Aggieland Illustrated March/April 2026

SET THE BAR

AGGIE BASKETBALL ESTABLISHED THE STANDARD IN YEAR ONE OF BUCKY ERA

20 AGGIES DANCING IN YEAR ONE OF BUCKY ERA

Recap of rounds one and two. BY ROB HAVENS ‘88

24

PRO DAY

23 Aggies showcased skills before NFL reps.

26

SPRING FOOTBALL

Our favorite shots from spring ball

Howdy Ags!

This has been such a great spring to cover Aggie sports! We want to congratulate Coach Bucky McMillan and the men’s basketball team on a great season. What a phenomenal story this was, as just about a year ago, the Aggies were without a men’s basketball coach. After a nationwide search, Trev Alberts announced he had found our new coach in Alabama at a small school called Samford. Trev might consider becoming a gold miner, because he discovered a priceless gold nugget in our new coach.

At the time, there was only one Power Four conference position available in men’s basketball, and Bucky filled that spot. When he got here, he had no staff, one returning player (who rarely played in 2025), and the portal window had been open, and 80 of the top 100 players were gone.

When he got here, he promised a fast-paced, full-court pressing defense that would be very entertaining. He immediately went to work assembling a staff and a team. The players came in with great faith, not knowing what the team would look like. Bucky embraced the 12th Man and the community.

The experts predicted his team would finish 13th in the SEC. Bucky admitted he wasn’t sure how fast it would happen, but he knew he could have success here.

During this last year, he had to fight for a player’s eligibility, he lost his best player to injury, and had to build a team to go out and win.

All he did was win 22 games, finish tied for fourth in the toughest conference in the country, went 11-7 in the SEC, beat Auburn at Auburn, beat tu in Austin, beat Kentucky, earn an at large bid to the Big Dance, and upset their first opponent to make it to the round of 32.

It was a made-for-TV movie kind of season! And it was so much fun to watch! We are so excited for the future of Aggie men’s basketball! We love Bucky Ball!

Thanks & Gig’em!

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DANCING

GIG’EM BUCKY

Head Coach Bucky McMillan offers a congratulatory Gig’Em to the 12th Man after the Aggies 63-50 victory over Saint Mary’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. When he arrived in Aggieland, he promised a more exciting and entertaining form of basketball and he delivered on all fronts! Photo by Rob Havens ‘88

The women’s tennis team celebrates the winning match point by Ilinca

as she clinched the victory over arch rival Texas 4-3. It was the ninth win in the last twelve matches against the Horns and secured another point in the Lone Star Showdown.

BACK TO THE GRIND

The Aggie defensive line goes through drills in the third spring football practice. The team welcomed back Coach Elijah Robinson as Co-Defensive Coordinator and defensive line coach! The team is hard at work preparing for next season. Photo by Rob Havens ‘88

Traditions Club has a setting like none other in the Brazos Valley In the center of 900 acres, one will find the Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II Design championship golf course that provides the perfect backdrop to the luxurious club amenities, home sites that range from a fourth acre garden site to sprawling esta home to the Texas A&M Me

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MARTINEZ

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Even with injuries that sidelined a pair of Coach Weaver’s team, the Aggies are currently ranked #2 in the nation. They are 22-5 overall and won their 5th consecutive SEC title with a 13-2 SEC record. Texas A&M has wins over #10 Texas, #22 South Carolina, and #18 Tennessee. The Aggies have four ranked singles players, including No. 1 Lucciana Perez, No. 41 Mia Kupres, No. 62 Ilinca Amariei, and No. 123 Lexington Reed.

BASEBALL

Coach Earley and staff currently sit at 30-7 overall and are 11-5 in the SEC. The injury bug has sidelined key players early in the season, but when this team is healthy, watch out! Caden Sorrell leads the team at the plate with a .368 batting average and 17 home runs. Our Sunday guy, Aiden Sims, leads the pitching staff with a 3.56 ERA and a 7-0 record. A season-ending injury to Josh Stewart was a tough hit to the Aggie bullpen.

LESSENTINE

POWELL WARK

SOFTBALL

Trisha Ford and her staff have the Aggies rolling in 2026 with a 33-12 overall record and 13-4 in SEC play. The Aggies knocked off #17 LSU in Baton Rouge to open the season, followed by a series win over Kentucky. They are currently ranked #11 and are in the middle of the SEC grind. Mya Perez leads the team in hitting with a .456 avg with 15 home runs. In the circle, Sydney Lessentine sports a 2.94 ERA and a 13-3 record. Sidne Peters has a 2.6 ERA and a 12-4 record.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The ladies finished strong in the regular season, winning six of their last seven games. The Aggies took down #21 Alabama, #21 Tennessee, and #19 Ole Miss during that stretch. Unfortunately, they were the first four out and missed the Big Dance. In the first round of the WBIT they fell to McNeese 68-48 to end the season.

WARE BLOW

SUDBERRY G FERNANDEZ GARCIA-POGGIO

WOMEN’S GOLF

The No. 3 women’s golf team, led by the individual runner-up Vanessa Borovilos, won the 22nd “Mo” Morial Invitational at Traditions Golf Course. The victory was the fifth for the Aggies this season and the record ninth time to win the “Mo” Morial title.

