Texas A&M to Hire Bucky McMillan As Next Head Men's Basketball Coach

The Aggies reportedly have found their replacement for Buzz Williams.

Bucky McMillan coaches Samford during the first half of a matchup against Kansas in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament. / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Texas A&M has reportedly found a new leader for its men's basketball program.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Friday that the Aggies are set to hire Samford coach Bucky McMillan as the new men's basketball head coach in College Station.

McMillan spent the last five seasons coaching at Samford, where he went 99-52 and led the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament in 2024—the program's third trip to the big dance in its history and the first since 2000.

When McMillan was hired in 2020, the Bulldogs had just five 20-win seasons in program history. McMillan went 6-13 in the shortened 2020-21 season, but he went on to lead Samford to four consecutive seasons with at least 21 wins from 2021 to '25.

Samford, a No. 13 seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament, took No. 4 seed Kansas down to the wire but lost 93-89 on a controversial foul call that wiped away what appeared to be a clean block.

McMillan began his career coaching high school basketball in Alabama before landing the Samford gig in 2020. His teams often play with an uptempo pace on both ends of the floor, a style dubbed "Bucky Ball."

The Texas A&M gig opened earlier this week when head coach Buzz Williams departed College Station to take the open job at Maryland. The Aggies won at least 21 games the past four seasons for Williams but never made it past the second round of the NCAA tournament, including this year when they lost 91-79 as a No. 4 seed to No. 5 seed Michigan.

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