BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — After more than a decade of dominance at the high school level, Bucky McMillan is taking over the Samford Men’s Basketball program. McMillan has spent the last 12 seasons building a basketball powerhouse at Mountain Brook High School. The Spartans’ program has advanced to the state championship game 7 of the last 8 seasons under McMillan. Mountain Brook brought home blue maps in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Spartans were 7A runner-ups in 2015 and 2020.
McMillan was named USA Today’s Alabama Coach of the Year in 2019; Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015; Birmingham Tip-Off Club State Coach of the Year in 2012, 2015 and 2019; and Over The Mountain Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. He was selected to coach the Alabama All-Stars in the 2019 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. That same year, he was named one of the coaches of Michael Jordan’s “Jordan Brand” All-Star Classic. He finished his high school coaching career with an incredible 333-74 record.
“When we set out to hire a new coach for our men’s basketball program, we had three main criteria,” Samford AD Martin Newton said. “We wanted someone with head coaching experience and a proven track record of winning championships, someone who could excite and engage the Birmingham and Samford communities and someone who understands and embraces the mission of our great university. Bucky McMillan quickly became the obvious choice. Bucky has a proven track record of winning championships, a tireless work ethic, a unique basketball mind and the energy and enthusiasm to bring championship basketball to Lakeshore Drive.”
“I am thankful and grateful for this opportunity,” McMillan said. “I want to especially give thanks to the leadership at Samford for their confidence in me to lead this program. When I came to Mountain Brook I had never been a high school head coach and the administration there took a chance on me, and this is a similar situation. I am ecstatic to be going to work for one of the top Christian universities in the country, whose values I believe in. I am excited to get to Samford and build relationships with the faculty and staff, and most importantly with the student-athletes.”
Samford will introduce McMillan in a 2pm press conference Monday. This story will be updated.
