Texas A&M basketball lands commitment from Tennessee transfer forward Cade Phillips

The Texas A&M basketball team received a commitment from Tennessee forward transfer Cade Phillips, who announced the news Thursday via Joe Tipton of On3. He took recruiting visits to A&M and Alabama before reaching a decision.

Through 10 games with the Volunteers last year, the 6-foot-9 Phillips made nine starts before undergoing a season-ending surgery on a recurring dislocated left shoulder injury. He averaged 3.8 points and 4.0 rebounds over 16.9 minutes per game, shooting 65.4% (17 of 26) overall and 30.8% (4 of 13) on free throws while not attempting a 3-pointer. With a medical redshirt, Phillips would have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Phillips spent three seasons at Tennessee, appearing in 61 games with nine starts. He played minimally over 13 games as a freshman during the 2023-24 season, averaging just 0.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 6.2 minutes. He served a more prominent bench role in 2024-25, playing in all 38 games while averaging 4.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 15.0 minutes. 

A native of Birmingham, Ala., Phillips is originally from the same area as Aggie coach Bucky McMillan. But he played basketball at Rainbow City (Ala.) Westbrook Christian School through his sophomore year, Jacksonville (Ala.) High as a junior and Branson (Mo.) Link Academy as a senior. Rivals gave Phillips a three-star rating, ranking him as the 20th forward and 147th overall player in the 2023 class.

Beyond Phillips, A&M has landed a commitment from two other transfers this offseason: guards PJ Haggerty (Kansas State) and Lukas Walls (Radford). The Aggies have lost three players to the portal: guards Rubén Dominguez (Xavier), Pop Isaacs and Josh Holloway.

Throughout the two-week men’s basketball transfer portal window (April 7-21), stayed tuned at Aggie Yell for real-time news and analysis around A&M and its incoming transfer commitments, outgoing portal entries, visits and more.