There was no Midnight Madness just yet, but that doesn't mean the Texas A&M basketball teams weren't busy over the first weekend of official practices.

A&M men's coach Mark Turgeon had his players in the film room between practices Saturday, while women's coach Gary Blair had three scheduled practices in a little more than a 24-hour period.

The Midnight Madness is on hold for a couple of weeks so the two teams can get the fans revved up for basketball at the next Midnight Yell.

"Midnight Yell is such a great tradition here and we can get in front of a lot of students that way, so we'll continue to do that," Turgeon said. "Coach Blair and I both feel like that was the best thing for our programs."

Turgeon welcomed back three starters and 12 lettermen to the first official practice, a two-hour workout Thursday. Practice might take a little different direction this season for the Aggie men, who will not be as deep inside as the first two years under Turgeon.

"We've been so big since we've been here, which is nice," Turgeon said. "We won a lot of games and it was great to have shot blockers and the bodies we had. We've lost a lot of really good players inside the last couple of years and we are going to have to play a little bit differently.

"It's exciting. It's fun for me as a coach because you don't get stale, you are always trying to figure out a way to coach a team."

The Aggies lost starters Josh Carter and 6-foot-10 Chinemelu Elonu, the latter leaving after his junior season.

Elonu was picked in the second round of the NBA draft by the world champion Los Angeles Lakers and later signed with Zaragoza in Spain.

With his departure, senior Bryan Davis and 6-8 sophomore David Loubeau are the only bigs returning with any experience. Davis has started 48 games over the past two seasons and has shown what he is capable of doing. That makes Loubeau, who finished strongly as a freshman, a key figure.

Guard Dash Harris is another sophomore expected to make a big contribution.

"The most improvement young men make is between their freshman and sophomore year, especially if they are given the opportunity to play as freshmen as they both [Loubeau and Harris] were," Turgeon said. "I'd say Loubeau is our most improved player from last season at this point, and Dash is really close."

Turgeon will look to a trio of freshmen, Naji Hibbert, Khris Middleton and Jeremy Adams to help fill the void left by Carter, A&M's all-time leader in 3-pointers.

Turgeon is hoping freshman Ray Turner and 7-foot redshirt freshman James Blasczyk will help the Aggies inside. Recruit Kourtney Roberson (6-9, 240) would have given Turgeon another option, but he will attend a prep school this year.

"You'd always like to have another big. Right now we are a little thin there but hopefully we can develop some young guys and they can come around and help," Turgeon said. "But I think offensively we'll play a little bit faster and I think we will be a little bit more wide open than I was at Wichita [State]."

A&M was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 by the coaches, behind Kansas and Texas -- both top 5 teams nationally -- and Oklahoma and Kansas State.

"I think with what we lost -- Josh Carter and Chin -- they showed us pretty good respect," Turgeon said. "I think the teams they picked ahead of us are all pretty good basketball teams, and I think the teams they picked behind us are all pretty good basketball teams, so they showed our program a little bit of respect where they put us,"

The A&M women, despite losing two all-Big 12 performers and a four-year starter, were selected to finish fourth in the Big 12.

"I think with this team I have here, this is sort of a transition year for us," Blair said. "The cupboard is full and the talent is here, but it's a teaching team and we are going to have to slow down just a little where as the last two years we've had that corps of six players that were four-year starters."

The cupboard includes a group of veterans that have had to wait their turn behind players such as Takia Starks and Danielle Gant.

The veterans will be pushed by the sixth-ranked recruiting class in the nation, which includes four freshmen and the top junior college player in Danielle Adams.

"Normally, when you have a class that good you think two are going to go into the starting lineup, but they are going to have a hard time pushing these veterans that have paid the price," Blair said. "They are not going to roll over that quick."

The 6-1 Adams was named the Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year, while 6-foot senior Tanisha Smith was selected honorable mention all-Big 12. Blair believes Smith has the opportunity to better that honor by the end of the season, since she will no longer be in the shadow of Gant and Starks.

Blair is also looking for a breakout season from sophomore Adaora Elonu, who got a jump on practice by spending the summer at A&M working out.

The Aggies are going to have to be ready quickly with the nonconference schedule they face. Duke, Auburn and California were all in the top 15 last season and are three of the Aggies' first six opponents.

"With 15 kids and a walk-on, our practices might have to be longer to get the repetitions in early," Blair said. "This month we'll be maxing out every hour we get. They have to learn to run through the pain. We'll stop them and correct them when mistakes are made, but then we'll have to start the engine back up to get in the repetitions."