October 16, 1997
The Texas A&M men's basketball team will conduct its first official practice on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The public is invited to attend.
The team will not have a "Midnight Madness" this year since the Texas A&M band will be in Manhattan, Kan., for the A&M-Kansas State football game. The team will play host to a similar event dubbed "Basketball Madness" on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 9 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"We've had a great pre-season," said coach Tony Barone, entering his seventh year at A&M. "Our players have really focused on their weight training and conditioning. Allen Kinley, our strength coach, has done a great job with our guys in terms of setting goals, Everybody always zeroes in on practice but the reality is that you get ready in the post-season and in the pre-season. The attitude has been outstanding. We're excited about getting on the court and seeing how much stronger and quicker we are as a basketball team."
A&M opens its exhibition season Nov. 13 when it plays host to North Melbourne at 7 p.m. at GRW. The regular season begins on Nov. 22 with a home game against Stephen F. Austin at 2:30 p.m. at GRW.
The Aggies welcome back four starters and eight lettermen from last year's team that finished 9-18 overall and 3-13 in Big 12 Conference play. The team lost five conference games in the final two seconds, including two in overtime. College Hoops Insider predicts the Aggies will make post-season play this season.
The team's lone seniors will be center/forwards Dario Quesada (6-9) and Larry Thompson (6-9), while the top returning scorers are junior forwards Calvin Davis (6-8) and Shanne Jones (6-5). Davis earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors last season after leading A&M in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (7.0).
Also returning are sophomore guards Jerald Brown (6-8), Brian Barone (6-0) and Steve Houston (6-1). Brown averaged 10.1 points per game last year and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year after making 54 three-point field goals. He is a pre-season second-team All-Big 12 pick by College Hoops Insider. Barone finished second in the league in assists-to-turnovers ratio.
A talented group of newcomers should provide the Aggies with plenty of depth with several players contributing immediately. Junior center Chris Richards (6-10), a transfer from TCU, fills a gap in the middle and sophomore forward Aaron Jack (6-8) will be eligible at mid-term after transferring from Penn State.
Junior guard Chris Clayton (6-3), a junior college transfer, is a long-range bomber who with Brown could form a strong outside scoring threat for the Aggies. Freshmen guards Michael Schmidt (6-5) and T.J. Brown (6-1) could also make an immediate impact.
Schmidt was rated as the top high school player in Canada last year and can play either point or shooting guard. Brown was rated as one of the top 10 prep point guards in the country last season by one recruiting service.