Texas A&M officially confirmed the hiring of Bucky McMillan as its new head coach on Saturday. McMillan, who spent five seasons at Samford, replaces Buzz Williams, now at Maryland.

“As someone who grew up around the SEC, I am inspired by Texas A&M’s leadership and their vision to compete at the highest levels in college basketball,” McMillan said in a statement. “As I’ve done throughout my career, I won’t stop until we have the Aggies competing for championships every year.” He continued, “When people ask about my style, I always say, ‘It’s simple—we play the kind of style that WINS, we just want to do it FASTER!'”

Before his tenure at Samford, McMillan was the head coach at Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, a position he took in 2008 at just 25 years old. There, he led the team to five state championships before moving to Samford in 2020.

McMillan posted a 99-52 record in his five years at Samford, guiding the program to two regular-season SoCon championships and one conference tournament title. In 2024, he set a program record with 29 wins and led Samford to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.

“Samford will always be grateful to Bucky McMillan for restoring the Samford men’s basketball program’s legacy of excellence,” said Dr. Beck A. Taylor, Samford University president. “Beyond the exciting basketball he brought to Homewood and the titles won, I am most thankful for the way Bucky represented Samford’s values and mission. While we’re sad to lose our head coach, we wish him great success at the highest levels.”

Texas A&M, which has made three consecutive March Madness appearances after just two in the previous 11 years, expects McMillan, 41, to continue that streak.

“Bucky is a forward-thinking coach with a smart, analytics-driven approach to the game,” said A&M athletic director Trev Alberts. “He brings a unique combination of skills to our program, and we are excited to start this new chapter of Aggie basketball under his leadership.”