Built To Be The 12th Man
Nov 18, 2021 | Men's Basketball
“A&M encourages volunteerism, encourages being one of a thousand points of light, helping others...and it comes naturally to Aggies.” - Former US President George H.W. Bush
When the lights lit up Reed Arena for the first game of the 2021-22 Texas A&M men’s basketball season on Wednesday night, Everett Vaughn found himself in a position similar to what E. King Gill found himself 100 years ago.
Similar but not the same.
Gill, as you may remember, was up in the press box, spotting players for those reporting on the game before being waved down to the sideline to suit up mid-game.
Vaughn didn’t need to be waved down from the stands, he was a little more fortunate; the senior was already on the team bench, a member of the Aggie basketball squad for a fourth year. He also wouldn’t need to find an injured player’s jersey at halftime, he had already pulled on the white jersey with maroon lettering prior to the game starting.
But just like Gill before him, the thought of actually getting into the game was a distant thought in his mind.
“I prepare for the game similar to the way I have my whole career. I expect to play, only in the sense that my preparation is the same if I play or if I don’t play,” Everett said prior to the season tip-off. “That’s the role I signed up for when I came here. But also part of that role is being ready to play. If a big rolls his ankle or if something happens, I have to be ready. I’m expected to know all the plays and I’m expected to go out there and give it my all.”
“You don’t get to play basketball very long,” Everett said. “I’m excited and stoked to wear that number 12 and represent in my senior year.”
GROWING UP AGGIE
Everett was indoctrinated into all things A&M from birth. A third-generation Aggie, his maternal grandfather, Wilson Bruce Hudson was class of ‘59. His parents, Tom and Suzanne Vaughn, met at Fish Camp and are class of ‘89. His brother, Jay Vaughn, class of ‘19.
“Pretty much as long as I have been alive I have been drinking the Texas A&M Kool-Aid,” Everett said with a laugh. “It’s been in my blood for a long time.”
The youngest of three children, his sister Rachel being the oldest, Everett grew up in Bellaire, Texas, a suburb of Houston and just an hour-and-a-half from Reed Arena.
While he didn’t go to every game growing up, he certainly followed the Aggies all his life. And how could he not? His lineage alone would put him on a path straight to Bryan-College Station.
And then there was basketball. And a brother that would have a way of leading by example that few could match.
EMULATING JAY
Joseph “Jay” Vaughn III is three years and one day older than Everett. Earning his degree in construction science from A&M in two years, he is currently working towards his MBA at Harvard Business School, or in his words, “the Texas A&M of the north,” while also working at Opifex, a construction equipment rental company he founded in 2018.
“When I’m in a classroom at Harvard I feel just as, if not more, prepared than all of my classmates that went to Stanford, Notre Dame, Michigan, Harvard, Yale or Princeton,” Jay said. “To me, my education was just as good. It was a firm belief that was indoctrinated into me when I was 18 and now that I’m 23 it’s been validated by being outside of that network.”
And while his work ethic in the classroom is to be recognized, it was another obstacle, a crippling disease, that Everett has watched Jay battle all his life.
Jay was just four months old when he contracted polio. He lives with a left leg that doesn’t function below the knee and has limited function below the hip.
For the first half of his life, Jay was confined to a wheelchair. Then right before his freshman year of high school, he was fitted with a carbon-fiber brace that allowed him use of his leg. Then in high school he had progressed so much that he was able to play football and basketball.
“Everett saw that life struggle and knew he would never have to work that hard but he was always impressed with what his brother accomplished,” the boys’ father, Tom said. “Obviously Jay was a good mentor and a good example.”
“Jay has been the epitome of the ‘hard work gets you through anything’ and the ‘never say never’ story,” Everett said. “He’s been the one that’s instilled the work ethic, the drive and the attitude of ‘don’t take no for an answer.’”
WALKING ON AT A&M
As Everett began to grow - and then grow- and then grow - it became evident that his ability on the basketball court could lead to bigger and better things.
Already a good student, he and his high school went to a team camp at A&M the summer before his senior year. It was then that he asserted himself both on the court and off it.
“I reached out to the staff and told them I know I’m probably not the type of player you’re looking for but I’ve grown up an Aggie and I want to be an Aggie. If you ever have time just come watch me play,” Everett said.
Apparently he played well enough.
“I was touring a bunch of Ivy League schools and I really liked the idea of going to an Ivy League school and playing basketball,” Everett said. “But I got the walk-on opportunity and then all the Ivy League schools didn’t look as cool as A&M.”
A 6-10 forward, he would redshirt his first year on campus before making his collegiate debut in a 68-51 win over Missouri on February 4, 2020.
“It was very clear when I got here what my role was going to be. I was just so infatuated and in love - and still am - with being in the program and being at A&M,” Everett said. “When they threw me in I was surprised but it was awesome.”
Unfortunately, none of his family would be in the stands that Tuesday night. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t proud of him finally getting onto the hardwood and into the stat sheet.
“I think it’s special to get in the stat sheet at Texas A&M regardless of what it’s for,” Jay said of Everett committing a foul in his roughly 11 seconds of game action. “I told him he’s an enforcer.”
“It’s not about minutes on the court, it’s about getting better every day,” Tom said. “A&M has great facilities, great coaching and great people. When his basketball career is over he is going to be a better person and it’s not about how many minutes he got to play.”
EMBRACING THE 12TH MAN
Before this season started, Everett had a number change. No longer would his number match the inches in his height (10) but rather the spirit inside him and Aggies everywhere.
For the 2021-22 season he will wear No. 12.
“It’s overwhelmingly emotional for me,” Everett said. “Personally, I like the accomplishment, but for me it’s always been more impactful for my family, for my grandfather who passed away when I was a sophomore. I’m so happy I get to represent the university that I love and the basketball program.”
“Everett should take pride in what he does to make the team and the university better as the 12th Man,” Jay said. “He can have an impact on the team by showing people how to work, how to put the time in. That will be his legacy more than his per-40 on the stat sheet.”
As the saying goes, the power of the 12th Man is echoed in the unity, the loyalty, and the willingness of Aggies to serve when called to do so.
As he has already and for the rest of his time in Bryan-College Station and beyond, Everett Vaughn will do just that, being one in a thousand points of light.
“You don’t get to play basketball very long,” Everett said. “I’m excited and stoked to wear that number 12 and represent in my senior year.”
