Category: News & Notes

Five Aggies named to Athlon Sports’ preseason All-American team

A look at the five Aggies featured on the latest preseason All-American team.

Athlon Sports has been releasing their various rankings during the bulk of the summer, and have just recently revealed their preseason All-America Team heading into the 2022 college football season.

For Texas A&M, 5 players, including Antonio Johnson, Ainias Smith, Layden Robinson, Nik Constantinou, and Devon Achane were selected, which comes as no surprise due to their experience, skill set, and importance to any success the team will endure this season. All 5 players were also selected for Athlons’ SEC All-Conference Team, cementing them as some of the top players in one of the toughest conferences in college football, with numerous championship contenders coming out of the conference this season.

Antonio Johnson is going into his junior season slated to play snaps at both safety and slot corner depending on the package, coming in with very high expectations as one of the top defensive prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft due to his size, speed, and elite coverage ability.

Ainias Smith is returning for his final season with the Aggies as the extremely reliable offensive swiss army knife, excelling in the slot receiver role on offense, and providing a veteran presence in the return game on special teams.

Layden Robinson is entering his third and possibly final season with Texas A&M as a potential early-round 2023 NFL Draft choice, bringing his 6-4, 320-pound frame and advanced run blocking skills to an offensive line chock-full of talent, with Robinson being the most experienced starting lineman.

Nik Constantineau is a redshirt junior and has his eyes on the Ray Guy award this season after being a finalist for the honor during the 2020 season, and notching his best statistical season punting with the Aggies during the 2021 season, with 22 punts landing inside the 20-yard line, and 19 50 yard punts on the year.

Devon Achane might be the most high-profile player for Texas A&M, and the face of the offensive identity tied with Ainias Smith. As the primary backup to now Los Angeles Chargers running back, Isaiah Spiller, Achane rushed ran for 910 yards and 9 touchdowns, while accounting for 261 receiving yards during the 2021 season. Achane is known for elite speed and acceleration, becoming even more evident during his time in track and field, setting numerous records, and has the unique ability to score anywhere on the field at any time.

Here are the team designations for all 5 players selected to the Athlon Sports’ All-America Team:

Men’s golf 2022-2023 schedule released

A look at the upcoming schedule for the men’s golf team.

The complete 2022-2023 men’s golf schedule was released yesterday afternoon as Brian Kortan begins his tenure as the head coach for the Aggies. Coach Kortan served as the program’s interim head coach from 2020-2021 in which the 2021 season saw the Aggies reach the NCAA Albuquerque Regional.

In the fall, the Aggies play at the Badger Invitational Sunday, September 11-Tuesday, September 13 at University Ridge Golf Course. The SEC Match Play Championship takes place Sunday, September 25 – Tuesday, September 27 at the Old Overton Club. Two final fall events take place in October – the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, at The Blessings Golf Club, and the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, at The Golf Club of Georgia, Monday, October 3 – Wednesday, October 5 and Friday, October 21 – Sunday, October 23, respectively.

In the winter, the Aggies find themselves playing at the Arizona Intercollegiate, at the Tuscan Country Club, from Monday, January 30 – Tuesday, January 31, play in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, at The Ocean Course at Hokuala, on Thursday, February 16 – Saturday, February 18 and round out February at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, at Southern Highlands Golf Club, on Sunday, February 26 – Tuesday, February 28.

In the spring, the Aggies play in the Louisiana Classics, at Oakbourne Country Club, on Monday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 14, play at the Valspar Collegiate, at Floridian National Golf Club, on Monday, March 27 – Tuesday, March 28, and host The Aggie Invitational, at Traditions Club, on Monday, April 10 – Tuesday, April 11.

The 2023 SEC Championships are set to begin on Wednesday, April 19 at Sea Island. The championships will be played through Sunday, April 23.

NCAA Championship action begins on Monday, May 15.

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Kyle Field is listed at one of the most intimidating stadiums in college football

Kyle Field is listed at one of the most intimdating stadiums in college football

Every weekend during the college football season, one team prepares to travel to their opponent’s stadium, hoping to withstand the various elements that make each environment unique, composed of passionate fanbases who will do anything to help their team secure a win. From the whiteouts during night games at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium to having to face the raucous crowd at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium, teams feed off of the crowd’s undying passion and energy and can change the momentum of any game at any moment.

