What is Bucky Ball? New A&M basketball coach Bucky McMillan promises a ‘fearless’ style of play

Published 4:55 pm Tuesday, April 8, 2025

COLLEGE STATION — Bucky McMillan was at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2012 when Texas A&M and star quarterback Johnny Manziel marched into enemy territory and beat No. 1 Alabama.

He described the Aggies’ performance that day as “fearless.”

“That’s the way we’re going to play basketball,” McMillan said Monday afternoon at Reed Arena after officially being introduced as the university’s new men’s basketball coach.

That’s the epitome of “Bucky Ball,” the fast, aggressive style he coaches.

Lauding the pillars of hard work, unselfishness and — of course, fearlessness — McMillan vowed to bring an exciting and innovative brand of basketball to Aggieland. After leading the program at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, to new heights, McMillan, 41, arrives in College Station ready to do the same. Touting the support and resources available at Texas A&M, his vision is to transform the Aggies into one of the premier programs in the country.

“The nature of college athletics has changed,” McMillan said. “It’s changed, and resources matter a great deal. We’re in the best league in the country with maybe the best fanbase in the country and maybe the best resources in the country, so what’s not possible? What’s not possible? Once we get momentum, we keep that momentum, anything’s possible right here.”

His belief in that notion is the reason McMillan left the Birmingham area, the place where he grew up and climbed the ranks from AAU to high school hoops to the college game.

“For me to leave that place, it would only be for some place that I know couldn’t just win championships, but was a great place with great people,” said McMillan, who went 99-52 during his time at Samford. “That’s why I’m here. We’re going to win championships here, but that’s not enough. Life’s too short. I’m not going to put on my tombstone that I won a bunch of championships. That’s just not how I’m going to live. That’s inevitable that we’re going to get this done. But I’m going to do it with great people. That’s what makes it enjoyable.”

McMillan spent five seasons at Samford, winning two regular-season Southern Conference championships and a conference tournament title. He was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year three times and guided his 2024 squad to the NCAA Tournament. That season included a school-record 29 wins and a near-upset of blueblood Kansas in March.

McMillan’s background is rooted in Birmingham. He was an all-state player for nearby Mountain Brook High School and later coached his alma mater to five state championships. His success at the prep level ultimately led to his ascension to the college game and Samford.

Now, after building that program into a consistent winner, he’s an Aggie.

Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts has praised McMillan as “an innovator” with a “smart, analytics-driven approach to the game.” University president Mark A. Welsh stood on stage Monday and told McMillian his job was to “beat the hell out of everybody.” McMillan followed the administrators’ opening remarks with his own, promising to bring new energy to Reed Arena and heightened success to a program that hasn’t reached the Sweet 16 since 2018.

McMillan replaces Buzz Williams, who recently left to become the head coach at Maryland. Williams guided the Aggies to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2023-25) in six seasons and finished with a 120-72 overall record. Texas A&M was a No. 4 seed in the tournament this season, but the Aggies had an underwhelming finish with a second-round loss to Michigan.

While competing at the highest level is the ultimate goal, McMillan’s short-term to-do list includes filling out his staff and finding players for a depleted roster. On the coaching front, he’s already added assistants Kyle Keller and Mitch Cole, who had a previous stint together at Texas A&M under former head coach Billy Kennedy from 2011-16. McMillan described Cole as “one of the best offensive minds in the game.” He lauded Keller for his defensive strategy, saying his style of play is to “rip your heart out and take your will from you.”

“These two coaches were part of Coach Kennedy’s great teams, and the last Sweet 16 team here, they were a part of,” McMillan said. “And when I said we’ve got a chance to go back and go to Texas A&M, and they had opportunities elsewhere, they said, ‘I’m in.’ And that doesn’t happen very often when you have an opportunity to be a head coach. They said, ‘I want to be here. I want to be there at Texas A&M.’ “

McMillan’s other task is a little more challenging. The Aggies were gutted by graduations and transfers, and as of Monday, there was just one player on the Texas A&M roster: former Booker T. Washington star Chris McDermott, who played sparingly during his freshman season. With opening pleasantries out of the way, McMillan and his staff can now really begin the work of putting together a team that can compete in the vaunted SEC for the 2025-26 season.

“We do play a unique style,” McMillan said. “We play very up-tempo, very fast pace, and we like to recruit to that system. But I know this — we can’t run that system with four players. We’re going to have to get players on the board, and we’re going to have to get players on the board quickly here. We’ll have to get lucky in some circumstances. But you’re going to see us get to work here right after this press conference.”

KELLER JOINS STAFF

Former Tyler Junior College and Stephen F. Austin Coach Kyle Keller has been named to McMillan’s staff at A&M.

In addition to coaching the Lumberjacks from 2016-25, Keller also served on Billy Kennedy’s Texas A&M men’s basketball staff from 2011-16. During his time in Aggieland, Texas A&M advanced to the postseason three times, including a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2015-16. The 2015-16 Aggies also won the SEC regular season crown and posted a school-record 28 victories.

Keller compiled an 171-95 record in eight seasons in Nacogdoches, while winning Southland Conference championships twice. His 2017-18 team won the SLC Tournament title to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament and his 2019-20 squad won the SLC regular season crown with a 19-1 record but saw its season end due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keller was an assistant coach for Bill Self at Kansas and Eddie Sutton at his alma mater Oklahoma State. He started his coaching career at Louisiana Tech and served as head coach at Tyler Junior College. Keller served as an assistant coach at Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M.