Texas A&M Basketball: Point guard J.J. Caldwell ineligible this season

Texas A&M basketball’s potential starting point guard has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA.

Beyond Kentucky, the SEC is an unknown conference that is searching for a second or third team that can potentially increase the league’s national reputation.

At this point, there is no capable squad at the forefront, but the Texas A&M Aggies are typically the team (at least since Billy Donovan dashed for the NBA) that finishes second in the league.

Unfortunately for Billy Kennedy and the Aggies, they were dealt another blow that will only make them worse in 2016-17. One of the top players in their 2016 recruiting class, four-star point guard J.J. Caldwell, was ruled ineligible by the NCAA on Friday night.

The NCAA has ruled Texas A&M’s J.J. Caldwell ineligible this season, a source told @CBSSports. Announcement expected soon.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) September 16, 2016

Caldwell, a 5’11” guard from Houston, Texas, is ranked 89th in ESPN’s top 100 and is the 17th best point guard in the class of 2016. After finishing his high school career at SATCH Homeschool, Caldwell chose the Aggies over the Oklahoma Sooners.

The lead guard would’ve provided a talented transition player who could distribute the basketball to his teammates and play in the pick-and-roll. Caldwell is a unique prospect because instead of searching for his own offense, a majority of the time the lead guard is looking to make everyone else better.

He has excellent speed, good strength and solid vision, which counters his lack of consistency from beyond the arc, his small stature and his shaky decision making.

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Caldwell would’ve had some freshman struggles, but he was in the running to be the team’s starting point guard come November. Now A&M will have to give Lipscomb transfer JC Hampton the reins to the team with Admon Gilder playing some occasional minutes at the one-position.

Hampton averaged 15.9 points per game last year for Lipscomb, but he has never played high major Division I college basketball. Gilder is not a true point guard, so he’ll have to adjust on the fly.

Other than those two, the Aggies have very few options and none of those potential options are anything that can move the needle in the SEC.

This is Texas A&M’s second four-star recruit in 2016 that is ineligible. Caldwell joins Deshawn Corprew, who was ruled a non-qualifier by the NCAA four days ago, on the sideline. The Aggies’ freshman class will now consist of just two players: ESPN top 100 power forward Robert Williams and Spanish forward Eric Vila.

The Aggies need all the help they can get as they lost Danuel House, Alex Caruso, Jalen Jones and Anthony Collins to graduation. They will be a young team that will be awfully reliant upon DJ Hogg, Gilder and big man Tyler Davis.

Next: Projecting Oklahoma State's rotation

Don’t expect Texas A&M to challenge Kentucky this season, especially with two bodies being stripped from their roster.