Metcalf era Shelby Metcalf took over the A&M basketball program in 1963. His impact was immediate, winning the Southwest Conference with a 13–1 conference record for Texas A&M's first title in 13 years. In his 26 years as head coach at Texas A&M, he won six Southwest Conference titles, two
Southwest Conference tournament titles, and led A&M to six NCAA tournament and four NIT appearances. He was fired by former A&M football player and then-athletic director
John David Crow after coaching 19 games of the 1989–1990 season. When asked by the media what happened between the two, Metcalf remarked, "I made a comment that I didn't think John David was all that bright. And I thought I was being generous." Metcalf finished his career at A&M with an overall record of 438–306, making him the all-time winningest men's basketball coach in Southwest Conference history.
The Dark Ages After Metcalf was fired, A&M went through the next 14 years making only one postseason appearance (
1994 NIT), finished above .500 in conference play only twice, and posted an overall record of .500 or above only twice. John Thornton finished out the 1990 season as head coach after Metcalf was fired. Soon after,
Kermit Davis Jr. was hired prior to the 1990–91 season, after posting a 50–12 () record in two seasons at
Idaho. He resigned after one season at 8–21 and Texas A&M began investigating recruiting violations by Davis. He was soon placed on a two-year probation by the NCAA and coached at a community college in Florida.
Tony Barone was hired from
Creighton in 1991 to replace Davis. Barone lasted seven years as head coach of the program, finishing below .500 six times. It was in 1994 that he finished with a 10–4 league record for 2nd place in the Southwest Conference and was invited to the NIT. After Barone finished last in the
Big 12 Conference in 1998,
Melvin Watkins was hired out of
UNC-Charlotte. While a good recruiter, Watkins never finished above seventh in the Big 12. He resigned after going winless (0–16) in conference play in 2004.
Since 2004 Gillispie era After Watkins resigned,
Billy Gillispie, was hired out of
UTEP after leading the Miners to an NCAA tournament appearance and having the largest turnaround of any team in the nation, from 6–24 in 2002–03 to 24–8 in 2003–04. The Aggies, though picked by Big 12 coaches to finish last in the conference, immediately improved under Gillispie, winning their first 10 games and finishing at 21–10, 8–8 in conference. Along the way, the team defeated ranked, in-state rivals
Texas and
Texas Tech. The team earned an NIT bid, Texas A&M's first postseason in 11 years, reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament. Gillispie's second year featured further improvement, with the Aggies defeating three ranked opponents in
Colorado, Texas, and
Syracuse. The team finished with a league record of 10–6 and a win in the Big 12 tournament, Texas A&M's first since the conference first began play in 1996–97. The Aggies reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987 as a 12-seed, upsetting fifth-seed Syracuse in the first round. The Aggies fell in the second round to
LSU on the final shot of the game. In the 2006–07 season, A&M started ranked at #13. Despite early-season losses to
LSU and
UCLA, the Aggies were able to secure a win at
Allen Fieldhouse over #6
Kansas, a first for a Big 12 South team since the conference was formed. They finished with just three losses in conference play (a sweep by
Texas Tech and a double-overtime loss to a
Kevin Durant-led
Texas in
Austin) and were able to secure the #2 seed in the
Big 12 tournament. The Aggies lost in the quarterfinals to
Oklahoma State. They received a #3 seed in the 2007 NCAA championship tournament, their highest seed ever, and reached the Sweet 16. In the postseason, A&M achieved a #9 ranking by the
Associated Press and
ESPN/
USA Today coaches polls, the highest ranking ever attained in school history. In this season, they were the only program in the
Big 12 Conference to have both men's and women's teams competing in the NCAA Tournament – the men as a #3 seed and the women as a #4 seed. On April 6, 2007, Gillispie resigned his position as head coach at Texas A&M to coach at the
University of Kentucky. Four days later, on April 10,
Mark Turgeon, head coach of
Wichita State University, was announced as the new men's basketball head coach at A&M.
