BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Members of the Samford men's and women's basketball teams, including head coaches Bucky McMillan and Carley Kuhns, met virtually with the local media Monday to discuss the upcoming season.
 
Kuhns enters her second season as the head coach of the women's program. After winning the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles in her first season, the Bulldogs are picked to finish second by the media and third by the coaches in the SoCon's preseason polls.
 
The women's team returns two starters and just six letterwinners from last season's team. Kuhns said she is excited about the season, though there will be a lot of new faces on the squad.


 
"We're very excited now that we've hit single digits to game day," Kuhns said. "We basically have somewhat of a new team from last season. You kind of feel like you have momentum going into year two, but we're kind of feeling like we're starting back over a little bit with six new players. We lost eight from last season."
 
Returnees to the team include 2020 SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player Natalie Armstrong, among others. Kuhns said the experience returning will be helpful this season.
 
"But also we have a really solid core coming back," Kuhns said. "The returning leading scorer in the conference (Armstrong) is nice to have back on your team. More than anything, after everything that's happened, we're just excited to have the opportunity to compete."
 
McMillan enters his first season as the head coach of the Samford men's team. He spent the last 12 seasons as the head coach at nearby Mountain Brook High School, where he won five state titles and played for two others.
 
McMillan will be working with a team of mostly newcomers, with just one starter and three letterwinners returning from last year's team. He said he likes the way his team has worked so far in the preseason.
 
"Our guys have been working really hard," McMillan said. "We've been practicing. We've had some guys who have been quarantined, but for the last two weeks, we've had everybody together and we've made a lot of progress. The guys are kind of picking up on the system and have made a lot of improvements in the last 14 days."
 
McMillan's teams play an up-tempo style, and he said he believes this will be a team that the Samford fans will enjoy watching play this season.
 
"With our style of play, we'll be a fun team to watch," McMillan said. "I think everybody is going to enjoy watching these guys play. I think our team has a lot of potential when we get to the end of the season to make some noise."
 
For complete schedules for both teams, click on the links below.
 
2020-21 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
 
2020-21 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE