As a Duke basketball forward in 2020-21, Henry Coleman III averaged only 1.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.0 minutes per game. The former four-star recruit from Richmond, Va., was notably brawny for a freshman. But his skills were too raw to earn a spot in the regular rotation for a Blue Devil squad that finished 13-11 and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Three years later, Coleman looks like an emerging premier SEC force for a surging, undefeated Texas A&M team.
In the 12th-ranked Aggies' 89-77 first-round win over previously unbeaten Penn State at the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla., on Thanksgiving Day, the 6-foot-8, 245-pound bouncy bruiser tallied a game-high 24 points. The senior shot 8-for-11 from the field and 8-for-10 at the foul line, displaying his soft touch around the rim time and again.
He added six rebounds, one assist, and one steal across his team-high 33 minutes.
Henry Coleman III, who transferred to Texas A&M following his lone Duke basketball campaign under now-retired legend Mike Krzyzewski, has averaged 15.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per outing this season while shooting an absurd 71.1 percent from the field and 85.2 percent at the charity stripe.
Through the 5-0 start, including wins at Ohio State and SMU, he's committed only nine fouls and three turnovers.
And he's already a one-time SEC Player of the Week:
The Aggies next face either Florida Atlantic or Butler on Friday before another game in Kissimmee on Saturday.
Then, Coleman will see a foe from his Blue Devil year when Texas A&M travels to Charlottesville for their ACC/SEC Challenge matchup against Virginia on Wednesday night.
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