Next week marks the start of a new season, and many fans will feel the energy that head coach Bucky McMillan has brought to this basketball program with a newly constructed roster and high aspirations to win a national championship.

Texas A&M hosts Alabama State at Reed Arena for the season opener, and it will be the first chance for the Maroon and White to gauge better where the team stands with a gauntlet schedule.

Two players available ahead of tipoff were the Tennessee transfer Cade Phillips and one of the most anticipated returners in the group, Mackenzie Mgbako. Between what the two said ahead of the 2026-27 season, the press conference offered several notable takeaways, including strong enthusiasm for what's ahead.

“This team has worked their tail off,” Phillips said. “We feel we’ve worked hard, if not harder, than anyone else in the country. We’re excited for what’s ahead for us.”

Looking Ahead

Out of everyone on the roster, five players are for sure back, with a sixth possible as well: Rylan Griffen. Those other five teammates include Zach Clemence, Jamie Vinson, Chris McDermott, Jeremiah Green, and Mgbako.

Mgbako, arguably one of the team's biggest assets, is back after a setback last season that kept him off the court. He sustained a foot injury that required surgery and left the Aggies without much size inside. Now that he is back, he views this group of men at a level many haven’t been able to observe yet.

“We're a really talented team,” Mgbako said. “We work hard. We try to play together. We try to play fast. We like to shoot the ball. So I feel like, like anything else, we're just a high-energy level team — We've got a lot of veterans, a lot of older players who understand the game. So just leading with that kind of mentality is probably what's going to separate us.”

Of course, one of those older guys is Phillips, who brings another physical presence inside and can contribute to winning the rebound battle and knocking down clutch shots. As it will be a bit of an adjustment coming from a Volunteers program that plays at a different pace than what “Bucky Ball” does, he is already catching glimpses of what makes this unit different.

“We feel as a team, we work if not as hard, harder than anybody else in the country,” Phillips stated. “So now that it's time to go against somebody else that's not in the Maroon and White jersey, we're really excited, and we feel really good about what's ahead for us.”