Following their Footsteps: Aggie Basketball's Youth Excited for Future
May 12, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Swaying in traditional Aggie fashion in a sea of maroon and white, the team tossed their arms over each other's shoulders alongside the Reed Rowdies, eyes shining with gleams of light after cutting down the Reed Arena nets as SEC Champions.
Taking in the atmosphere of smiling fans, wide-eyed kids asking for autographs and celebratory pats on the back from everyone around, the team reflected on the historic season.
"Cutting down the net and just watching everybody get a piece; looking back on the journey of the last five years, to have that experience, it was well worth it," head coach Billy Kennedy said.
For the first time in 30 years, reveling in a sense of accomplishment and exhaustion, the Aggies had just won a regular season conference championship and simultaneously clutched their first ever SEC title by defeating Vanderbilt in front of a rowdy Reed Arena crowd.
A key contributor in the title run was freshman standout Tyler Davis who said initially he wanted to be a football player because growing up, the other kids were faster, but he fell in love with basketball the summer after his seventh grade year. This season was another step toward his NBA aspirations.
"It's like a dream come true because as kids, you watch college basketball players and dream about going to the NBA, but we know the next step is college," Davis said. "So playing in college is just crazy, especially playing in Reed Arena with so many great fans."
The Aggies enjoyed an impressive season of unselfish chemistry on the court, light-hearted team camaraderie and unmatched work ethic that led to a record-breaking season which culminated in a trip to the Sweet 16.
Another of the many accomplishments the 2015-16 Aggies can boast is the most wins in school history, as their 28 victories topped the previous high-water mark of 27 by the 2006-07 squad.
During March Madness, Texas A&M will be remembered most for what many have dubbed the legendary "Aggie Miracle." Faced with a 12-point deficit with 44 seconds remaining, the Aggies put together the biggest come-from-behind victory by a team trailing in the final minute of the game in college basketball history. The comeback was complete as the final buzzer sounded after two overtime periods with the Aggies winning their second game in the Big Dance.
For many of the young players, making their debut on college basketball's biggest stage was surreal.
"You watch March Madness all throughout high school, middle school, following each game and just wanting to be a part of it," freshman D.J. Hogg, who has been playing basketball since he was two years old, said. "Finally, you're a part of it and we had the greatest comeback ever, it's crazy."
When asked to give one word describing last season's team, sophomore Tonny Trocha-Morelos said "heart."
"The reason why I say heart is because when nobody believed in us we stayed together and we came back in [the UNI game]," Trocha-Morelos said. "We won that game and everybody asks how we did it? You know, my reply is we had heart and we never gave up."
"We love this game, we respect this game until the end," Trocha-Morelos added. "If the game says 40 minutes, we're going to play 40 minutes."
The Aggies stayed motivated even when the opportunity to advance to Anaheim's Honda Center for the Sweet 16 seemed lost. Their astounding comeback, which was the talk of a wild 2016 NCAA Tournament, reached a fever pitch on Admon Gilder's game-tying layup with just eight seconds left in regulation.
"I was like what the heck, oh my gosh like this is crazy," Gilder said. "At the time I got that layup I actually didn't know we were down two, so I just went for a layup and I looked up and I was like 'oh wait I just tied the game.'"
The Aggie contingency at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena went wild and adrenaline surged through the team which had suddenly come back from the dead.
"We [were] on the bench just sitting there watching them bring it back just praying, hoping we could do it, each second by second always believing," Hogg said. "After the game it was shock. Almost like, how did we do that? 12 points in 44 seconds…you don't see it."
Many fans and analysts thought the game was over, including Gilder's parents who had work early the next morning and snuck out before the final heroics.
"After the game I was trying to look for them to hug them and I couldn't find them," Gilder said. "I'm like 'dang where are they,' I know my parents are short so I made a short joke in my head [but] they called me and they were so proud," Gilder said. "They asked me keep up the good work, this is just the beginning."
This season matched the most successful postseason run by Texas A&M in 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament, tying the 1980 and 2007 squads for the farthest push in school history by winning two games in the tourney and advancing to the round of 16. The 1969 Aggies also reached the Sweet 16, but only needed one win to do so during a 25-team tournament.