Turgeon era Under Turgeon and his staff from 2007 to 2011, the Aggies had their greatest four year win total in program history. The Aggies started the 2007–08 season ranked 14th in the preseason
Coaches Poll. Once the season progressed, they won the 2007
NIT Season Tip-Off to extend their winning streak to 7–0. Their first loss of the season came to unranked
Arizona. After the Arizona game, they would then win eight straight home games against unranked opponents. Team performance spiraled down once conference play had begun, losing to three straight unranked teams—at
Texas Tech, at
Michael Beasley-led
Kansas State, and at home to
Baylor in a 5-overtime classic. The Aggies would post wins at their next five matchups, including one over the 10th-ranked rival
Texas Longhorns and three away games. They then regressed, losing to
Oklahoma State and
Nebraska at home. Another high point came when they defeated Texas Tech 98–54 at home, matching their highest margin of victory in school history (set in 1959 against Texas). The Aggies regressed once again, this time losing 64–37 at Oklahoma. After the blowout, the Aggies were able to revenge Baylor in
Waco, though came back home to lose their final regular season game to eventual national champion
Kansas to finish the season at 8–8 in conference play. The team received a No. 6 bid to the
Big 12 tournament, defeating Iowa State and Kansas State in the first two rounds, but lost to Kansas again in the semifinals. With their 24–10 record after the Big 12 tournament, the Aggies received a No. 9 at-large bid to the West Regional of the
NCAA tournament. In the first round, they defeated 8th-seeded
BYU 67–62 at
Anaheim. In the second round, they faced
UCLA at the same site, though allowed them to escape with a close 51–49 win. The Aggies finished the season with a 25–11 record. The 25 wins matches the record for most wins by a first-year coach at a
Big 12 school, set by former Texas coach
Tom Penders in the 1988–89 season. The 2008–09 Aggies, led by Turgeon in his second year, went 14–1 in non-conference play, with wins over Alabama, Arizona, and LSU; the one loss was handed to them by Tulsa.
Josh Carter and Bryan Davis received preseason Big 12 honorable mention. The team did not make the top 25 of the
preseason AP or Coaches polls, though received votes. During the 2009 signing period, the Aggies signed Naji Hibbert, Khris Middleton, Kourtney Roberson, and Ray Turner, all of whom were listed in the
Rivals.com Top 150 prospects for the class of 2009. The Aggies went 9–7 in Big 12 play to make the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year; they defeated BYU in the first round for the second consecutive year before losing to
UConn. Josh Carter became an All-Big 12 Third Team selection, while Derrick Roland was selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. The Aggies finished 24–10, giving Turgeon 49 wins over two years. In the 2009–10 season, the Aggies played a considerably tougher non-conference schedule, going 10–3. Senior guard Derrick Roland broke his leg grotesquely in December and missed the rest of the season. The team was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the preseason coaches' poll but finished tied for second. With their 22–8 regular-season finish and 11–5 mark in conference play, the Aggies participated in the 2010 Big 12 Tournament and defeated Nebraska before losing to No. 1 Kansas in the semifinals. They received an at–large bid to the
NCAA tournament and earned a 5 seed in the South Region. They defeated 12 seed Utah State in the first round before falling to 4 seed Purdue in overtime in the second round to finish their season at 24–10.
Donald Sloan made All-Big 12 First Team as a senior and Bryan Davis was named to the All-Big 12 Defensive team; they graduated with 100 wins, the most by any class in Aggie basketball history. Turgeon's 73 wins at the conclusion of the season surpassed Gillispie's 70 in three years at A&M. Prior to the beginning of his last year at Texas A&M, Turgeon had negotiated a contract extension and salary increase, but he was growing more unhappy with the Aggie fanbase. During his final season coaching the Aggies Turgeon publicly express unhappiness with the inconsistent fan support from both students and public ticket holders. On the evening of May 9, 2011 at 8pm (local time), Turgeon met with his coaching staff and players to inform them that half an hour earlier he accepted the head coach position at the
University of Maryland. He had visited the campus earlier that day and left with an offer. When asked about his decision at an Aggie Athletics press conference he said "Maryland's got a great basketball tradition. [Texas A&M and Maryland are] real similar. It's a gut feeling." In their meeting earlier that night he told the Aggie players "it was the hardest decision [he] ever had to make... because of [them]." Turgeon said that fan attendance at A&M did not factor into his decision.
