Texas A&M basketball is benefitting in a big way from the first real offseason that they’ve had under Bucky McMillan, as the Aggies hit the transfer portal hard for some prime time talent that will be in the maroon and white next season. Probably the biggest name that they were able to add was guard PJ Haggerty, a transfer from Kansas State who was among the top five players nationally in per-game scoring last season.
Pairing Haggerty with Mackenzie Mgbako and bigs like Jamie Vinson will mean that Texas A&M is set to have a nigh-unstoppable offense night in and night out in the SEC next season. However, the only downside is that Haggerty will be going into his fourth year of play, meaning that he will be a one and done for the Aggies.
That is, that’s what people thought up until now. A new rule that has been recommended by the NCAA for eligibility could mean that Texas A&M will actually get more than one year with the high-scoring guard in their backcourt, provided all goes well in this upcoming season.
NCAA eligibility proposal means PJ Haggerty could spend even more time in the maroon and white
The proposal from the NCAA is a “five in five” rule, meaning that a player has five years to play five seasons worth of eligibility. That clock starts for a given player as soon as he or she enrolls at a given university, or upon the beginning of the athletic year following a player’s 19th birthday, whichever happens first.
The proposal is clearly aimed at stopping a recent trend we’ve seen of players getting a final year of play when they are age 25 or older, like Rashaun Agee for the Aggies this past season. Of course, Agee’s situation was exacerbated by injury and other circumstances, but the fact remains that the NCAA didn’t like the idea of a older guy playing against freshmen in the league.
So how does this affect Haggerty? If this passes, he will be eligible for another year in College Station, as he has only played three up until this point and is headed for his fourth. That means that Texas A&M could get another year of Haggerty in the maroon and white leading the charge for Bucky McMillan (assuming he doesn’t transfer again!)
This is all just a thought experiment at this point, of course— this rule has yet to be fully put into effect, and there’s a whole season of twists and turns ahead for Haggerty and the Aggies. However, you can’t blame Texas A&M fans for dreaming— and this would be a pretty big move from them.
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