The Texas A&M basketball staff entered the transfer portal today when SMU junior Turick Phelps announced his transfer to the Aggies, adding a second-team All-AAC point guard.
Phelps will be a senior next fall and will join the Aggies for the 2024-2025 season, with one year of eligibility remaining.
At Duncanville High School, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound point man led the Panthers to the 6A state championship in 2021, earning tournament MVP honors and being named the coveted Texas Mr. Basketball. It was.
The four-star playmaker stayed home and took his talents to SMU, playing in 92 games and starting 62 in three seasons with the Mustangs.
In his final two years as the starting point guard, Phelps averaged nearly 16 points per game and excelled in many ways. He left SMU with his 1,137 points, 158 steals, seventh in school history, and his 1.7 steals per game, seventh all-time in the SMU record book. His steal percentage of .068 last season was higher than Wade Taylor IV's team-leading .056 at A&M. His 89 assists in 2024 would have ranked him second at A&M behind Taylor. He made 120 free throws last year, more than twice as many as his SMU teammates, and that total falls short of Taylor's massive 161 free throws.
Check out his highlights below.
Phelps is a very fluid and flexible athlete who excels at driving the lane and pulling up in the paint for midrange jumpers. He welcomes contact and likes to take shots upon contact, which is why he went to the foul line 162 times in 2023-2024.
He's a very fast and explosive athlete, and he used that skillset defensively as one of the best pickpockets in the AAC last season, racking up a whopping 63 steals. He is also a very capable assist man and gets others involved. He's also a solid rebounder for a point guard with his 4.1 boards per contest, which is a priority for Buzz Williams' team. If there's one glaring weakness, it's his low 3-point shooting percentage (21.6%). But that's just part of his game. He only attempted 139 shots beyond the arc compared to Taylor's 302 shots last season.
A&M is looking for a replacement for longtime guard Tyrese Radford, who has exhausted his college eligibility and turned professional baseball.
Phelps becomes the third transfer to commit to the Aggies, following the recent announcements of CJ Wilcher and Farrell Payne.
Portal season is still in full swing. Stay tuned for the latest offseason basketball news from TexAgs as all eyes turn to next year's roster.