By Matthew Hasley
As a student who’s spent their fair share of evenings in the Aggie Gym watching our teams battle, I’ll be honest… this basketball season has tested the patience of this Aggies fan.
With both the men’s and women’s teams sitting at 8 games left in the regular season, the records don’t lie. The men’s team sits at 6-14 (3-9 Lone Star Conference), the women at 2-18 (2-10 LSC). That’s not the stuff of banner-raising ceremonies. But as someone who bleeds black and gold, I refuse to think this is the future. This is a rebuild, plain and simple, and sometimes the best stories come from the lowest points.
Let’s start with the men’s side as Coach Nathan Kennedy’s first year has been the definition of “new era growing pains.” Only three players returned from last season with the rest either graduating or hitting the transfer portal. That’s a complete roster turnover and it shows. Early non-conference games were a mixed bag. The men had a gritty road win at Western Colorado (90-83), a solid home victory over New Mexico Highlands (89-81) and a thriller over Southeastern Oklahoma (111-109).
The conference play brought the real test and the Aggies delivered three wins. The first was a statement 87-83 of Lubbock Christian at home, a dramatic 84-82 road victory at Texas A&M International and a hard-fought 76-71 win over Angelo State.
But let’s not sugarcoat the rough patches — the team is on a six-game losing streak. Unfortunately, capped by Saturday’s embarrassing 107-50 road loss at Lubbock Christian. In that game the Aggies shot just 31% from the field and got outrebounded by 20. Defense has been the Achilles’ heel all year it seems, as opponents are averaging 86.1 points while our men manage only 76.8. Turnovers (14.9 per game) and poor rebounding (-4.3 margin) have killed too many possessions.
Yet here’s where we can have hope as Aggie fans, Junior forward Michael Jones from Tarpon Springs, Florida, is putting up 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds on a crazy 60.0% field-goal shooting. Meanwhile, Senior guard Jordan Mitchell from West Memphis, Arkansas, is right behind Jones at 15.0 points, while dishing 4.1 assists. These two are carrying the load and with this young lineup, that matters. There have been flashes of hope with close losses like the 72-71 heartbreaker at Sul Ross State or the 86-79 defeat to Midwestern. I feel these games show that the team can hang with the conference middle.
With eight games left, including four at home, there’s still time to steal a few wins, build confidence and maybe sneak into the LSC Tournament. It won’t be easy by any means with Eastern New Mexico, UT Dallas, and St. Mary’s all ahead, and they are no pushovers. However, if Jones and Mitchell stay hot and the rest of the squad can get theirs, this could be the stretch where the Aggies start looking like the team we expect to come next year.
With Coach Jeffrey Mahoney in his fourth year for the women’s team, he’s facing the exact same rebuilding challenge with only three returners. The record (2-18) stings badly, especially with zero home wins so far. The last two games were particularly tough with a 73-47 loss at Lubbock Christian and a 60-56 loss at home to St. Edward’s. Scoring has been the biggest issue though as the women have averaged 58.9 points per game against 75.2 allowed.
But again, there are bright spots that keep me excited and still cheering. Sophomore forward Madison Griggs from Mansfield, Texas, is playing well — averaging 18.4 points per game. Senior Kloe Heidebrecht from Cache, Oklahoma, is contributing 12.3 points while leading the team in three-pointers (3.2 per game). I remember telling her last season that she just needs to start shooting those three’s and it’s good to see she is doing that. The two women carried the Aggies to their only conference wins, a 75-68 road upset at Western New Mexico on Jan. 15 and a 70-64 home victory over Sul Ross State two days later. That back-to-back sweep was the high point of the season, proof that when the shots fall and the energy is there, this team can beat anyone.
I like to think that the criticism is fair, as there have been too many blowouts and too many nights where the Aggies look overmatched. Defense and rebounding need massive improvement if they want to avoid finishing dead last. With eight games remaining, including home matchups against Oklahoma Christian, UT Dallas, and St. Mary’s, there’s still an opportunity to end the season on a positive note.
Griggs is only a sophomore after all. The freshmen are gaining experience every night and the team is learning to gel with one another.
I don’t think this is the end of the story, it’s just the middle chapter of a longer rebuild for our women’s program. As a student who wants to see our university thrive everywhere it can, it hurts to see these results at times. I’ve seen the empty seats and have heard the quiet crowds. But I’ve also seen the effort, I’ve seen the practices, I’ve spoken with Coach Kennedy and Coach Mahoney and they both preach growth over giving excuses.
Eight games left — that’s eight chances to prove the haters wrong, eight chances to send the seniors out with pride, eight chances to remind everyone why we show up to play.
So yeah, the records aren’t great, but the future, that’s still ours to decide.
In the famous words of President Hunt, “Go Aggies!”