Kennedy era Following the 2010 season, Mark Turgeon left the Texas Aggies for the University of Maryland, opening the door for
Billy Kennedy to become the new head coach of the team. Kennedy, who arrived after coaching at
Murray State, was known for his good coaching record for the Racers his final years there. Kennedy's first three years at Texas A&M began as a slow progression in terms of quality of the teams, going
14-18,
18–15, and
18–16 respectively, with his 3rd year team being invited to the annual end-of-year
CBI basketball tournament. The
2014–15 season saw the Aggies vie for a spot in the NCAA tournament, but the team lost 4 of their last 5 games, so they were instead invited to the
NIT. They finished the season with a record of 21–12. His
next year saw one of the best years in Aggie men's basketball in nearly a decade, with the team winning a share the conference regular season title. The Aggies were invited to the NCAA tournament as a 3 seed, and played all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, where they were eventually defeated by
Oklahoma, finishing the season with a record of 28–9. The
next year was considered by many to be a rebuilding year, as 4 starting seniors were graduating, with 3 heading for the
NBA:
Danuel House,
Alex Caruso, and
Jalen Jones. The team, which was led by mostly sophomores, went on to finish the season with a record of 16–15, and were not invited to any postseason tournaments for the first time since 2013. The following year, the
Aggies returned most of their starters from the previous year, now as mostly juniors, and began the season with a lot of promise, landing a No. 25 spot in the preseason AP poll and reaching as high as No. 5 during the regular season. After a string of injuries and suspensions, the team hobbled to the end of the season, but not without landing a spot in the NCAA tournament. Earning a 7 seed, the team went on to defeat
Providence and the defending national champions,
North Carolina, to earn a spot in the Sweet Sixteen, their 2nd in 3 years. The team would lose to
Michigan in the Sweet Sixteen, and finish the season with a record of 22–13. Sophomore starting center
Robert Williams, as well as juniors
Tyler Davis and
D. J. Hogg would then declare for the NBA draft. The
next year was the worst year the Aggies had under Kennedy as head coach since his first one. The departure of 3 starters to the NBA draft as well as senior
Admon Gilder to a season ending illness/injury before the season began did not bode well for the upcoming season. This was further stressed when the only returning starter from the previous season, TJ Starks, got a season-ending injury midway through conference play. With only 7 scholarship players left the Aggies fought hard with the addition of 2 walk-ons taking TJ's place- Mark French and Chris Collins. The Aggies finished the season 14–18. Kennedy was fired following the conclusion of the season.
Williams era Following Kennedy's firing by Scott Woodward, the Aggies hired
Virginia Tech men's basketball coach
Buzz Williams on April 3, 2019, following the Hokies loss to Duke in the Sweet 16 of the
2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The
Aggies were picked to place 12th in the SEC preseason poll and began the season with a rough stretch, including losses to
Temple and
Fairfield. However, the team would eventually find its rhythm in its stifling defense, finishing the regular season with an overall record of 16–14, 10–8 in the SEC, the most wins since the 2016 Sweet Sixteen season and placing them in a tie for 6th in the conference. However, before any postseason play could begin, the season was cut short due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020–21 season was marred by injury and illness, finishing with a record of 8–10, 2–8 in SEC play. The 2021–2022 season started with promise as A&M began SEC play 4-0 but hit a rough patch, losing 8 conference games in a row. However, the Aggies would catch fire late in the season, winning 8 of their final 9 games. A&M would enter the SEC Tournament, where they would upset #1 seed and SEC Regular Season Champions Auburn, and an Arkansas team that many considered one of the hottest teams in the country. The Aggies would lose to Tennessee in the tournament final, costing the team a spot in the NCAA tournament. They went on to play for the NIT championship where they lost to Xavier, 73–72. The following few years would see both consistency and a lack thereof. The
2022–23 team finished the season with a record of 25–10, 15–3 in SEC play, the most conference wins in school history, but was given a lower seed in the NCAA tournament due to losses early in the season to teams such as
Murray State and
Wofford. They would go on to lose to
Penn State in the first round of the tournament. The
2023–24 team had high hopes due to the strong season the prior year, but more inconsistency led to a season record of 21–14, 9–9 in SEC play, and, after defeating
Nebraska in the first round, the season ended to a second round defeat in the NCAA tournament to
Houston. The
2024–25 team, which would end up being Williams' last, played strong basketball throughout the season until the last few weeks where the team lost 6 of their last 9 games. A final record of 23–11, 11–7 in SEC play, a first-round victory against
Yale in the NCAA tournament was all the team would attain before being defeated in the second round by
Michigan. Following their defeat, Williams accepted the head coaching position at
Maryland.
McMillan era On April 4, 2025, it was announced that the Aggies had hired
Samford Bulldogs men's basketball coach
Bucky McMillan as the team's next head coach, replacing
Buzz Williams. He quickly got into action, signing North Alabama's star guard Jacari Lane and Kansas' Zach Clemence out of the transfer portal, attempting to rebuild a disbanded roster after Williams left the program for Maryland.
Top 25 poll finishes The
AP Poll first appeared on January 20, 1949, and has since been published continuously. The
Coaches' Poll began selecting the top 20 teams on a weekly basis during the 1950–1951 college basketball season. It was initially published by
United Press from 1950 through 1990, followed by
USA Today/
CNN from 1991 through 1996, and
USA Today/
ESPN from 1997 through 2004, and
USA Today from 2005 to the present. In the 1990–1991 basketball season the poll expanded to a top 25, and it has since retained this format. Both polls referred to below are the final regular-season polls; that is, not the final post-tournament polls. ==Postseason==