Recently, Brad Crawford of 247Sports composed a list ranking the “9 most intimidating stadiums in 2022”, coming at a perfect time just months before the start of the 2022 college football season. For Texas A&M. Kyle Field is sacred ground, and has become a larger presence as one of the more intimidating venues since it’s move to the SEC in 2012. And to no ones surprise, it made the top 9, with Crawford explaining his selection:

At field level, the volume is deafening inside Kyle Field when Texas A&M plays a nationally-ranked opponent. The Aggies could get as many as four of those opportunities this season, beginning with Mario Cristobal and Miami in Week 3, followed by anticipated games with Ole Miss, Florida and LSU over the second half of the schedule. This will be Jimbo Fisher’s most talented squad in College Station, one most analysts believe could be a College Football Playoff contender if they’re able to beat conference favorite Alabama on the road in October.

The Top 9: 

  1. Memorial Stadium (Clemson)
  2. Ohio Stadium (Ohio State)
  3. Neyland Stadium (Tennesee)
  4. Sanford Stadium (Georgia)
  5. Tiger Stadium (LSU)
  6. Autzen Stadium (Oregon)
  7. Kyle Field (Texas A&M)
  8. Beaver Stadium (Penn State)
  9. D.W.R Stadium (Arkansas)

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Women’s basketball 2022-2023 home and road SEC opponents announced

A look at the women’s conference schedule for 2022-23.

With the new leader and 2021 SEC Coach of the Year, Joni Taylor, set to begin her Texas A&M tenure in the 2022-2023 season, the Aggies learned their Southeast Conference home and road opponents this week. Their home slate will consist of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi St., Ole Miss, Missouri, and Tennessee. Their road schedule has the Aggies playing at Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Mississippi St., South Carolina, and Vanderbilt.

Game dates, tip-off times, and viewing information will be confirmed and released at a later date.

The Aggies’ non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date, as well, when opponents and game details are finalized.

There will be no return to Athens in 2022-2023 for coach Taylor, but emotions will be running high when the Aggies host the Lady Bulldogs in Reed Arena come conference play. A proven winner and leader the entire athletics department believes in, coach Taylor will look to bring Aggies women’s basketball back to national prominence as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Ainias Smith set to host Houston youth football camp this weekend

Ainias Smith set to host Houston youth football camp this weekend

Ainias Smith, a Mike Farrell top-50 WR, is set to co-host a youth football camp this weekend at George Bush High School in Richmond, Texas. The camp is open to participants from ages 8-18-years-old.

Smith will coach this camp, joined by other notable Aggies, including the likes of Haynes King, Antonio Johnson, Tyreek Chappell, Yulkeith Brown, Chris Russell, Tunmise Adeleye and Layden Robinson. The non-contact, football skills camp will also receive instruction from the HCL Extreme coaching staff.

The camp will be segmented into a morning and afternoon session, with individual position group training in the morning and 7-on-7 work in the afternoon for skill players. All linemen will have a linemen challenge in their afternoon session. Camp participants will also leave George Bush High School with a photo and autograph from each Aggie!

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How good is A&M’s running back group for the 2022 season?

Athlon Magazine Ranks the top 10 Running back groups for the 2022 season

Athlon Magazine, the annual college football-based publication from Athlon Sports, ranked the top 10 running back groups heading into the 2022 College Football season, highlighting the importance of the position and the versatile athletes that occupy it.

Overall, there isn’t a shortage of future NFL talent within the rankings, with players such as Texas’ Bijan Robinson, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson, Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen, and Auburn’s Tank Bigsby, and Texas A&M’s Devon Achane leading running back units for some of the top-ranked teams in the country.

For the Aggies, starting experience may be lacking after the departure of Isaiah Spiller to the NFL, yet the depth chart from a talent perspective is the best its been in years, with the redshirt freshman tandem of Amari Daniels and LJ Johnson challenging for the primary back up spot behind the starter, Devon Achane.

Devon Achane played in all 12 games during the 2021 season while producing at a high rate with 7 yards per rush, and accounting for 910 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns, with 261 receiving yards as well, cementing himself as one of the most reliable weapons in the entire college football landscape.

Now, without further ado, here are the top-10 running back groups for the 2022 college football season!

Ainias Smith makes Mike Farrell’s top-50 WR’s list

Ainias Smith makes Mike Farrell’s top-50 WR’s list

On Thursday, Mike Farrell released his top-50 wide receiver’s list for the 2022 college football season. Coming in at No. 44 is Aggies’ own, Ainias Smith.