REAU

NCAA TOURNAMENT

ROUND 1

TEXAS A&M

SAINT MARY’S

The #10 seed Aggies earned a first-round at-large bid versus the #7 seed Saint Mary’s Gaels in Oklahoma City. The Aggies wrapped up the regular season with a big win over Kentucky at home and then had a hardfought triple overtime win over LSU in Baton Rouge. After a quick exit in the SEC Tournament, the team learned on Selection Sunday that they were headed to Oklahoma. With a week’s worth of rest, the stifling Aggie defense hit the floor and caused a ten-second call on St. Mary’s first offensive possession, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Rashaun Agee got the Aggies out to a great start on offense, scoring the team’s first seven points. The Aggies would never give up the lead, dominating the Gaels from start to finish. Agee led all scorers, going 7 of 11 from the floor with nine rebounds and three assists. Saint Mary’s faced an aggressive, pressuring defense throughout the game and turned the ball over 18 times. Ruben Dominguez got hot from outside the arch and added 11 points to the scoreboard, while Ali Dibba stepped up, scoring nine and collecting seven rebounds. The Aggies led by as many as 20 points and didn’t let the length of the Gaels affect the outcome of the game. The 50-point total was the lowest offensive output of the season for St Mary’s, who entered the contest as the conference champion and had won 8 of their last 9 games. Bucky McMillan became the second coach in program history to win an NCAA Tournament game in his first season at Texas A&M.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

ROUND 2

In the second round of the tourney, the Aggies faced the #2 seed in the South Region, the Houston Cougars. U of H returned three starters from last year’s squad that advanced to the national title game in 2025. The Aggies held their own in the first twelve minutes of the game, even though they hadn’t played their best basketball. Pop Isaacs and Ruben Dominguez hit some big threes, and the Aggie defense kept the game close, trailing 25-24 with less than eight minutes left until halftime. Unfortunately, the Aggie offense sputtered, and the Coogs went on a 21-4 run to close out the half. The second half was more of the same as the talented 2 seed extended their lead, and when the clock hit zeros the Aggies trailed 88-57. The lone bright spot for the Aggies was Josh Holloway, who knocked down 12 points in the game. It was a tough game for the Aggies, but this club has nothing to hang their heads about. After the game, Bucky addressed the team and said, “I love y’all, man, I mean that. Don’t worry about this game. The way y’all fought this season and even in that game. Everything we asked y’all to do this year, y’all did it. Hold your heads up, walking out of here, it was a hell of a season. A lot of people wrote y’all off, but y’all came together. Didn’t have one returner on this team except for Kris. You boys came together, people didn’t think you’d do much, you tied for fourth in the league. You got to this round to face this team that might win a natty; they were in it last year. You just gotta tip your hat, they played a good game. But I just gotta tell y’all, you’re some awesome damn people…the character you played with from start to finish…When you are all in, and you are good people, you are going to have a bond for the rest of your lives, and you will have these coaches and me in your corner the rest of your lives.” The result on the court wasn’t what we hoped for, but this team built the foundation for “Bucky Ball” for years to come! TEXAS A&M

CHAPPELL

PRO DAY

23 Aggies participated in Texas A&M’s Pro Day in front of representatives from all 32 NFL organizations. Offensive lineman Chase Bisontis, tight end Nate Boerkircher, kicker Randy Bond, cornerback Tyreek Chappell, wide receiver KC Concepcion, offensive lineman Dametrious Crownover, running back Amari Daniels, offensive lineman Koli Faaiu, offensive lineman Reuben Fatheree II, long snapper Jacob Graham, defensive tackle Dayon Hayes, defensive end Cashius Howell, cornerback Will Lee III, running back Le’Veon Moss, tight end Amari Niblack, defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim, offensive lineman Ar’maj Reed-Adams, defensive tackle Albert Regis, running back EJ Smith, linebacker Scooby Williams, linebacker Taurean York, kicker Jared Zirkel, and offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III showcasing their skills. The NFL Draft is set for April 2325 in Pittsburgh, PA.

SPRING FOOTBALL

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR HOLOMON WIGGINS

I’ve had the luxury of working with some really good coordinators, some guys that have a ton of success. Been a part of some of the most prolific offenses in the country, have coached some really good, talented dudes. So I’m eager for our guys to now become kind of the staple and pretty much embody a lot of those things, but also continue to take that next step and build off of what we have created so far.

We are going to have an attack mentality, whether we are blitzing or not blitzing. The mentality is always going to be to attack the opponent, attack the offense. We are going to play together, that’s kind of our core mantra. When we talk about together, it’s communicating together, having fun together, and playing as a unit. Creating our own 12th Man, per se. In a different way.

We are excited to get going, excited to get this team on the grass. Obviously, a lot of new faces, a lot of new people. We talked about 48 new additions, new coordinators, and some new coaching staff. At this point, we have done everything we can; there’s not really much left to accomplish in the building. So it’s just good to get out on the grass and start playing football and start building the identity of what this team is and what this team is going to be this fall. So I’m excited for the opportunity and excited for Friday to get started.

THE 12TH MAN