The Southeastern Conference took the mantra “It Just Means More” quite literally when it came to adding players through the transfer portal to their men’s basketball programs. Texas A&M is the latest school to add someone from this new addition to the collegiate athletics landscape. On Wednesday, junior guard Tyrece Radford announced on his Twitter that he will sign with the Aggies.
A member from the 2018 graduating class of McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, L.A., Radford comes to College Station after a two-year career at Virginia Tech. Standing at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Radford had a tumultuous career with the Hokies that saw him in hot water once he was charged with “one misdemeanor count of first-offense driving while intoxicated and one misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon,” according to Mark Brennan of the Martinsville Bulletin. After being suspended from team activities on Jan. 25, Radford went a full month before checking into his next game. He returned to action against Georgia Tech on Feb. 23 and played 36 minutes in the 69-53 loss.
On the court, Radford was a solid contributor on a Virginia Tech team that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a ten-seed. Between his two seasons, he averaged 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds a game as an efficient scorer inside the three-point arc. He is an above-average rebounder for his size and can contribute at a high level for long stretches, as evidenced by his 32.2 minutes a game this past season at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
Radford is one of eight players new to the Aggie men’s basketball team, five of which came by way of the transfer portal. He joins Javonte Brown-Ferguson from UConn, Henry Coleman from Duke, Ethan Henderson from Arkansas and Marcus Williams from Wyoming in calling Texas A&M their new home after using their one-time immediate eligibility as a transfer. Head coach Buzz Williams also signed three high school players; four stars Manny Obaseki and Wade Taylor, and three-star Ashton Smith, who all are from Texas.
Radford finds his way back to the coach he committed to, as Coach Williams held the same position at Virginia Tech before being hired by Texas A&M on Apr. 3, 2019. While Coach Williams has yet to see high-level success with the Aggies, he did previously help elevate the Hokies to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances between 2017-2019, including a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 2019. He is 277-179 in 456 career games as a head coach over 14 seasons between New Orleans, Marquette, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M.
All around the conference, schools in the SEC have continued to retool their rosters by bringing in transfers, helping to elevate the conference and become more competitively balanced from top to bottom. According to Barttorvik’s 2022 T-Rank Projections, the SEC now has seven teams ranked in the top-50 in the country, tying them with the Big 10 and Big 12 for the most in the country. The conference boasts 49 players joining teams via transfer. Georgia and Texas A&M lead the conference in additions from the portal, both bringing in five players from outside schools.
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