For Texas A&M big man Jamie Vinson, the stakes in this latest rendition of the Lone Star Showdown were personal.
In games between the Aggies and the Longhorns, though, that’s hardly anything new. “Personal” is the brand of this ongoing, iconic in-state rivalry — and that showed up on the court Saturday night as Texas A&M took over Moody Center to take back the Cotton Holdings trophy after losing to Texas twice last season.
The arena was familiar territory for Vinson, but not because he had been there on the trip last season with the Aggies, in which Texas came back in the final quarter to pull off a miraculous win. A year ago, Vinson was practicing on that same court, with several of the same guys he now plays against, in the 2024-25 season when he himself was a Longhorn.
From Burnt Orange to Maroon, Vinson’s Had a Taste of Both Sides
Nov 16, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Jamie Vinson (4) dunks during the second half against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Vinson is now in his second year of college basketball, and his first with Texas A&M since transferring out of the Forty Acres. Already this season he has more than tripled the total game points that he finished out with at Texas, logging 71 so far with the Aggies compared to 20 as a Longhorn.
Although he doesn’t play a particularly remarkable role on Texas A&M’s court, four-star target Vinson finished his high school career as the No. 26 center in the 2024 class, ranked by Rivals, and No. 36 ranked by ESPN. Spending his last two high school seasons at Oak Hill, which features a basketball program that developed names like Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo and Carmelo Anthony, Vinson helped lead the Warriors to a 25-6 record his senior year.
However, Vinson’s first year at Texas didn’t go in quite the same direction. With limited minutes on the court, Vinson was a true freshman in a team of seniors and graduates recruited from the transfer portal by previous head coach Rodney Terry in an unsuccessful attempt to bring Texas basketball back to relevance.
If Terry’s failed scheme, ending in a first-round tournament exit to Xavier, wasn’t enough, Vinson’s lack of playing time was. He entered the transfer portal April 24 and emerged with a hell-raising commitment to state rival Texas A&M.
Vinson is by no means a consistent star, but his current role with the Aggies is much more solid than it ever was with the Longhorns. With a season-high of 14 points against Jacksonville, in which Vinson made all of his shots both in and outside the paint in just 11 minutes, he’s on track to earn a starting position as long as he improves on the other side of the ball.
His best defensive performance came in an early-season game against Mississippi Valley State, in which he totaled six rebounds and two blocks. As a forward, he needs to get much more physical if he wants to play more than 10 minutes per game.
Against his former team, Vinson played just six minutes for four points, a rebound and a block. Still, as he walked to the locker room through the familiar Moody Center tunnel with a different team, Vinson had achieved something that no other player on either team could claim.
He had been on both sides of the rivalry. And no matter which side he was on, he had never lost a Lone Star Showdown.
That sentiment alone was enough to even the score.