Texas A&M Basketball

Texas A&M men's basketball coach Buzz Williams will be suspended for two regular-season games after violating NCAA rules during the spring and summer.

The NCAA announced the infractions Friday, including Williams having impermissible contact with a prospect during an evaluation period.

The school is also responsible for an unnamed assistant coach holding 24 supervised, off-campus workouts with both a prospect and current student-athletes, which were prohibited because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Texas A&M was fined $5,000 for the violations and will be placed on probation for two years. 

The Level 2 violations will also result in some recruiting restrictions for the 2021-22 season.

The program will have five fewer official visits during the upcoming year and will be unable to host unofficial visitors during the first three SEC games.

It could especially hurt the Aggies considering they only have one committed prospect in the 2022 class, via 247Sports, unrated point guard Amaree Abram. 

Texas A&M had a three-man class in 2021 that rated No. 26 overall nationally.

That class might help turn things around for a team that finished just 8-10 last season while many of its games were canceled because of COVID-19. The squad went 16-14 during Williams' first year with the team in 2019-20.

Williams joined Texas A&M after impressive stretches at both Marquette and Virginia Tech, reaching the Sweet 16 with each program.

Texas A&M star Chennedy Carter has declared for the 2020 WNBA draft.  

"It saddens me that I was not able to chase a national championship with my teammates this year due to circumstances beyond our control," Carter said in a statement. "Although a difficult decision, I am looking forward to pursuing my childhood dream of playing in the WNBA."

Carter averaged 21.3 points and 3.5 assists as a junior for the Aggies.

She missed a little over a month due to an ankle injury. In her second game back, she dropped 37 points on Tennessee in a 73-71 win over the Lady Vols.

Carter's most memorable game came in Texas A&M's 2019 Sweet 16 loss to Notre Dame. The 5'7" guard attempted to go toe to toe with Fighting Irish star Arike Ogunbowale. She had 35 of the Aggies' 80 points, though she needed 34 shot attempts to get there.

Carter's decision is great news for the Atlanta Dream, who have the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft.

Sabrina Ionescu, Lauren Cox and Satou Sabally are widely considered to be the top three players, so none of the trio is likely to be available when Atlanta is on the clock. Without Carter on the board, the Dream would've been left scrambling for alternatives among a solid pack of players without a true standout.

Now, the franchise will potentially have a young star to coincide with their rebrand and usher in a new era after Angel McCoughtry's departure.

The WNBA announced it plans on holding the draft as scheduled on April 17 despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be held virtually with no players or media present.

Former Texas A&M guard David Edwards has died because of complications from the coronavirus.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Edwards' former Texas A&M teammate Charles Henderson broke the news Monday on Facebook. A university representative later confirmed that Edwards had died.

Edwards began his college basketball career at Georgetown before transferring and spending three productive seasons at Texas A&M from 1991-92 through 1993-94.

Henderson wrote the following about Edwards on Monday:

"Never in a million years would I have even imagined my backcourt teammate would go before his time. I just got the news that Dave Edwards passed away. For those that have been praying for him, he is now in a better place.

"This coronavirus has hit me in the heart. Dave was one of the fiercest competitors and best point guards that I've ever met. Nearly unstoppable. Learned how to become tough as nails competing against him everyday and shaking off adversity."

Edwards was a star at Texas A&M, averaging 13.5 points, 7.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals in 85 games as a member of the Aggies and making the All-Southwest Conference team three times.

The New York native also still owns the Texas A&M single-season record for assists with 265 as a senior during the 1993-94 campaign. Edwards is also one of only six players in the history of NCAA Division I men's basketball to record a triple-double in back-to-back games, doing so on March 5 and 10, 1994, per ESPN.

Despite all his success at Texas A&M, Edwards' only taste of the NCAA tournament came in 1989-90, when he reached the second round as a member of the Hoyas.

Edwards is the second known former player from a major college basketball program to die as a result of COVID-19. On Monday, Lamont Middleton told Zach Braziller of the New York Post that former St. John's guard Lee Green died from the coronavirus.     

As of Monday, over 14,500 people worldwide had died from COVID-19, including 402 in the United States.

Texas A&M police are investigating the burglary of men's head basketball coach Buzz Williams' car and are asking for help identifying two persons of interest. 

The police department released still photos showing two men who are wanted for questioning regarding the theft of items from his car, including a credit card. Police say the card was used to make several purchases, including gift cards which were then used at the Houston Texans-Kansas City Chiefs divisional-round playoff game.