"We just kept pushing each other," Trocha-Morelos said. "We never let any of the teammates get down, we were strong when they were down. That's why this team's so special, because you have somebody next to you that's going to push you, going to tell you something to motivate you to keep going. It's such a good thing that you have somebody there for you when something's going wrong."
Still, so many things went right for the Aggies this season, including the strong leadership and the scoring presence of four key senior starters.
Going forward after the departure of Alex Caruso, Anthony Collins, Danuel House, Jalen Jones, Juan Aparicio, and Kyle Dobbins, next years' team of young blood is striving to keep the magic alive and emulate the example of leadership that the guys before them set.
"They did a great job of being everyday guys," Gilder said. "There was not one day where I saw Caruso slacking. There was not one day where I saw Anthony Collins not at the gym. Not one day I saw House, Jalen not putting in the work, so I'm going to make sure I lead by example, but also vocally. We don't have Caruso who's going to push us vocally therefore, I'm going to have to step up and take that role."
From the memories like beating Texas in the Bahamas, the Kentucky buzzer-beater in front of a sold out Reed Arena, clinching the SEC Championship and obviously the UNI last-minute come back, to the strong team bonds, the younger players expressed a sincere appreciation for the seniors and their influence.
"We learned so much from the previous year of watching those guys, from their mistakes and from the success they had throughout the season and we are just going to try to keep that going," freshman Kobie Eubanks said.
Coach Kennedy said he was proud of his players' energy, enthusiasm and excitement for the game.
"We see our team as rising," Eubanks said. "We're trying to recruit a few more guys, but we're going to build off of each other and keep pushing each other to continue the high."
Kennedy also attributed much of the team's success to divine intervention always giving glory to God.
"I would say a basketball coach is what I do and living my faith out is who I am," Kennedy said. "So that's what I want to be about. That impacts me as a husband as a father, as a coach, relationships with friends. That's greater than just being a basketball coach so that's what I strive to live by. Hopefully, people see Jesus in me and I don't have to speak it, I live it."
Building up the program for next year, Kennedy embraced the team's attitude of winning.
"We had a lot of things go well for us," Kennedy said. "Good seniors and good team, everybody was all about winning and doing the things that it takes to be a championship program and now we have a good base to build on."
The legacy of the seniors lives on in the mindsets and passion of next year's team.
"I learned definitely how to work just watching them work every day after practice, before practice and then just learning how to play hard [too]," Davis said. "Those guys, when they go out to play, they're playing like it was really their last game every time, so something I learned is to be a warrior out there."
Hogg said he learned consistency and bringing 100 percent even when tired.
"Taking every day to make better of yourself," he said. "Every day really counts and playing each game as hard as you can because that's what the other team is doing and if you don't play each possession you're going to lose."
The Aggies eventual loss to second-seeded Oklahoma in the battle for the Texas A&M's first Elite Eight appearance still stings and motivates the Aggies set to return next season.
"It was tough, I mean because we didn't just lose, like we got beat," Davis said. "The feeling after knowing that we could have went farther and had a team with a lot of talent that we felt like could've gone to the Final Four and competed for a National Championship. When the season ends like that in the Sweet 16 and you feel like you're just one or two steps away from reaching your season-long goals, it's tough to handle."
In the locker room, after the UNI game the guys were spraying water, smiling and jumping around. After Oklahoma, the atmosphere in the locker room was the complete opposite.
"After I was feeling upset because we lost and we were hoping to go to Final Four," Gilder said. "I thought we had a great team that could have won the championship. We had every part, we had senior leadership, we had freshmen, we had sophomores and juniors, we had everybody that could contribute toward that championship."
For the seniors, it was their last time to compete in an Aggie jersey after years of giving all they had on the court.
"It was harder on the seniors too knowing it was their last game," Hogg said. "We felt for them so it was sad but they're all ready to move on to the next chapter of their life and we're ready to pick up where we left off."
Gilder said the team's experiences will produce a greater awareness of how to improve.
