fun style of play, and now that we’ve seen it can work, bigger names will probably want to be a part of it.
Q: 1. Say there are 5 teams that finish 11-7 in conference (Basketball). How do they determine who gets what seed in the SEC tourney. The way I understand it, is there are 8 byes (Top 8).
A: Right now, A&M is seventh because they lost to both Missouri and Vanderbilt, who have identical 10-7 records. So, if you’re A&M, you have to beat LSU and then hope Tennessee beats Vandy and Arkansas beats Mizzou. That’ll get free up the logjam and get A&M to fifth.
2. How many players does Bucky have that will either be back next year or committed. Or, are there open spots he has to fill?
As it stands now (and I’m anticipating a couple of waivers to be approved by the NCAA), the following players could return (I’m not taking anything for granted anymore):
2026 commit Josh Irving
So that’s 12. Until this year, that meant A&M had one scholarship to play with in the portal, but now they have three. Also, I think there are a couple of players on this list who may move on (and you can probably take a guess at who they are).
3. Spring ball starts soon, is Marcel already throwing on his own somewhere? What’s he doing to get ready?
He’s been throwing. The team has been doing conditioning stuff, so he can throw when that’s done.
4. Rank what Marcel needs to improve on in order;
1. Footwork
2. Accuracy
3. Going through his progressions, decision-making, knowing when to run, etc.
4. Confidence
5. Anything else I might have missed as I’m not a QB whisperer. (Trip despiser)
You didn’t mention consistency in his throwing motion, so I’ll add that as 5. I think 5 and 1 cause 2, so I’ll drop it.
4, 5, 1, 3.
Q: Chances Joni Taylor get’s fired (Chickennuggett66677)
A: I think the late season run saves her, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she got the gate. To make up all that ground just to bust in the first round of the SEC Tournament leaves a bitter feeling.
Q: How many days after 2025 basketball portal opened was Bucky hired?
The portal opened on March 24, and Bucky was hired April 5.
Are you able to determine what numerical position was each current A&M roster player signed in the portal
for ex: first, second etc portal players sign
Jacari Lane signed first, then Zach Clemence, then McKenzie Mgbako, then Josh Holloway, then Jamie Vinson and Marcus Hill. Rylan Griffen and Federiko Federiko followed, then Rashaun Agee, then Pop Isaacs, then Ruben Dominguez, then Ali Dibba when training camp was already underway.
How far down the list from day 1 of the portal was our team created?
Only three of the players A&M signed were in the top 300, and if I remember right, it was Mgbako, Isaacs and Hill.
Bottom line, Bucky hired late, so our roster signed late and were not necessarily highly desired or just waited? (Geb)
That’s exactly right.
Q: We really didn’t get to see Mgbako get comfortable playing after his first early injury. We keep hearing he’s our best player. So what’s he like on the court? Who does he compare to on the team currently? What would his role have been/will be next season?
A: Mgbako would have likely been the “center” on this team, even though he’s not really a center. He’s tall at 6-foot-9, but has a strong outside game and, when he’s feeling it, can take you off the dribble as well. He probably would have rotated in with Agee, Clemence and either Federiko or Vinson. He and Agee would have had the majority of minutes, though.
Has anyone asked Bucky what’s up with benching Lane? Seems to have worked well! Any idea if it was a 1 game matchup thing or if he’s just been surpassed by guys who can score and we’re just going to see less of him the remaining games? (Eyecutter98)
Yeah, Alex Miller of the Eagle asked him and it was clearly a coach’s decision. Bucky wasn’t going to get into specifics, but Lane didn’t do anything wrong. I think he felt like the offense had stagnated and they needed to shake things up.
Q: With the LA Summer Olympics <2 years away are any Aggie T&F athletes poised to make the team? (H273)
A: It’s still pretty early, but I expect Aggies to be on several Olympic teams, the U.S. included. We’ll likely see one for Russia, one for Kenya, and heptathlete Blake Davis, hurdler Ja’Qualon Scott and long jumper Morgan Davis for the U.S.
Q: Best places to go on vacation? (Dpowerofwill)
A: I’ve been around, but I haven’t been everywhere. I can just give you some ideas. If you just like peaceful and beautiful surroundings, Flagstaff Arizona and the Tennessee Smokies come to mind. Pigeon Force grates on me (which I can’t say to my in-laws, they love it), but if you get a cabin away from everything, it’s fantastic. If you like history, you can bounce between Savannah and Charleston easily and it’s great. I like historical stuff, so places like Gettysburg and Williamsburg (along with Yorktown) I enjoy. If you want to go somewhere tropical without a passport, I enjoyed San Juan immensely.
If you want to go overseas, I’m not big on England. I do love visiting Germany, Switzerland and Austria, because there’s some of the prettiest terrain in the world there. The most beautiful place I’ve ever been is St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut in Austria. I would love to go back.
