Bucky McMillan

Last updated
Bucky McMillan
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Samford
Conference SoCon
Record77–41 (.653)
Biographical details
Born (1983-08-12) August 12, 1983 (age 40)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Playing career
2002–2006 Birmingham–Southern
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2006–2008 Mountain Brook HS (assistant)
2008–2020Mountain Brook HS
2020–present Samford
Head coaching record
Overall77–41 (.653) (college)
333–74 (.818) (high school)
Tournaments0–1 (NCAA)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SoCon tournament (2024)
2 SoCon regular season (2023, 2024)
Awards
3× SoCon Coach of the Year – Media (2022–2024)
NHSCA Coach of the Year (2018)

Bucky McMillan (born August 12, 1983) is an American basketball coach. He is currently the head coach at Samford.

Contents

Early life and education

McMillan played basketball at Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and led them to a state final four in 2001. He played college basketball for Birmingham Southern from 2002 to 2006. [1] McMillan was named to the league All-Academic team as a senior, and he graduated from Birmingham-Southern in 2007 with a degree in education services. [2]

Coaching career

While in college, McMillan coached youth teams in Mountain Brook, and became the junior varsity head coach in 2006. McMillan was hired as the head coach at Mountain Brook in 2008. [1] In his first season, the team finished 18-12. [3] He won three 7A basketball championships, two 6A basketball championships for Mountain Brook. [4] He coached the Spartans to two championship runner-ups, seven final four appearances, 10 regional appearances and nine area titles. [1]

in 2018, McMillan was named the national Boys Basketball Coach of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association after the team finished 34-3. He's the first Alabama coach to win the national honor from the NHSCA. [5] McMillan was named the coach of the 2019 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. [3] He was the USA Today's Alabama Coach of the Year in 2019. In 2020, Mountain Brook was ranked 13th in the top 25 public high school basketball programs in the United States over the previous ten years. [2] He finished 333-74 in twelve seasons at Mountain Brook, averaging nearly 28 wins per season. [3] [1]

On April 6, 2020, McMillan was hired as head coach at Samford, replacing Scott Padgett. [3] His former coach at Birmingham Southern, Duane Reboul, came out of retirement to join McMillan's staff as a special assistant at Samford. [6] McMillan drew attention for his uptempo and aggressive style of play, nicknamed "Bucky Ball", and his team posted a 96–83 upset at Belmont on December 5, 2020. [7] In his first season, Samford finished 6-13 overall and 2-9 in the Southern Conference, and had eight games canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. [8] In 2022, McMillan was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year by the media. [9]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Samford Bulldogs (Southern Conference)(2020–present)
2020–21 Samford 6–132–910th
2021–22 Samford 21–1110–8T–3rd
2022–23 Samford 21–1115–3T–1st
2023–24 Samford 29–615–31st NCAA Division I Round of 64
Samford:77–41 (.653)42–23 (.646)
Total:77–41 (.653)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Related Research Articles

Patrick Joseph Sullivan was an American professional football player and college coach. An All-America quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 and then played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan was a head football coach at Samford University, a position he held from 2007 to 2014. He was previously the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1992 to 1997 and the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 1999 to 2006. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain Brook High School</span> Public school in Mountain Brook, Alabama, United States

Mountain Brook High School (MBHS) is a three-year public high school in the city of Mountain Brook, Alabama. It is the only high school in the Mountain Brook School System. The school's colors are green and gold. Its athletic teams are known as the Spartans. The MBHS competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.

Scott Anthony Padgett is a retired American professional basketball player and current assistant to the head coach for Mississippi State men's basketball. He was formerly the head coach at Samford University. He played for the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets, and Memphis Grizzlies.

Robert L. McCullum is an American men's college basketball coach who was most recently the head men's basketball coach at Florida A&M. He previously served as the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls men's basketball team. He is a native of Birmingham, Alabama.

Balpha Lonnie Noojin was an American college sports coach and administrator, educator, Minor League Baseball player, politician, and businessman. He served as the athletic director at Howard College—now known as Samford University—in Birmingham, Alabama from 1912 to 1915 and at the University of Alabama from 1916 to 1919.

Mike Hanks is an American college basketball coach. He was head coach for Saint Leo University, Manchester Giants, University of South Alabama and Samford University. He also served as an assistant under Bob Knight at Indiana University.

Jimmy Tillette is an American college basketball coach and the former head coach of the men's basketball team at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tillette was the head coach of the Bulldogs team from 1997-2012, and is the school's winningest coach. He assumed his former position when John Brady left Samford to become the head basketball coach at LSU. In fifteen seasons as the coach of the Bulldogs, Tillette compiled record of 229–219, leading the Bulldogs to their only two appearances in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1999 and 2000 while they were a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The 1999–2000 season was highlighted by upset wins over traditional basketball powers St. John's and Alabama. Tillette most recently served as head coach of the boys' basketball team at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. He retired in 2019 and was replaced by former Co-National Player of the Year and Newman alum Randy Livingston.