"Everybody at one point of time in their lives, they want to be better than the year before," Gilder said. "That's why people make New Year's resolutions. Going that far, seeing that this is possible, I think it'll help us next year."
In a team full of various characters, each person adds something special to the dynamic.
"We have all different personalities," Gilder said. "We can go Tonny, he's tall funny and can make you laugh at any moment. You've got Tyler, he's a little bit more of the aggressive type, more vocal you know deep voice, and then you got DJ he's kind of a shy person but he's also like a silent assassin and you've got Kobie who is going to make you laugh whenever, if it's study hall, class, in the gym, out to eat and you got me but I'm the good one though," he continued with a good-natured laugh. "But it's our personalities that we have. We're all unselfish, we all want to see each other do great, I think that's going to help us a lot [too]."
When the team's not at practice they're usually still together. Hogg said sometimes they can be childish but it's always a good time.
"Everybody's like grown and 19, 18, 20 years old but everybody was having fun like we were like in middle school or high school," Hogg said. "Always laughing, always giggling trying to just make the best of our time together."
Davis played his senior year of high school at Plano West where he and Hogg captured a state title and got the chance to know each other as teammates before becoming Aggies.
"It was pretty cool playing with him and always talking about what we were going to do, always talking about the NBA dream and how hard we have to work," Davis said. "Those kind of things still resonate to this day and we still talk about those same things."
There will be grueling workouts in the off-season to prepare for next year. Strength and conditioning coach Darby Rich will push the Aggies to their limits, helping them work hard in their everyday grind.
"It's really up to us to do the extra work on our own and stay in the gym to get up the extra shots," Davis said. "We've got mandatory work outs but the extra work we put in is where we're really going to see our success this season."
Kennedy described the team as resilient and hungry for more March Madness.
"I think you get a taste of it, you want it to happen again," Kennedy said. "That's our goal year in and year out, be in the NCAA Tournament and compete for a National Championship."
With the loss of four senior starters, Kennedy will depend on the leadership of the returning guys who will be the new role models now. And they are certainly ready to rise to the challenge.
"People are expecting great things from us and we are expecting great things from ourselves," Trocha-Morelos said. "We have our goals, we're working for that and we want to show people that we're capable of doing big things."
Taking in the atmosphere of smiling fans, wide-eyed kids asking for autographs and celebratory pats on the back from everyone around, the team reflected on the historic season.
"Cutting down the net and just watching everybody get a piece; looking back on the journey of the last five years, to have that experience, it was well worth it," head coach Billy Kennedy said.
For the first time in 30 years, reveling in a sense of accomplishment and exhaustion, the Aggies had just won a regular season conference championship and simultaneously clutched their first ever SEC title by defeating Vanderbilt in front of a rowdy Reed Arena crowd.
A key contributor in the title run was freshman standout Tyler Davis who said initially he wanted to be a football player because growing up, the other kids were faster, but he fell in love with basketball the summer after his seventh grade year. This season was another step toward his NBA aspirations.
"It's like a dream come true because as kids, you watch college basketball players and dream about going to the NBA, but we know the next step is college," Davis said. "So playing in college is just crazy, especially playing in Reed Arena with so many great fans."
The Aggies enjoyed an impressive season of unselfish chemistry on the court, light-hearted team camaraderie and unmatched work ethic that led to a record-breaking season which culminated in a trip to the Sweet 16.
Another of the many accomplishments the 2015-16 Aggies can boast is the most wins in school history, as their 28 victories topped the previous high-water mark of 27 by the 2006-07 squad.
During March Madness, Texas A&M will be remembered most for what many have dubbed the legendary "Aggie Miracle." Faced with a 12-point deficit with 44 seconds remaining, the Aggies put together the biggest come-from-behind victory by a team trailing in the final minute of the game in college basketball history. The comeback was complete as the final buzzer sounded after two overtime periods with the Aggies winning their second game in the Big Dance.
For many of the young players, making their debut on college basketball's biggest stage was surreal.
"You watch March Madness all throughout high school, middle school, following each game and just wanting to be a part of it," freshman D.J. Hogg, who has been playing basketball since he was two years old, said. "Finally, you're a part of it and we had the greatest comeback ever, it's crazy."
