DENVER, CO (CBB REVIEW)– Like many colleges, Texas A&M basketball made a splash in the transfer portal this past offseason.
One of those splashes included junior center Pharrel Payne. He grew up in Cotton Grove, MN in the Twin Cities suburbs, and stayed local for college by committing to Minnesota.
Payne made an impact with the Golden Gophers, being the teams’ fourth leading scorer in both seasons there. He also started 19 games during the 2023-24 campaign.
But after two years in Saint Paul where Minnesota failed to make the NCAA tournament, Payne looked to leave his home state as he entered the transfer portal.
“Ultimately, I was looking for a change,” Payne said.
That change came with Texas A&M basketball, who was the first Power 5 school to see and offer Payne. It spotted him working out at an auxiliary gym for a non-shoe-company-sponsored-team at 8 a.m. From there, the excitement grew.
“I remember sitting in coach’s office, watching some of (his) clips,” graduate guard Wade Taylor IV said. “I sent him a text immediately (saying) ‘we need you.’ Ever since he’s been on campus, he’s been outstanding, on and off the floor. I’m proud to say he’s my big man.”
“I love the spirit,” Texas A&M basketball head coach Buzz Williams said about Payne. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a player that’s as extroverted as he is that’s also pure in how he processes life.”
After nearly a month in the transfer portal, Payne committed to the Aggies on Apr. 23, 2024.
“When (Williams) told me what they were doing over there at Texas A&M, I wanted to join,” Payne said.
“It seemed like that was going to be my new home.”
Payne has seen same amount of production once he arrived in College Station. He has played 33 games, starting 14 of them this season, and averages more than nine points per game.
Additionally, Payne had reached double figures 14 times, but had struggled in Texas A&M basketball’s 94-89 loss to Texas in the second round of the SEC tournament. The Minnesota transfer was searching for a momentum swing ahead of his first NCAA tournament game against No. 13 Yale in the South Region.
“I would say my mindset before was to be aggressive,” Payne said. “My inside game was working well all night.”
Payne’s inside game led to a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds, doing so in 25 minutes off the bench. He led his team’s charge at the rim, as Texas A&M basketball scored 48 points in the paint en route to an 80-71 victory over Yale on Thursday evening at Ball Arena.
“To his credit, since the day after Labor Day, he’s never backed up one step,” Williams said. “He’s been accountable. He’s continued to make strides in how we want to play.”
Payne did not miss a shot and went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in his 15-point second half performance. The game started to work more in his favor after the Bulldogs’ tallest player, sophomore center Samson Aletan, picked up his fourth foul a minute into the second half. Consequently, Aletan only saw the court for 15 minutes.
“We just didn’t have the size, the matchup against (Payne) inside,” Yale head coach James Jones said. “(It) didn’t take us by surprise…The young man had a great game.”
“If we went out and played them tomorrow, I’m not certain if he had those similar numbers,” he added. “But today he had a really good game against us, and credit to him and their team.”
Texas A&M basketball advances to the Round of 32 for the second consecutive year, and will return to Ball Arena to face No. 5 Michigan on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. EDT. A win would give the Aggies their first Sweet 16 berth under Williams, who will look to keep their momentum from Thursday evening.
“We played pretty well in the first half,” Taylor said. “We still had a couple of things that we could have cleaned up, which we tried to do in the second half. Ultimately we played to the game plan, and I think we executed it pretty well.”