Smith, a senior from Missouri City, TX, will look to build upon and exceed his 2020 and 2021 production and remain the alpha in the Aggies’ wide receiver room. In 2020, Smith played in 10 games and totaled 564 receiving yards on 43 receptions. He finished the season with six receiving touchdowns. Smith was also effective as a rusher totaling nearly 300 rushing yards on 49 attempts – an average of six yards per attempt. He finished the season with four rushing touchdowns, as well.

In 2021, Smith’s production slightly declined as he totaled 509 receiving yards, on 47 receptions, in 12 games played. Smith matched his six touchdown receptions but his yards per catch and yards per game dropped from 13.1 yards/catch in 2020 to 10.8 in 2021, and 56.4 yards/game in 2020 to 42.4 in 2021. It may be safe to suggest that a banged-up quarterback room led to this slight decline following Kellen Mond’s consistency, availability and production in 2020.

With a heated quarterback battle underway in College Station, Smith will look to be the go-to guy for whoever comes out victorious as QB1.

Men’s basketball 2022-2023 home and road SEC opponents announced

Men’s basketball 2022-2023 home and road SEC opponents announced

The Aggies learned their 2022-2023 Southeast Conference home and road schedule earlier this week. Their home slate will consist of Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Their road schedule has the Aggies playing at Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi St., Missouri and South Carolina.

Game dates, tip-off times, and viewing information will be confirmed and released at a later date.

The Aggies’ non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date, as well, when opponents and game details are finalized.

The Aggies will look to improve in conference play in 2022-2023 as they finished 9-9 in regular-season conference contests last season – a 5-4 home record and a 4-5 record away from Reed Arena. Finding greater success in the 2021-2022 SEC Tournament, Coach Williams will look to get his guys off to a strong SEC-start this season as conference success is one of the clearest paths to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Aggies’ softball All-American Haley Lee enters transfer portal

Aggies’ softball All-American Haley Lee enters transfer portal

Per confirmed sources at Extra Inning Softball, Aggies’ All-American catcher, Haley Lee, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal. With one year of eligibility remaining in 2023 – and no graduate transfer distinction, Lee’s final collegiate season will no longer be taking place in College Station.

Lee’s breakout season took place in 2021, as a true junior, in which a .297 career batting average exploded to .422 after starting all 55 games for the Aggies. Lee went on to hit 25 HRs, 51 RBIs, scored 42 runs, earned 36 walks, had a .955 slugging percentage and a .536 on-base percentage en route to NFCA Third Team All-America honors, as well as earning Softball America’s NCAA Most Improved Player.

Lee’s 2021 was no fluke as she followed suit in her most recent 2022 campaign. Lee started all 59 games and posted hitting statistics that included a .405 batting average, 15 HRs, 45 RBIs, 15 doubles, 54 runs, earned 50 walks, a slugging percentage of .762 and an on-base percentage of .543 en route to an All-SEC First Team selection.

Whether this development took place because of the recent parting between Texas A&M and Hall of Fame former head coach, Jo Evans, or not, newly hired head coach, Trisha Ford, will need to work tirelessly to replace Lee’s experience and production in 2023.

Antonio Johnson makes Walter Camp 2022 Preseason All-American Team

Antonio Johnson makes Walter Camp 2022 Preseason All-American Team

Antonio Johnson is coming off what is by far his most successful season statistically as the starting slot cornerback for Texas A&M and has been recognized by various outlets as one of the players to watch during the upcoming 2022 college football season.

Most recently, Johnson was selected as a member of the Walter Camp 2022 Preseason All-American Team on the First Team Defense, joining fellow standouts at the defensive back position including Cam Smith (South Carolina), Keelee Ringo (Georgia), and Eli Ricks (Alabama). During the 2021 season for the Aggies, Johnson broke out defensively, recording 79 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and 1 interception, and was consistently one of the best defensive backs from a coverage standpoint while performing as a borderline shutdown player in the slot.

Overall, Antonio Johnson is well-positioned to perform at his predicted All-American level, while his NFL Draft stock also continues to rise due to his size, speed, versatility, and instincts, and the fact that his elite skill set at the slot corner position is needed more than ever due to the high usage of NFL offenses attacking the middle of the field.

As the off-season continues and camps begin to take shape, every college football program will have a number of question marks at a number of position groups, but for the Aggies, no one will be questioning the readiness, determination, and overwhelming talent that Antonio Johnson possesses, and his impact during the 2022 season.

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