The University of Dayton begins its second portion of the nonconference schedule by playing host to the Texas A&M Aggies. This game will mark the first of three games in an eight-day span for Flyers – with home games against St. Louis and Miami (OH) to follow. While it may be easy to overlook a team like A&M with a rival and a Conference-USA opponent looming, the Flyers had best concentrate on the task at hand before moving on.

So who exactly are the Aggies, and don’t they just play football down there? In College Station there are two sports seasons: football, and spring football practice, but second-year Head Coach Melvin Watkins is doing his best to alter that mentality. In fact, looking to next year, Watkins has already signed the 18th best recruiting class according to Basketball Times. But, that’s for coming years…

The Aggies stand at 3-4, and the schedule so far hasn’t exactly been a ‘who’s who’ of college basketball. The 12-15 team of last year has one lone returning starter – F Jerold Brown. Returning guard Clifton Cook was declared academically ineligible, forcing Watkins to play newcomers Jamaal Gilchrist and Bernard King more than he would have liked. They have handled the role well – each averaging over 10ppg, and dishing out eight assists per game between the two. Another newcomer, Temple JC transfer Carlton Brown, averages 11.8ppg and leads the Aggies in rebounding at 7 per contest.

Averaging about 9 points per game, the Aggies most potent offensive weapon may be Aaron Jack. The 6’8″ forward is hitting 69% of his shots from the floor. Texas A&M boasts eight players at 6’8″ and above, but only Jack and Andy Slocum log significant minutes. To that end, A&M likes to score.

Playing with a rotation primarily made up of six or seven players, the Aggies average 71 points per game, buoyed by an 88 point effort in a loss to North Texas. Remove that game and Texas A&M is scoring a very pedestrian 67ppg as a team.

The primary strengths of this team are three-fold: 1) head coach Melvin Watkins. As noted, the Aggies had a successful early signing period. Since the old Southwest Conference merged with the Big Eight into the Big XII, it should continue to improve the visibility of the program. 2) Youth. King, Gilchrist, and Slocum are all freshmen. While they may struggle with the inexperience this year, better days are ahead – especially since all three form the nucleus of the team. 3) Free throw shooting. While the game versus the Flyers should be no contest, if it’s close, watch out. A&M has struggled scoring points from the field, so UD would be best served not to send King (78%), Larry Scott (79%, 11.7ppg), and Gilchrist (83%) to the line. The Flyers should be able to take advantage of superior depth, experience, and the home court to win this one handily. One can only hope this game is salted away early enough to rest the major players for the games later in the week.