Bucky McMillan and the Texas A&M Aggies are cooking following the addition of former Tennessee big man Cade Phillips. The 6-foot-9, 210-pounder suffered a season-ending injury, but now, he's back better than ever, and McMillan now has a defensive anchor in the paint.
BREAKING:
— Luke Evangelist (@lukeevangelist_) April 16, 2026
Tennessee forward Cade Phillips has committed to Texas A&M 👍
Phillips averaged 3.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and shot 65.4% FG% in 16.9 MPG last season.
His career OReb% of 13.7% is now the highest in A&M history and 21st in SEC history.
Welcome to Aggieland @CadePhillips16 pic.twitter.com/0tXfFPWVLl
Phillips is known for his physicality, rebounding, defense and hustle. He's not afraid to challenge his opponent at the rim and averaged 1.1 blocks per game in 10 games. He was on track to be a full-time starter at Tennessee, but that's going to have to wait until he gets to Aggieland.
This is a massive message to the SEC, but especially to Alabama and Nate Oats. The Crimson Tide had a clear advantage, but they still fell short.
Cade Phillips commits to Texas A&M despite family ties to Alabama
Believe it or not, Phillips has some obvious family ties all around Alabama. He's the son of former Alabama football player John David Phillips and women's basketball player Reagan Croyle. Phillips is also the nephew of former Tide star QB Brodie Croyle.
You want to go deeper? His grandfather, John Croyle, was an All-American defensive lineman under Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama.
Pretty easy to see the connection, and it looked like Alabama was going to be the one to get Phillips to help replace star center Aiden Sherrell. That's going to have to wait, but either way, A&M fans should be celebrating this.
Billy Liucci of TexAgs says McMillan and his staff are just getting started.
Love @BuckyBasketball's addition of @CadePhillips16 to the Aggie basketball roster. This is one of those pickups that's going to turn out to be a key piece of next year's puzzle.
— Billy Liucci (@billyliucci) April 16, 2026
Stay tuned, because this staff is just getting warmed up 🔥
Speaking of bigs, Jamie Vinson is returning next season and showed some promise in a few games last season, especially a thunderous jam against his old Texas Longhorns. There's still work to do, but this is huge news for the Ags.
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