Details on the case are still emerging. Police have not yet been able to identify the persons of interest.

Williams has not commented on the matter. The 47-year-old coach is in his first season at Texas A&M after spending five seasons at Virginia Tech.

The Aggies are currently 10-9. 

Virginia Tech confirmed Wednesday that head coach Buzz Williams has left the school to take the same position at Texas A&M.

Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com first reported the agreement Tuesday. Williams has coached the past five years at Virginia Tech after spending time at Marquette and New Orleans.

The 46-year-old has a 253-155 record at the Division I level, including 100 wins with the Hokies, and he completed a tremendous turnaround in his most recent stop.

After taking over a program that went three years without a winning season and was 9-22 the year before he was hired, Williams needed only two seasons to get to 20 wins with the Hokies. In 2018-19, his fifth year with the program, he helped the squad reach its second Sweet 16 in program history.

The team nearly knocked off No. 1 overall seed Duke before suffering a 75-73 loss.

At Marquette, the coach reached the Sweet 16 in three straight seasons, including one run to the Elite Eight.

As successful as he has been in his previous stops, Williams is a Texas native who has worked as an assistant for the Aggies before becoming a head coach. His familiarity could make this a natural fit as he tries to turn around another program.

Texas A&M is only one year removed from a trip to the Sweet 16, but Billy Kennedy was fired this year after a disappointing 14-18 season.

With plenty of returning talent, this team could be a real threat in the SEC.

Texas A&M is reportedly prepared to offer Virginia Tech head basketball coach Buzz Williams a multiyear contract worth $3.5 million annually after Duke eliminated the Hokies in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament Friday night.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported the update Saturday and noted the Aggies have "no secondary candidate" to replace Billy Kennedy, who was fired March 15.

Williams guided Va. Tech to a 26-9 record during the 2018-19 season, including wins over Saint Louis and Liberty during the first week of March Madness. All nine of the team's losses came against opponents ranked inside the KenPom Top 50.

The 46-year-old Texas native owns a 100-69 record across five years with the Hokies despite posting an 11-22 mark in his first season while rebuilding the program. He's led the team to three straight NCAA tournament appearances.

He previously served as head coach of New Orleans (14-17 in one season) and Marquette (139-69 in six seasons). He led the Golden Eagles to five consecutive March Madness berths starting in 2009, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2013.

Last week, Williams declined to talk about a potential move to A&M and said he didn't talk about the situation with his players before the NCAA tournament.

"Nothing," he told reporters about what he's discussed with his players. "Those are my guys. I know you don't get it, but those are my guys, and that kind of stuff I can't control. And relative to my relationship with them and my family, I don't think it's appropriate to talk about that."

The $3.5 million salary would tie him with Wichita State's Gregg Marshall for the 12th-highest amount in college basketball, per USA Today. He makes $3 million at Virginia Tech.

Texas A&M is coming off a 14-18 season after going 22-13 and reaching the Sweet 16 last year.

The Texas A&M Aggies will reportedly have a new basketball coach next season.

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle cited a source who said head coach Billy Kennedy will not return in 2019-20 for what would have been his ninth season with the program. The Aggies were just 13-17 overall and 6-12 in SEC play this season and earned a No. 11 seed in the conference tournament that starts Wednesday.

Kennedy sports a 150-115 record in eight seasons with Texas A&M.

According to Zwerneman, the Aggies will target Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams, who was an assistant coach for the school from 2004 to 2006.

This comes after Kennedy—who coached at Centenary, Southeastern Louisiana and Murray State prior to the Aggies job—said he expected to be back when asked about his job status Tuesday.

The Aggies have been to just two NCAA tournaments under Kennedy after a run of six straight appearances before he was hired, but those Big Dance appearances each came in the last three years and saw the team advance to the Sweet 16 both times. They also won the SEC regular-season championship during the 2015-16 campaign.

What's more, Kennedy has the No. 25 recruiting class in the country for the 2019 cycle coming in, per 247Sports.

Still, Zwerneman pointed to low crowd numbers in addition to what has been a disappointing season for the SEC school.

As for Williams, he has coached at New Orleans, Marquette and Virginia Tech with a 250-153 overall record. The Hokies are well on their way to a third straight NCAA tournament appearance at 23-7 and No. 16 in the country.