When asked to give one word describing last season's team, sophomore Tonny Trocha-Morelos said "heart."
"The reason why I say heart is because when nobody believed in us we stayed together and we came back in [the UNI game]," Trocha-Morelos said. "We won that game and everybody asks how we did it? You know, my reply is we had heart and we never gave up."
"We love this game, we respect this game until the end," Trocha-Morelos added. "If the game says 40 minutes, we're going to play 40 minutes."
The Aggies stayed motivated even when the opportunity to advance to Anaheim's Honda Center for the Sweet 16 seemed lost. Their astounding comeback, which was the talk of a wild 2016 NCAA Tournament, reached a fever pitch on Admon Gilder's game-tying layup with just eight seconds left in regulation.
"I was like what the heck, oh my gosh like this is crazy," Gilder said. "At the time I got that layup I actually didn't know we were down two, so I just went for a layup and I looked up and I was like 'oh wait I just tied the game.'"
The Aggie contingency at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena went wild and adrenaline surged through the team which had suddenly come back from the dead.
"We [were] on the bench just sitting there watching them bring it back just praying, hoping we could do it, each second by second always believing," Hogg said. "After the game it was shock. Almost like, how did we do that? 12 points in 44 seconds…you don't see it."
Many fans and analysts thought the game was over, including Gilder's parents who had work early the next morning and snuck out before the final heroics.
"After the game I was trying to look for them to hug them and I couldn't find them," Gilder said. "I'm like 'dang where are they,' I know my parents are short so I made a short joke in my head [but] they called me and they were so proud," Gilder said. "They asked me keep up the good work, this is just the beginning."
This season matched the most successful postseason run by Texas A&M in 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament, tying the 1980 and 2007 squads for the farthest push in school history by winning two games in the tourney and advancing to the round of 16. The 1969 Aggies also reached the Sweet 16, but only needed one win to do so during a 25-team tournament.
"We just kept pushing each other," Trocha-Morelos said. "We never let any of the teammates get down, we were strong when they were down. That's why this team's so special, because you have somebody next to you that's going to push you, going to tell you something to motivate you to keep going. It's such a good thing that you have somebody there for you when something's going wrong."
Still, so many things went right for the Aggies this season, including the strong leadership and the scoring presence of four key senior starters.
Going forward after the departure of Alex Caruso, Anthony Collins, Danuel House, Jalen Jones, Juan Aparicio, and Kyle Dobbins, next years' team of young blood is striving to keep the magic alive and emulate the example of leadership that the guys before them set.
"They did a great job of being everyday guys," Gilder said. "There was not one day where I saw Caruso slacking. There was not one day where I saw Anthony Collins not at the gym. Not one day I saw House, Jalen not putting in the work, so I'm going to make sure I lead by example, but also vocally. We don't have Caruso who's going to push us vocally therefore, I'm going to have to step up and take that role."
From the memories like beating Texas in the Bahamas, the Kentucky buzzer-beater in front of a sold out Reed Arena, clinching the SEC Championship and obviously the UNI last-minute come back, to the strong team bonds, the younger players expressed a sincere appreciation for the seniors and their influence.
"We learned so much from the previous year of watching those guys, from their mistakes and from the success they had throughout the season and we are just going to try to keep that going," freshman Kobie Eubanks said.
Coach Kennedy said he was proud of his players' energy, enthusiasm and excitement for the game.
"We see our team as rising," Eubanks said. "We're trying to recruit a few more guys, but we're going to build off of each other and keep pushing each other to continue the high."
Kennedy also attributed much of the team's success to divine intervention always giving glory to God.
"I would say a basketball coach is what I do and living my faith out is who I am," Kennedy said. "So that's what I want to be about. That impacts me as a husband as a father, as a coach, relationships with friends. That's greater than just being a basketball coach so that's what I strive to live by. Hopefully, people see Jesus in me and I don't have to speak it, I live it."
Building up the program for next year, Kennedy embraced the team's attitude of winning.
