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Texas A&M officially announces hiring of Bucky McMillan as head coach
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Texas A&M made the reported hiring of Bucky McMillan as its next head coach official on Saturday. McMillan, who comes to College Station after 5 seasons at Samford, replaces Buzz Williams, who is now at Maryland.
“As a guy that grew up around the SEC, I am motivated by the vision of Texas A&M‘s leadership to compete at the highest levels of college basketball. As I’ve done my entire career, I won’t rest until we get the Aggies playing at a championship level year in and year out,” McMillan said in a statement. “People ask what kind of style do you play? And I oftentimes say ‘it’s real simple, we play the kind of style that WINS, we just want to do it FASTER!'”
Prior to his time at Samford, McMillan was the head coach at Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, a position he took in 2008 at just 25 years old. He led them to 5 state championships before being hired at Samford in 2020.
McMillan went 99-52 in his 5 seasons at Samford. He led the program to 2 regular-season SoCon championships and 1 conference tournament championship. In 2024, he won a program-record 29 games and took Samford to its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2000.
“Samford will forever be indebted to Bucky McMillan for re-establishing the Samford men’s basketball program’s tradition of excellence,” Samford University president Dr. Beck A. Taylor said in a statement. “Even more than the exciting brand of basketball he brought to Homewood, or the championships won, I will personally be most grateful for the way Bucky represented Samford’s values and Christian mission. Our disappointment in losing our head coach is matched only by our desire to see Bucky succeed at the highest levels.”
After just 2 March Madness appearances in 11 years, Texas A&M has made 3 straight trips to the tourney. McMillan, 41, will be expected to continue that run.
“He’s an innovator as a coach, and he has a smart and analytics-driven approach to the game,” A&M athletic director Trev Alberts said. “Bucky brings a unique combination of qualities to our program and we’re thrilled to begin the next chapter of our basketball history under his leadership.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
