Texas A&M Aggies Basketball Moving In New Direction Under Bucky McMillan

The Texas A&M Aggies held an introduction ceremony for new coach Bucky McMillan on Monday. The event saw the A&M president, Gen. Mark Welsh, as well as athletic director Trev Alberts introduce McMillan in front of students, fans, donors and regents.

In his statement, Alberts thanked former coach Buzz Williams and his family for their contributions to the program and hard work, reiterating the sentiment made by Welsh.

“This last basketball season was an exciting one for Texas A&M in a lot of ways,” Welsh said. “It didn't end the way anybody wanted, but I want to thank Coach Buzz Williams for the work he did while he was here. He poured his heart and soul into that job.”

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams and guard Wade Taylor IV (4) reacts after the win over Yale Bulldogs at Ball Arena. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

With McMillan stepping in as the head man, A&M basketball is ready to move in a new direction.

“I thought this is a great opportunity to look at every aspect of our program, and how do we modernize it,” Alberts said. “How do we modernize and think differently in this red-shirt era? How do we create championship-level basketball? There are far more challenges today than we've ever had before. How do we modernize our community involvement? How do we modernize our interaction with the 12th Man? How do we modernize our interaction with our students on campus and even our administration?”

The answer is coach Bucky McMillan. A McMillan-coached team plays arguably the most modern version of basketball to date. “Bucky Ball,” as it has been nicknamed, sees players play full-court defense and knock down 3-pointers, all at a break-neck pace.

While the focus is on modernizing the program, McMillan still wants to honor A&M’s traditions and legacy.

“This will still always be a program you can relate to, identify with, and coaches that are going to support you,” McMillan said. “And when we have events and we bring back past teams, we're going to honor you. And I'm going to be the coach here in the driver's seat, and I'll never forget who built this program. So you will always have a home here in our program.”