2004-05 Aggie Basketball Notebook

Lone Star-Studded Roster

When he began looking for a head basketball coach last March, Texas A&M Director of Athletics Bill Byrne said he wanted someone with Texas ties to help the Aggies attract some of the state's homegrown talent. Last year, only four players on the roster were from Texas, including a pair of non-scholarship players. This season, 10 of the 15 players on the roster are products of Texas High Schools. Only twice in the previous 26 seasons has A&M had more Texas players - in 1996-97 under Tony Barone, and in 1978-79 under Shelby Metcalf.

More Texas Ties

Billy Gillipsie is the first native Texan (Graford) to serve as A&M's head basketball coach since J.B. Reid (1929-35), not including John Thornton (San Antonio), who was interim head coach for just 12 games in 1989-90. Reid was from Woodville. In addition, Gillispie hired two Texas natives as assistant coaches - Alvin Brooks (Houston) and Buzz Williams (Van Alystyne). The last Texan to be an assistant at A&M was Thornton (1981-90). The last time A&M has two full-time assistant coaches from Texas was in 1981-82, when Thornton joined Barry Davis (Galveston) on Shelby Metcalf's staff. Thornton is now the senior associate athletic director at A&M.

What Positions?

Billy Gillispie has chosen not to list player positions on the roster. "Our players play so many positions that it's really not accurate to designate someone as a guard or forward anymore, so we decided not to do it," Gillispie said.

Winning Formula

Tulsa won Western Athletic Conference titles in 1999 and 2000, Illinois won Big Ten crowns in 2001 and 2002, and UTEP won the WAC in 2004. What is the common thread among these five championships at three different schools in the last six years? Billy Gillipsie was an assistant coach at Tulsa and Illinois and was the head coach at UTEP. Not many coaches have earned five conference championship rings in the last six years.

Don't Pack Your Bags

Reed Arena will host a school-record 18 home games in 2004-05, including a record 10 straight to open the season.

The Aggies will play a school-record 18 home games this season, including a record 10 straight to open the season. That doesn't even include two exhibition games, which gives A&M fans 20 opportunities to catch the Aggies at Reed Arena. The previous record was 15 home games at G. Rollie White Coliseum in 1991-92. The Aggies play their lone non-conference road game on Jan. 2 against Penn State in University Park, Pa. "We're pleased with our schedule, although it's not exactly what we were shooting for," Gillispie said. "We were trying to get into a tournament, but that fell through in late August so we had to add a couple of non-Division I schools (Trinity and UT-Permian Basin). We're happy with it, but it's not the schedule we hope to have in the future." The Aggies' final home game on Feb. 26 against Texas Tech will be the 100th game played at Reed Arena.

D?j? Vu All Over Again

When Billy Gillispie became UTEP's head coach in 2002, he inherited a program with just eight scholarship players. He entered a similar situation at A&M, but this time had just six scholarship players. When the NCAA rescinded the 8/5 Rule last spring, Gillispie was one of the busiest coaches in the country, bringing in seven additional scholarship players as well as a number of first-year walk-ons. "At UTEP, the 6-24 season was the foundation for what our team did last year," Gillispie said. "People told me to wait until I got my guys. The way I looked at it, those were my guys and that's the way I'm approaching this year, too."

Billy Likes Balance

Last season under Billy Gillispie, UTEP's leading scorer was its sixth man, Omar Thomas, whom averaged 15.5 points per game. The five regular starters each averaged between 8.2 and 11.6 per game. "I really believe in sharing the basketball," Gillispie said. "We want to play hard, play smart and play together."

That's Entertainment!

Last season, UTEP scored at least 80 points in 15 of its 32 games. A&M scored 80 or more points in 16 games in the last two years combined. The Miners ranked among the national leaders in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free throw percentage. Meanwhile, A&M ranked last in the Big 12 in field goal percentage and three-point percentage and was near the bottom in scoring offense and scoring margin. "Our philosophy is to play as fast as possible," Gillispie said. "Not just for the sake of playing fast, but for playing the right way. We want to attack the other team offensively and defensively."

Brooks Knows Aggieland

Assistant coach Alvin Brooks, a Houston native, is extremely familiar with Texas A&M. As a player, he was a freshman at Sam Houston State when the Bearkats lost to the Aggies, 97-73, at G. Rollie White Coliseum in 1977-78. Two years later, after transferring to Lamar, Brooks got his revenge by knocking off the Aggies, 61-60, in the second round of the 1979 Great Alaska Shootout. A&M and Lamar both advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen that season. Brooks went on to visit A&M on a near-annual basis as an assistant at Houston (1986-93), head coach at Houston (1993-98) and assistant at Texas Tech (1999-01).

