Bucky McMillan enters his fifth season as head coach of the Samford University Men's Basketball team. McMillan was named Samford's 29th head men’s basketball coach April 6, 2020.
In just four seasons, McMillan has transformed the Samford program into one of the top programs in the prestigious Southern Conference. The 2023-24 season was the best in program history. The team set a school record with 29 wins, posting a 29-6 final record, marking the third-straight season of winning at least 20 games. The team won the Southern Conference regular-season title for a second-straight year with a 15-3 league mark, and the Bulldogs won the SoCon Tournament for the first time and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. In the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs narrowly lost to perennial national power Kansas.
During the season, the Bulldogs went on a school-record 17-game win streak, and the team posted a perfect 18-0 record in the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs ranked fifth in the nation in scoring, averaging 86.1 points per game. The team also ranked in the top 10 in the nation in three-point percentage (5th-39.5), turnovers forced per game (5th-16.66), bench points per game (6th-33.29), fastbreak points per game (7th-15.20), winning percentage (7th-82.9) and effective field goal percentage (8th-58.1).
Following the season, McMillan was named the SoCon Coach of the Year for a third-straight season. He was also named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 21 Coach of the Year. Individual player-wise, Achor Achor was named first team All-SoCon, and he was named the SoCon Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Guard Rylan Jones was named the SoCon Newcomer of the Year, and he was joined on the third team All-SoCon team by A.J. Staton-McCray. Staton-McCray was also named to the SoCon’s All-Defensive team. Achor was also named first team All-District by the NABC, while Jones earned second team honors.
In year three under McMillan, the Bulldogs earned their first Southern Conference Championship since joining the league in 2008 with a 15-3 conference record that earned them a share of the regular-season crown. For the first time in program history, the Bulldogs achieved 20 regular-season wins in consecutive seasons while also matching the 1998-99 team for most conference wins in a season. It marked just the fourth time in program history that the Bulldogs won 20 games in a regular season.
Following the 2022-23 season, McMillan earned SoCon Sports Media Association Anton Foy Coach of the Year for the second-straight year, while Logan Dye, Ques Glover, and Jermaine Marshall all garnered All-SoCon postseason accolades. Samford posted a record of 13-3 at home, including a mark of 8-1 in league play. The Bulldogs averaged 81.4 points per game and posted a +12.7 scoring margin in games played in the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs opened up SoCon play 8-0, highlighted by nationally-televised home wins over Mercer (Dec. 28) and Chattanooga (Jan. 14) on ESPNU. The Bulldogs won seven of their last eight games of the regular season to finish tied with Furman at 15-3 in league play to earn the No. 2 seed in the SoCon Postseason Tournament.
Statistically, the Bulldogs made the second-most free throws per game (17.7) while averaging the fifth-most free throw attempts (23.6) in the nation. The Bulldogs ranked 28th in the nation in scoring offense (78.7 PPG) while ranking 20th in the country in bench points per game (26.53).
Year two under McMillan in 2021-22 served as one of the Bulldogs’ most successful seasons in recent history. For the first time since the 1998-99 campaign, Samford men’s hoops tallied 20 regular-season wins. McMillan's squad added 15 wins from the previous season, finishing 21-11. The Bulldogs posted a 10-8 mark in conference play, earning them the no. 3 seed in the SoCon Championship before eventually falling in the tournament semifinals.
McMillan was named the SoCon Sports Media Association Coach of the Year while sophomore guard Ques Glover earned All-SoCon First Team honors. Glover, who ranked third in the SoCon in scoring average (19.2 PPG) and second in assists per game (4.4) in 2021-22, was also named to the SoCon All-Tournament First Team and a finalist for the Lou Henson Award. The Bulldogs notched a pair of road wins at power-five opponents, knocking off Oregon State 78-77 on Nov. 18 and besting Ole Miss 75-73 on Dec. 21.
The Bulldogs drew two of their largest home attendances in recent years in 2021-22, totaling 2,876 attendees against Belmont on Dec. 5 and 2,512 against Furman on Feb. 23. McMillan was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award on March 23, an accolade awarded annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
In his first season at Samford, the Bulldogs started the season 5-3 before injuries and COVID-19 setbacks slowed their progress. When the final horn sounded on the season, Samford went 6-13 overall and 2-9 in SoCon play.
"BuckyBall" had an immediate impact on the program, averaging 76.8 points per game, ranking fourth overall in the prestigious Southern Conference. Samford scored a school record 133 points in a blowout win over Belhaven (133-84) on Dec. 21, 2020. In an early season exhibition, the Bulldogs defeated Greenville 174-99 in a game that drew national attention from Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Fox Sports.
