COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Since the Aggies’ win over Arkansas on Feb. 15, when Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams delivered a bit of news to Wade Taylor III, the gregarious father of standout guard Wade Taylor IV kept the secret of a lifetime from his wife and son.

“I ain’t good at keeping secrets, you know what I’m saying?” Taylor III said with a chuckle. “Not when it comes to something like that.”

The 22nd-ranked Aggies made history Tuesday night when they knocked off No. 1 Auburn 83-72 in Reed Arena, notching the program’s first ever win against a top-ranked opponent in more than a century playing basketball. After the game, Taylor IV became forever a part of Aggie history when a banner was unveiled in the Reed Arena rafters featuring his name and aptronymic No. 4.

“That was a special moment,” Taylor said in the postgame press conference, well after celebrations had subsided. “I will never forget it. It really hasn’t hit me yet, so I kind of don’t know how I’m feeling right now, but I’m extremely grateful.”

Through the entirety of Taylor IV’s senior season, Williams has outspokenly opined that the multiple time All-SEC first team scorer should have his number immortalized as one of the best to pull on an Aggie basketball uniform. Behind the scenes it’s a fight Williams has waged for months, spanning to previous athletic and university administrations, he said.

Only one A&M men’s player has their number honored in the rafters of Reed, Acie Law, and the consideration for who is deserving for such a designation was intensely vetted. Williams’ push was for steps in the process to be accelerated so Taylor IV could receive the honor in his final game in Reed Arena.

The head coach thanked the current administration in his postgame interview with A&M radio, as well as in his postgame press conference.

“I tried to handle it appropriately,” Williams said. “Multiple presidents, multiple ADs and I’ve been kind of planting the seed. I think, initially, I was trying to plant it probably appropriately. I understand that there are parameters as there should be, not just for our sport, but all sports. And I understand that those leaders have to make good decisions in the chair they sit in, but I’m very thankful that this administration allowed it. I wasn’t always appropriate in my believe in it, to be honest, and so I’m thankful.”

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that Williams felt comfortable enough to share the idea with Taylor’s father. Even then, Taylor III said he kept it close to the vest in case any part of it fell through.

“It was just kind of up in the air,” Taylor III said. “The crazy part was, I knew I couldn’t tell anybody. I didn’t want anybody to get emotional just in case it didn’t happen.”

The root of Williams’ belief in the honor is in the numbers. With Tuesday’s win, Taylor is tied for seventh all-time in career wins and could move into the top 5 before his season ends. In the A&M record books, he is first in career free throw makes (507), second in career 3-point field goals (285), first in free throw percentage (85%), seventh in career assists (486), and third in career steals (209). He passed Law’s mark for career points (1,669) earlier this season. After posting 16 points Tuesday, he’s nine points shy of setting a new school record for points, passing Bernard King’s total 1,990.

King sat court side through the game, in case his two-decade record fell.

“He’s a very special kid,” King said of Taylor. “One of the biggest things about him, he’s not afraid of the moment.”

However, the celebration wouldn’t have been the same without a win.

Led by an all senior starting lineup, after the Aggies celebrated senior night, A&M rode the emotional wave to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game.

The top-ranked Tigers (27-3, 15-2), led by All-SEC forward Johni Broome, never let the game get out of reach. However, with Broome relegated to the bench nursing a hurt shoulder for portions of the game, scoring fell onto the shoulders of Chad Baker-Mazara and Tahaad Pettiford. Baker Mazara netted 10 of his total 15 points in the first half, leading to a narrow 40-34 Aggie lead at the half.

Pettiford hit 6 of 10 shots from behind the 3-point line, including five in the second half, for a team-high 19 points.

A late scoring surge from Taylor IV set the table for the celebration of a lifetime. He netted 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including a 2 for 4 clip from behind the arc.

Defensively, A&M (21-9, 10-7) never allowed Auburn, the nation’s top-rated offense according to KenPom.com, a run of more than six points at a time.

Following their formula, the Aggies pulled down 24 offensive rebounds to Auburn’s nine and turned those into 29 second-chance points.

“I have no excuses to allow those guys to get 24 offensive rebounds,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “I give Texas A&M all the credit, but our guys were physically dominated.”

In his time at A&M, Taylor IV recorded a 4-2 record against the Tigers, a fact that had Pearl excited he’ll be gone next season.

“It’s been an honor to compete against him,” Pearl said.

As the clock wound down on A&M’s double-digit lead, students on both ends of Reed Arena began to push down towards the court, ready to burst onto the floor to celebrate the school’s first top-ranked win. It was the one contingency Williams hadn’t accounted for prior to the game. At the behest of Williams, Reed Arena public address announcer Mike Fitch clicked on his microphone with 15 seconds remaining in the game to plead with fans to stay in their seats when time expired.

The show wasn’t over yet.

With the lights dimmed in the area, the team gathered around Williams, who read a prepared statement into a microphone.

“It is my sincere prayer that this entire team will be remembered,” Williams told the crowd. “It is the team’s desire, that our entire administration supports, that Wade Taylor IV will not just be remembered, but that he will never be forgotten.”

As players wrapped their arms around Taylor IV and turned to the corner of the arena, a drape fell from in front of the banner that displayed Taylor IV’s name and number. Teammates swarmed the guard in a group embrace before he spun off and rushed into the arms of his mother and father. Audible sobs could be heard over the crowds screams as he hurried his face in Taylor III’s shoulder.

There are few games that are absent the Taylor family, but this one tops all the rest.

“It’s everything,” Taylor III said of that embrace. “We built a journey together, ever since he was young, supporting him through the good and bad, the triumphs, the tryouts, just to see him excited about something.”

The microphone found its way into Taylor IV’s hands, with few words to describe his emotions. In both the postgame press conference and his A&M radio interview, Taylor IV said he couldn’t wrap his mind around what just occurred, but more emotions would follow well into the night.

What he could grasp was the continuation of the team’s mission, which took a step forward Tuesday by ending a four-game losing streak with one game left in the regular season.

“We’re doing our best to make sure we bring a championship to you guys.” Taylor told the Reed Arena crowd.

As the Aggie program has its sights set on a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, coming off a historic home finale, the moment reminded Taylor III of a motto he passed to his son when he first came to Aggieland. Tuesday was the culmination of that thought.

“Our motto is, ‘Leave it better than when you came, no matter what it is,’” Taylor IV said. “And now that he’s getting ready to leave Aggie basketball, I can honestly say that it’s definitely in a better condition than when he got here.”

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