Building Attendance

Last year under Billy Gillispie, UTEP enjoyed the largest attendance increase in college basketball, averaging 10,282 per game. The fans didn't wait until the team started winning big, either. Coming off a 6-24 season, the Miners attracted at least 7,000 for each of their first four home games, despite playing lesser-known opponents. After a 5-1 start, UTEP sold out (12,000) its Dec. 17 game against New Mexico State and went on to seven more sellouts, including four straight to end the season. "The fans felt like they were a part of our group," Gillispie said. "Everyone felt like they were a part of one family. The fans felt like they had more invested than just watching their team play. Winning has a lot to do with it, but the fans started coming before they really knew what was going to happen at the end. What we have to do here is get people to come to the games. The fans have to be here physically and can't just wait around. If people start showing up to the games, then the basketball program will be built. People have to get into Reed Arena and they have to come even if we get beat. That is a priority and if it happens, then I guarantee we'll be successful. They have to understand that when the season starts is when they need to get in there and fill the building up.If people will come and dedicate themselves to showing up every time, they will be amazed of how fast positive results can be shown."

Keeping Up With Jones

When he accepted the A&M job, Billy Gillispie was excited to see Normangee's Joseph Jones listed among the Aggies' early signees. When he was an assistant at Illinois, Gillispie saw Jones in the recruiting process prior to his sophomore year and continued to recruit him when he accepted the head coaching job at UTEP. Gillispie said the young Jones reminded him of Shaquille O'Neal when he first saw him. "I saw Joseph Jones play after his freshman year," Gillispie said. "I thought he reminded me of a couple of players in the state of Texas in the past 25 years. There was a guy named Anthony Lee from Tyler John Tyler, an unbelievable talent. And there was a guy named Shaquille O'Neal, who was pretty good. And I thought that Joseph Jones had the talent at that time to be that kind of player. I thought that he was going to grow a little bit more, but he has continued to impress. I saw him in the state championship, and I am really looking forward to coaching him."

The Wright Stuff

After earning Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors and being named third-team All-Big 12 in 2002-03, junior Antoine Wright was named honorable mention All-Big 12 last season. If he were named All-Big 12 this year, he would become only the 10th player in school history to earn an all-conference designation three times. Wright is on pace to become only the third A&M player to earn all-conference honors four times, joining Bernard King (1999-03) and Vernon Smith (1977-81), who are the top two scorers in school history. Wright needs 215 points to become the 26th A&M player to reach 1,000 in his career.

Maroon Madness

Instead of the conventional "Midnight Madness" most teams conduct to signal the start of fall practice, the Aggies tried something completely new in October. The men's and women's teams were the focus of "Maroon Madness at Northgate," which began at midnight on Oct. 15 at the main parking area in the Northgate entertainment district near campus. A portable basketball court was located in the middle of the parking lot complete with basketball goals, lights and bleachers for fans. There was additional entertainment before and after the event, including the Texas Aggie Dance Team and the Hullaballoo Band. The event was organized by the Texas A&M Athletic Department with the cooperation of the City of College Station. "It was a fun event for everybody," Gillispie said. "It's a totally different concept than what people are accustomed to and I think it created a lot of excitement around campus and in town. I know our players were excited about it."

Bringing in the Eaves

When A&M opens its season against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 19, some older A&M fans may recognize A&T's coach, Jerry Eaves. Eaves was a starter on Louisville's 1980 NCAA Championship team that edged the Aggies, 66-55, in overtime in the regional semifinals in Houston. Eaves scored eight points and had three assists for the Cardinals, which featured Rodney McCray and college player of the year Darrell Griffith.

Other Schedule Notes

When Houston visits Reed Arena on Dec. 29, it will mark Cougar head coach Tom Penders' first visit to College Station since his last year at Texas in 1997-98. He coached against the Aggies in 2000-01 when he was at George Washington, posting a 94-74 victory in Washington, D.C...between 1948 and 1972, A&M and Trinity played 16 times, with A&M building a 14-2 series lead. The schools have not met for 32 years, but that hiatus comes to an end on Nov. 23 when the Tigers visit Reed Arena...A&M makes it first-ever visit to University Park, Penn., to play Penn State on Jan. 2..

National Pride

Three A&M players have been a part of national all-star teams. Acie Law played for Team USA at the 2003 Global Games in Dallas, Antoine Wright was a member of the 2002 USA Men's Junior World Championship Team, and Joseph Jones played for the 2004 USA Basketball Men's Junior National Select Team.

Billy's Boot Camp

In October, Billy Gillispie started a preseason "boot camp" for his players, patterned after what he and Kansas coach Bill Self developed when they were at Tulsa and Illinois, and he carried on to UTEP. The grueling series of twice-a-day workouts ran for two weeks in early October. "Now I know how the Junction Boys felt," said junior Antoine Wright, referring to Bear Bryant's famed football workouts in Junction with his first A&M team in 1954. "Everything is about winning, and everyday is about getting better," Wright said. "All we did after boot camp was go home and talk about boot camp. Right after we got into the locker room after boot camp, we'd talk about the next boot camp. And then after that boot camp we talk about the next morning boot camp. These were the hardest workouts any of us had seen, but this is also the closest I've been with my teammates."