COLLEGE STATION \u2014 It’s not often stories about practice draw disbelief, but that was the case Wednesday at Reed Arena.<\/p>\n
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Texas A&M basketball<\/a> guard Marcus Hill<\/a> said that Aggies newcomer Ruben Dominguez<\/a> went 80-for-85 from 3-point range in the team’s first practice of the season.<\/p>\n Dominguez, a 6-foot-6, 213-pound guard from Puerto Real, Spain, came to College Station to be a key player in new head coach Bucky <\/a>McMillan<\/a>‘s “Bucky Ball.” But Hill’s observation felt almost too ridiculous to be real.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “Everybody’s watching him,” Hill said Wednesday. “His shot just looked pure. Everybody was like, ‘Did you see it?’ We just watched it, and we’re supposed to have workouts, but we stopped our workouts to watch him work out.”<\/p>\n The NCAA granted him two years of eligibility. He comes to the Aggies after playing\u00a0a season in Spain\u2019s top professional division with Surne Bilbao Basket.<\/p>\n Dom\u00ednguez averaged 13 points on a 42.3% shooting percentage in 35 career appearances for Spain. That\u00a0skillset could be a boost for a team that finished 15th in the SEC in 2024, shooting 30.7% from 3-point range.<\/p>\n “When I was a kid, I already had something (that felt) natural,” Dominguez said. “I was working a lot on my shooting, and\u00a0from there it just like came super easy for me.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n MADRID, SPAIN – 2023\/01\/29: Player Ruben Dominguez of Movistar Estudiantes seen in action during the Spanish league, Liga LEB Oro, basketball match between Movistar Estudiantes and ICG For\u00c3\u00a7a Lleida at Wizink Center pavilion. Final scores; Movistar Estudiantes 94-75 ICG For\u00c3\u00a7a Lleida. (Photo by Atilano Garcia\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n SOPA Images\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Gett<\/p>\n MORE\u00a0AGGIES: <\/strong>Why Cashius Howell is unsurprised by his SEC-leading production<\/a><\/p>\n Bucky McMillan: Dominguez is ‘one of the best shooters in the world.’<\/p>\n “Bucky Ball” is known for its aggressive style, centered on suffocating defense, an up-tempo pace and an abundance of\u00a0three-point shooting.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In the 2023-2024 season, the Bulldogs ranked fifth in the nation in scoring, averaging 86.1 points per game. The team also ranked in the top 10 nationally in 3-point percentage (fifth – 39.5), fast break points per game (seventh – 15.20), and effective field goal percentage (eighth – 58.1).<\/p>\n Inserting\u00a022-year-old Dominguez feels like a perfect fit for this new style of Aggies basketball.<\/p>\n “Ruben is known as one of\u00a0the best shooters in Spain,” McMillan said. “He’s one of the best shooters in the world. We knew about him, but he needed to find a place that fit the way he plays, and (McMillan’s team have) always been a top-10 team in the country in 3-point attempts.”<\/p>\n Over his last two international tournaments, Dominguez made 41% of his 3-point attempts. Playing for Bilbao Basket, Dom\u00ednguez averaged 7.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 16 minutes per game.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For the past six years, Dominguez has played for Spain\u2019s under-16 and under-20 teams. He was part of the Spanish squads that won gold medals at the U16 Euro Championship in 2019 and the U20 tournament in 2022. In 2019, he was named the tournament’s\u00a0MVP.<\/p>\n New shooter among a slew of fresh Aggies faces<\/p>\n Dominguez is among 14 new players joining the A&M basketball team after 14 players transferred or graduated. Forward Chris McDermott<\/a> was the only holdover from the previous regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n McMillan was hired relatively late in the calendar, starting his first day in College Station on April 5. Still, McMillan and his staff managed to assemble the 20th-ranked transfer portal class in the months after, according to 247Sports. Seven\u00a0of those players came from Power Four programs, one\u00a0came from Samford with McMillan and the rest from midmajors or other levels of basketball.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n With additions like Hill, who comes\u00a0from North Carolina State, and Mackenzie Mgbako<\/a>, the highest-rated prospect to ever join A&M after his time at Indiana, Dominguez seems to be impressing early on.<\/p>\n The question is, will that hotshot continue when the season opens Nov. 3 against Northwestern State?<\/p>\n The tales of Dominguez’s precision may seem like folklore, but his coach gave more context to his hot shooting.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “He made 74 3’s in a row,” McMillan said. “Then the next day comes out and makes 73 in a row. That’s impressive. We’re not playing horse, but if we we’re playing horse, we’d be really good.”<\/p>\n Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at Anthony.Catalina@statesman.com. 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