Individually, freshman sensation A.J. Staton-McCray shined in coach McMillan's system. The 6-5 guard from Charlotte, N.C., was named to the 2020-21 Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after averaging 10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. His 30 steals led the Bulldogs and ranked second in the SoCon. He also finished the year ranked 30th in the league in points per game.
McMillan claimed his first collegiate victory on Dec. 1, 2020 versus Covenant College, 98-73, and his first SoCon win came against VMI, 84-71, on Dec. 30, 2020 in the Pete Hanna Center.
McMillan came to Samford after serving as the head coach at Mountain Brook High School for the past 12 seasons. McMillan has led the program to unprecedented success, reaching the state finals in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and the team won the title in the state’s highest classification in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In 2020, the Mountain Brook program was ranked 13th in the list of top 25 public high school basketball programs in the United States over the last decade. In 2018, the National High School Coaches Association named McMillan its National Coach of the Year after his team finished the season with a 34-3 record and ranked No. 17 in the USA Today national rankings. His 2019 team finished the year ranked No. 5 nationally by USA Today. McMillan’s teams were ranked No. 1 in the AHSAA state rankings during each season from 2013 to 2020.
McMillan was named USA Today’s Alabama Coach of the Year in 2019; Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015; Birmingham Tip-Off Club State Coach of the Year in 2012, 2015 and 2019; and Over The Mountain Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. He was selected to coach the Alabama All-Stars in the 2019 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. That same year, he was named one of the coaches of Michael Jordan’s “Jordan Brand” All-Star Classic.
During his 12-year run in charge of the Spartans’ program, McMillan won 333 games, averaging nearly 28 wins per season. After posting an 18-12 record in his first season as head coach, McMillan’s teams won at least 23 games in each of the next 11 seasons.
In addition to his work at Mountain Brook High School, McMillan founded the Bucky Ball Academy, a youth camp to enhance and unify basketball in the Mountain Brook community. He also founded the Alabama Flyers program that provides off-season basketball opportunities for the community’s youth.
McMillan played his college basketball at Birmingham-Southern College from 2002 to 2006, where he was named to the Big South Conference Academic Honor Roll all four seasons, and to the league’s All-Academic team as a senior. He also earned the distinction of being named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honor’s Court. McMillan earned his bachelor’s degree in education services from Birmingham-Southern in 2007.
While a student at Mountain Brook High School from 1999 to 2002, McMillan received All-State honors from the Birmingham News in 2002 and was nominated for the McDonald’s High School All-America team. The Birmingham News also named him to its All-State Athletic Academic team.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT COACH MCMILLAN
“As a former high school coach myself I am excited for both Bucky and Samford University. Bucky is someone who has put his time in and climbed the ladder to earn this opportunity. I have only known him a short time but have seen first-hand that he has the unique ability to connect and motivate his players, the knowledge to evaluate and develop them and the drive and passion it takes to coach at a high level. I’m confident he will do some great things at Samford.”
Nate Oats, University of Alabama Head Coach
“Bucky is an incredible leader of young men. He is fully committed to his players’ overall development both on and off the court. Samford just got a lot better by hiring Bucky!
Travis Steele, Xavier University Head Coach
“Great hire for Samford University. Bucky has been ultra-successful as a head coach at Mountain Brook and every coach I know who’s seen him work all agree he can coach at this level. Bucky will be a force on the recruiting trail as well, having been a part of so many successful teams and players at Mountain Brook. One of the biggest bright spots of this hire is the excitement Bucky will bring to the program, to Birmingham and to college basketball in Alabama. We were able to tap into that when I was at Samford and it helped bring about the success we enjoyed. It’s just an excellent hire by Samford University and Martin Newton.”
John Brady, Former Samford University and LSU Head Coach
“I was an assistant coach at UAB in the mid-90’s when a young, tough, smart little point guard came to our camp and led his team. Bucky was a Good Player at BSC before embarking on an incredibly successful high school coaching career at his alma mater. I’m truly excited for him as he embarks on the tremendous opportunity provided to him by Samford University!! Can’t wait to watch him do great things at that great university!!
Andy Kennedy, UAB Head Coach
“Bucky McMillan has proven himself over the last few years to be one of the finest young coaching minds and tacticians in basketball regardless of level. Without question, he demands a high level of execution, team work and togetherness. It’s been very impressive to see how he develops young people into a cohesive and team-first culture. I think Samford fans will be very excited and energized by Bucky and his program’s upside and energy as he builds forward.”
Tom Crean, University of Georgia Head Coach
