Former Samford coach Bucky McMillan has been formally named Texas A&M's new basketball coach, with the university announcing the move Saturday afternoon. He is the 23rd coach in program history and replaces Buzz Williams, who took the Maryland job earlier this week.

McMillan, 41, rebuilt the Samford program and won the Southern Conference Coach of the Year award three times in his four seasons with the Bulldogs. He won two regular season conference titles and one conference tournament at Samford, taking the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

McMillan's first win with the Aggies will be the 100th of his career, as he has a current record of 99-52 (.656).

“We’re incredibly excited about Bucky coming to Aggieland to lead our men’s basketball program,” Athletic Director Trev Alberts said. “He’s an innovator as a coach, and he has a smart and analytics-driven approach to the game. Bucky brings a unique combination of qualities to our program and we’re thrilled to begin the next chapter of our basketball history under his leadership.”

McMillan's up-tempo style of offensive play and high-stress defense, known as "Bucky Ball", can be seen in Samford's stats from 2024-25. The Bulldogs were 13th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 82.9 points per game, while shooting nearly 30 3-pointers a game (11th nationally) and making 10.8 (seventh nationally).

On defense, the highly aggressive Bulldogs forced an average of 16.1 turnovers per game, good enough for fourth in the nation.

"People ask what kind of style do you play? And I oftentimes say, ‘it’s real simple, we play the kind of style that WINS, we just want to do it FASTER!’" McMillan said. “At our core, we want players and coaches who are HARDWORKING, UNSELFISH, and as a result, FEARLESS. Our teams have never backed away from a challenge. It will be no different at Texas A&M, especially with the strength of the 12th Man behind us!”

McMillan will be introduced at a welcome event at Reed Arena Monday at 3 p.m which will be open to the public. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. McMillan will meet with members of the media immediately afterward.