Bucky McMillan Shares Exciting Vision for Texas A&M Aggies

The Texas A&M Aggies are essentially starting from scratch after head coach Buzz Williams left to take the same job at Maryland, but luckily, their new coach knows a thing or two about that.

New Aggies head coach Bucky McMillan got his big break in 2020 when he took over a Samford team that went 10-23 the year before. McMillan began coaching a fast and aggressive style of basketball, nicknamed "Bucky Ball," and slowly but surely helped Samford rise from the ashes. The highlight of his time with the Bulldogs came in 2024 when he led them to a 29-6 record and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.

As he takes his talents to College Station, McMillan wants to bring that same level of excitement to his new team.

Samford Bulldogs head coach Bucky McMillan looks up at the video board against the Purdue Boilermakers. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

"We just found the most fun way to win," McMillan told Paul Finebaum Wednesday. "We were a mid-major team who finished in the top 10 in scoring a couple of years ago and I think we were No. 12 this year and we're the only mid-major team in that department. So like I said, particularly in the Southeast, we know it's football country, and no one loves football more than me.

"So for basketball, it's not good enough to just be successful, we've got to make it entertaining, where the fans say, 'hey, you know what? I don't care - win, lose or draw - I'm going to that, I want to see that. That's what we've done, that's what we're going to keep doing."

Though they couldn't quite match the previous year's success, McMillan's Bulldogs still averaged 82.9 points per game this season. Clearly, he knows how to get the most out of his players on the offensive end.

McMillan did all that with mid-major rosters, winning the Southern Conference Coach of the Year award three years in a row from 2022-24. With SEC resources, especially at a school with as much booster support as A&M, the sky could be the limit for him.