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Texas A&M Basketball: Wildens Leveque adds even more frontcourt depth for 2023-24

By Tristan Freeman

TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 10: Wildens Leveque #15 of the South Carolina Gamecocks and Garrison Brooks #10 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs battle for the ball during the second round of the 2022 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on March 10, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 10: Wildens Leveque #15 of the South Carolina Gamecocks and Garrison Brooks #10 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs battle for the ball during the second round of the 2022 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on March 10, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The roster for Texas A&M Basketball already was in good shape for the 2023-24 campaign but adding big man Wildens Leveque only adds to it.

It’s been a fairly busy offseason in all of the SEC, with just about every team landing multiple transfers from the portal. But some of those programs didn’t have to do too much since they were set to return so much production from the season before. One of them was Texas A&M Basketball, coming off a 25-win season and going 15-3 in league play.

The Aggies were already in good shape for the next season, returning four of the team’s top five scorers. That includes leading scorer Wade Taylor IV, as well as starting forwards, Julian Marble and Henry Coleman. They were both stout defenders and combined for 18 ppg last season and are each coming back for their covid years.

While the starting lineup might be all but set, Texas A&M still needed some depth to round out the roster, including in the frontcourt. They were a solid rebounding team but there was a lack of size, with no one taller than 6’9 in the rotation last year. That’s now going to change with the addition of Wildens Leveque.

This new addition to the roster is familiar with the SEC, as Leveque played his first two years at South Carolina, averaging 6.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg as a junior. He transferred as a junior, following head coach Frank Martin to UMass. His stats largely remained the same as a starter in the A-10, playing around 20 mpg.

Ultimately, Leveque isn’t coming in to light the world on fire. He’s going to get around 15 mpg off the bench as the backup center and use his 6’11 and 225-pound frame against the bigger bodies in the SEC next season. He’s shown that he can play at this level, making it a pickup with no real risk.

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Leveque isn’t going to be the same kind of impact transfer as Jace Carter and Eli Lawrence on the perimeter but his presence gives the Aggies a legit 10-man rotation to work with next season. And if they can get off to a better start in the non-conference, this could be a perennial top-20 team throughout.