"We had a lot of things go well for us," Kennedy said. "Good seniors and good team, everybody was all about winning and doing the things that it takes to be a championship program and now we have a good base to build on."
The legacy of the seniors lives on in the mindsets and passion of next year's team.
"I learned definitely how to work just watching them work every day after practice, before practice and then just learning how to play hard [too]," Davis said. "Those guys, when they go out to play, they're playing like it was really their last game every time, so something I learned is to be a warrior out there."
Hogg said he learned consistency and bringing 100 percent even when tired.
"Taking every day to make better of yourself," he said. "Every day really counts and playing each game as hard as you can because that's what the other team is doing and if you don't play each possession you're going to lose."
The Aggies eventual loss to second-seeded Oklahoma in the battle for the Texas A&M's first Elite Eight appearance still stings and motivates the Aggies set to return next season.
"It was tough, I mean because we didn't just lose, like we got beat," Davis said. "The feeling after knowing that we could have went farther and had a team with a lot of talent that we felt like could've gone to the Final Four and competed for a National Championship. When the season ends like that in the Sweet 16 and you feel like you're just one or two steps away from reaching your season-long goals, it's tough to handle."
In the locker room, after the UNI game the guys were spraying water, smiling and jumping around. After Oklahoma, the atmosphere in the locker room was the complete opposite.
"After I was feeling upset because we lost and we were hoping to go to Final Four," Gilder said. "I thought we had a great team that could have won the championship. We had every part, we had senior leadership, we had freshmen, we had sophomores and juniors, we had everybody that could contribute toward that championship."
For the seniors, it was their last time to compete in an Aggie jersey after years of giving all they had on the court.
"It was harder on the seniors too knowing it was their last game," Hogg said. "We felt for them so it was sad but they're all ready to move on to the next chapter of their life and we're ready to pick up where we left off."
Gilder said the team's experiences will produce a greater awareness of how to improve.
"Everybody at one point of time in their lives, they want to be better than the year before," Gilder said. "That's why people make New Year's resolutions. Going that far, seeing that this is possible, I think it'll help us next year."
In a team full of various characters, each person adds something special to the dynamic.
"We have all different personalities," Gilder said. "We can go Tonny, he's tall funny and can make you laugh at any moment. You've got Tyler, he's a little bit more of the aggressive type, more vocal you know deep voice, and then you got DJ he's kind of a shy person but he's also like a silent assassin and you've got Kobie who is going to make you laugh whenever, if it's study hall, class, in the gym, out to eat and you got me but I'm the good one though," he continued with a good-natured laugh. "But it's our personalities that we have. We're all unselfish, we all want to see each other do great, I think that's going to help us a lot [too]."
When the team's not at practice they're usually still together. Hogg said sometimes they can be childish but it's always a good time.
"Everybody's like grown and 19, 18, 20 years old but everybody was having fun like we were like in middle school or high school," Hogg said. "Always laughing, always giggling trying to just make the best of our time together."
Davis played his senior year of high school at Plano West where he and Hogg captured a state title and got the chance to know each other as teammates before becoming Aggies.
"It was pretty cool playing with him and always talking about what we were going to do, always talking about the NBA dream and how hard we have to work," Davis said. "Those kind of things still resonate to this day and we still talk about those same things."
There will be grueling workouts in the off-season to prepare for next year. Strength and conditioning coach Darby Rich will push the Aggies to their limits, helping them work hard in their everyday grind.
"It's really up to us to do the extra work on our own and stay in the gym to get up the extra shots," Davis said. "We've got mandatory work outs but the extra work we put in is where we're really going to see our success this season."
Kennedy described the team as resilient and hungry for more March Madness.
"I think you get a taste of it, you want it to happen again," Kennedy said. "That's our goal year in and year out, be in the NCAA Tournament and compete for a National Championship."
With the loss of four senior starters, Kennedy will depend on the leadership of the returning guys who will be the new role models now. And they are certainly ready to rise to the challenge.
"People are expecting great things from us and we are expecting great things from ourselves," Trocha-Morelos said. "We have our goals, we're working for that and we want to show people that we're capable of doing big things."
Players Mentioned
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