Tough as ‘Boots’
THE BATTALION MAROON LIFE 8
Tyrece Radford reunites with Buzz Williams for 2021-22 campaign
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By Michael Horton @mhhort
F
rom being overlooked as a high school prospect, to traveling nearly 900 miles across the country to play college basketball just for his coach to take another job before he had played a minute, the Aggies have a guard with something to prove in 2022. The Texas A&M men’s basketball team took significant swings toward transfers in the 2021 offseason, adding seven players from the transfer portal alone. While several of those transfers have seen significant playing time in the 2021-22 season, one has a unique connection to the coaching staff: redshirt junior guard Tyrece “Boots” Radford. Radford joined the Aggies in August 2021 after three seasons with Virginia Tech, one of which was spent playing for coach Buzz Williams’ Hokies. Out of high school, there was no geographic appeal to playing in Blacksburg, Va., or College Station. The 6-foot-2 guard graduated from McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, La., where he averaged 22.0 points per game as a senior. Despite being named second-team AllState in his final year of high school, Radford fell under the radar during the recruiting process. Although he had developed a formidable status in the Baton Rouge area, he was left unranked by online recruiting databases. The typical publicity and attention that comes standard with modern basketball recruiting largely evaded him. He was not a mainstream prospect. In an era that praises finesse, grace and efficiency from a guard, Radford was a fighter. What he lacked as an outside shooter, he made up for with interior and midrange scoring. Despite his relatively average height, he was never afraid to get tangled up fighting for a rebound. He was not a typical candidate for a Power Six backcourt, but his gritty, unique play style still captured the attention of the right people. Eventually, the Hokies landed the diamond in the rough of the 2018 class. He recalled an unofficial visit with Williams, saying his family was swayed by the integrity
DOUBLE-DIGIT GAMES** ** IN THE 2022 SEASON
of t h e coaching staff. “We really liked what [Williams] was talking about,” Radford said. “It felt very honest, and everything just started rolling from there.” Because of the Hokies’ talented backcourt near the end of the 2010s, Radford found himself buried in the depth chart during his freshman year. He chose to redshirt his inaugural season with Virginia Tech. Following that initial campaign, the budding guard watched the coach who inspired him to travel across the country to play college basketball take another position, as Williams accepted the head coaching job at A&M on April 3, 2019. Job mobility is a common aspect of collegiate athletics, but it can still be challenging for athletes to adjust to a revolving door in positions of leadership. Radford said he did not feel any ill will toward Williams for the decision, but it forced him to mature to the reality of high-level collegiate athletics. “I started looking at basketball at this level as more of a business,” Radford said. “I was younger then, but now I see that it was for the better. I knew I wanted to play for [Williams]. I saw what he was doing and I saw that it worked.” Amid the unexpected change at the helm of the
Graphic by Robert O’Brien & Casey Stavenhagen — THE BATTALION
program, Radford made the transition from an unknown redshirt to a key contributor look effortless. In the 2019-20 season, he played in all 32 of the Hokies games, starting 29. He led the team in rebounding, bringing down 6.2 boards per game. He also
finished eighth among ACC freshmen in scoring with 10.2 points per game. Although Radford achieved personal success in his first season of collegiate play, the Hokies struggled during the first season of coach Mike Young’s tenure, fin
