Bucky McMillan Addresses Texas A&M's Difficult Offseason Obstacles

The new Aggie head coach will have some hoops to jump through as he navigates his first offseason with Texas A&M.

Mar 21, 2024; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Samford Bulldogs head coach Bucky McMillan during the first half in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the Samford Bulldogs at Vivint Smart Home Arena-Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Just a week ago, Texas A&M was buzzing (no pun intended) with the news that Buzz Williams was packing his bags and heading up to Maryland to become the new head coach of the Maryland Terrapins.

Many expected Buzz to make the move, but for those who hadn't been keeping up, it brought quite a shock.

Mar 22, 2025; Denver, CO, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams during the first half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

With the question now jumping around about who Trev Alberts would hire to take Williams' spot on the Aggie sideline, the 12th Man didn't have to wait long for an answer to that question, as Samford head coach Bucky McMillan was announced to be the man to fill the hole last Friday.

McMillan will have an interesting challenge ahead of him, as eight of the Aggies' main players played their final seasons in the 2024-25 season, and the two that remained, Solomon Washington and Pharrel Payne, decided to enter the transfer portal and follow Buzz Williams up to Maryland.

In McMillan's first appearance with the media Monday afternoon, he touched on the rebuild of the roster and the challenge that it would bring in his first off-season in College Station.

"Well, as you know, we won't be able to be as selective as we'd like to be right now, but we have to fill a roster and this season is different than any other season because of the lawsuit and that stuff was going on," McMillan said. "Most of the players this year went to the portal early because the compensation out there was significant early because most programs thought they needed to spend a large percentage of their money before this lawsuit was settled. Because of that, a lot of players are not available, and particularly at the level of player that we need in the SEC."

And don't expect McMillan to use the fact that he has a short amount of time to form this roster as an excuse.

"I mean, taking over a program in April and having just one player I know sounds crazy, but that's not an excuse or anything, I'm just telling the facts of college basketball," said McMillan. "We're going to have to get to work immediately."

It will definitely be interesting to see where McMillan takes the Maroon and White by the time October of this year rolls around.