Aggies injuries are threatening to spoil their last season in the Big 12.
It's far too early to worry about college basketball
rankings. This time last year, the eventual
champion Connecticut Huskies were outside of the AP's top 25 and without a
single vote from the coaches.
Still, with all that has gone awry for the Texas A&M
basketball team to begin this season, the Aggies will take at least a bit of
pride in moving up one slot in the latest updates to the AP Poll (19th) and
Coaches Poll (18th).
The Aggies are also intent on carrying a ton of pride with
them to the SEC where they'll begin play next fall. That should help Thursday's battle against
the Mississippi State Bulldogs take on conference feel to open the 2K Sports
Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET,
ESPN2).
Early NCAA basketball odds had A&M -4 with 132 for
the total.
Texas A&M has had the dickens of a time with basketball
coaches, and the latest drama is far more touching and personal than the
previous two who left for supposed greener pastures. Billy Kennedy was hired away from Murray State
this past spring when Mark Turgeon bolted for Maryland.
It was disclosed in early October that Kennedy had been diagnosed with
Parkinson's Disease.
The 47-year-old missed Texas A&M's opener, an 81-59
skate past Liberty
as an 18.5 point favorite in which assistant Glynn Cyprien had the reins. Kennedy was on the bench for the 83-58 win
against Southern, a game that was off the board.
Amidst the ugliest of college sports scandals specifically
and the football season in general, Kennedy's story has been lost. Here's a guy who has spent more than a
quarter-century of his life schlepping as a head coach with smaller programs or
assistant coach at bigger schools (including A&M, Cal and Miami-FL), and
he's felled by a disease without a cure once he finally reaches his first
really big job.
What's more is he inherited a talented team that was about
to head to his part of the country in the SEC.
Kennedy was born in the New Orleans
suburb of Metairie.
One problem for Kennedy on the court right now is a big
chunk of that talent he inherited is sidelined with an injury. Khris Middleton, the team's leading scorer
last season, went down early in the opening win over Liberty and the result was a right knee that
needed minor surgery. The 6-7 junior
forward is expected to miss about a month.
Middleton's absence shifts more of the scoring load to Ray
Turner, David Loubeau and Kourtney Roberson.
So far, Ray Turner has responded with 20 points in each of the first two
games.
The Aggies are also getting solid guard play so far from the
trio of Elston Turner, Dash Harris and freshman Jamal Branch who figures to
become an even bigger part of the action as the season progresses.
The competition A&M will face in this tournament will be
a huge step-up for A&M, however, starting with Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were fifth amongst the NCAA basketball picks on the SEC futures
board at +1000 to win the conference where Kentucky (-150) is expected to dominate. Though not among the
SEC's elite, MSU is very capable of a 22-23 win season and part of next March's
dance.
Rick Stansbury's squad boasts a big frontcourt with Renardo
Sidney (6-10), Arnett Moultrie (6-11) and Wendell Lewis (6-9), and has the
experience of senior Dee Bost in the backcourt.
The Bulldogs also have one of the best freshman guards you may not know
yet in Rodney Hood.
One injury note for Mississippi
State is Sidney who is questionable
for Thursday's game after missing the Bulldogs' recent win over South Alabama with a groin injury.
Taking a Chance: We don't
know if Sidney
will play, but we do know that Middleton is out for this game, and losing a
talent like that is huge for A&M heading to MSG for this tourney. Mississippi State doesn't lag behind the
Aggies that much in talent to begin with, regardless what the rankings
say. Bulldogs get the best of the
Aggies, 64-62.