Rick Rhoades is an American football coach who has worked at the high school, college, and professional levels. He served as head football coach at the collegiate level at Troy State University from 1985 to 1987, Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1988, Nicholls State University from 1993 to 1994 and Delta State University from 2002 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John B. Longwell</span> American football and basketball coach (1879–1952)

John Burt Longwell was an American college football player and coach, college basketball coach, and dentist. He served as the head football coach at Howard College—now Samford University—in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1909, 1911, 1916 and 1917 seasons and at New York University (NYU) in 1919. Longwell was also the head basketball coach at Howard during the 1916–17 season, tallying a mark of 3–5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samford Bulldogs</span> Collegiate sports club in the United States

The Samford Bulldogs are the 17 varsity teams that represent Samford University in NCAA Division I athletics. The men's basketball team made its first NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. They were led by Reed Rawlings, Marc Salyers, and Chris Weaver. The women's basketball team made its initial NCAA tournament appearance in the 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament and made its second consecutive appearance in the tournament in 2012. The baseball team made its first NCAA tournament appearance in the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, reaching the finals of the Tallahassee Regional. Additionally, the softball team made its first NCAA Tournament Appearance in 2016. For the first time in history, the Lady Bulldogs won the regular-season championship as well as the Tournament Championship to cap off a record high of 40 wins on the season. The school is a member of the Southern Conference in Division I of the NCAA, after moving from the Ohio Valley Conference in 2008. The Samford Athletics staff is headed by athletic director Martin Newton, whose appointment was announced on March 9, 2011.

Bennie Seltzer is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the interim head coach of the Evansville Purple Aces team following the firing of Walter McCarty. Seltzer is the former head coach of the Samford Bulldogs, a position to which he was hired on April 5, 2012. Previously, he was hired in April 2008 by new Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean, who brought him and fellow assistant Tim Buckley over from his staff at Marquette. Following his dismissal from Samford, Seltzer was hired by Crean to be Indiana's Director of Player Performance.

The Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Southern Conference. They are currently led by head coach Bucky McMillan and play their home games at the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs have appeared three times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2024.

The 2019–20 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Samford University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by sixth-year head coach Scott Padgett, played their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 10–23, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to VMI.

Duane Reboul is an assistant basketball coach at Samford. He coached at Birmingham–Southern.

Mitch Cole is an American men's basketball coach, currently an assistant coach at Samford. He previously coached at Birmingham–Southern and Berry College.

The 2020–21 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Samford University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by first-year head coach Bucky McMillan, played their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as members of the Southern Conference.

Colby Brandon Jones is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Xavier.

The 2021–22 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Samford University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by second-year head coach Bucky McMillan, played their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 21–11, 10–8 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 3 seed in the SoCon tournament, they defeated UNC Greensboro before losing to Furman in the semifinals.

The 2022–23 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team represents Samford University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by third-year head coach Bucky McMillan, play their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as a member of the Southern Conference.

The 2023–24 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Samford University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by fourth-year head coach Bucky McMillan, played their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 29–6, 15–3 in SoCon play to win the regular season championship. As No. 1 seed in the SoCon tournament, they defeated Mercer, Furman, and East Tennessee State to win the conference championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the third time in school history and first since 2000. As the No. 13 seed in the Midwest region, they lost to Kansas in the First Round.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Thomas, Ben (April 6, 2020). "Samford makes it official, hires Mountain Brook's Bucky McMillan as men's basketball coach". AL.com . Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Bucky McMillan Named Head Men's Basketball Coach". Samford Bulldogs . April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Samford hires longtime high school coach Bucky McMillan". ESPN . Associated Press. April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Basketball Past State Champions - Boys". www.ahsaa.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-21.
  5. ↑ Potter, Mattie (April 23, 2018). "Alabama's Bucky McMillan named 2018 NHSCA Boys' Basketball Coach of the Year". NHSCA. Archived from the original on 2018-04-26. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  6. ↑ Goodman, Joseph (April 10, 2020). "Basketball folk hero joining Bucky McMillan at Samford". AL.com . Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  7. ↑ Jordan, Jason (December 9, 2020). "By Embracing 'Bucky Ball,' Samford Off to Fast Start Under Its First-Time Coach College". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  8. ↑ Stephenson, Creg (April 15, 2021). "Samford basketball lands Top 100 national recruit Wesley Cardet". Al.com . Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  9. ↑ "All-SoCon men's basketball teams announced" (Press release). Southern Conference. March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.