Bucky McMillan is headed to Texas A&M to replace Buzz Williams. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Texas A&M has found its replacement for Buzz Williams.
The Aggies struck a five-year deal to make Samford’s Bucky McMillan their next head coach on Friday night, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello. Texas A&M and McMillan are finalizing a five-year deal.
McMillan spent the last five seasons at Samford, where he’s compiled a 99-52 record. He’s led the Bulldogs to a pair of Southern Conference titles and one NCAA tournament appearance, though they were knocked out in the first round of last year’s tournament after nearly pulling off a wild comeback against Kansas. It was their first appearance in the event since 2000. The Bulldogs have won at least 21 games in each of the last four seasons, and McMillan has won the conference’s Coach of the Year award three times while popularizing the extremely fast “Bucky Ball” style of play.
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McMillan, 41, is a lifelong Birmingham resident, so it was only fitting that Samford marked his first head coaching job in college basketball. He led his former high school, Mountain Brook, to seven state finals in eight years as their head coach, too, before making the jump directly to the college level. They won five state championships and averaged nearly 28 wins per season during his 12-year run there.
McMillan will take over for Williams, who left Texas A&M earlier this month for Maryland. Williams, who has been the coach at Texas A&M since 2019, joined the Terrapins after Kevin Willard left for Villanova. Both the Aggies and the Terps made it to the NCAA tournament this season.
Texas A&M has made three straight NCAA tournaments, though they’ve not been out of the first weekend since 2018. According to ESPN, the school is expected to have almost $7 million available in both NIL and revenue share this season, which should help McMillan quickly build his roster and remain strong in the SEC — which has quickly turned into one of the best basketball conferences in the country in recent years.
