Some college basketball fans were stunned when former Texas A&M basketball coach Buzz Williams decided to leave to become the new head coach at Maryland. Now, the Aggies have found their replacement.
Former Samford head coach Bucky McMillan has agreed to a new five-year deal to be the new head coach at Texas A&M, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
“Texas A&M is set to hire Samford coach Bucky McMillan as the school’s next men’s basketball coach, sources tell me and @jeffborzello,” Thamel reported on X, formerly Twitter. “The sides are finalizing a five-year deal, per sources.”
McMillan had built a very successful program at Samford and has won at least 21 games in each of the past four seasons. The Bulldogs won the Southern Conference regular season in 2023 and 2024 and backed it up with a conference tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024, losing to Kansas in the Round of 64. He comes to Texas A&M with a career record of 99-52.
Williams spent six seasons as the head coach in College Station and led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons. However, he was not able to get to the second weekend, falling one win short of the Sweet 16 in each of the last two seasons.
Texas A&M is hoping that McMillan can take advantage of a large booster base to build another competitive roster in the SEC. Williams had a very successful regular season in 2024-25, earning a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Michigan in the second round.
McMillan put out a good showing in his only NCAA Tournament appearance, nearly pulling off a stunning upset over the Jayhawks in 2024. In fact, Samford would have had a chance to win the game if not for a controversial foul call in the final seconds.
Now, McMillan will dive into a gauntlet of an SEC that set an all-time record with 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament this season. With his past experience leading Samford, Texas A&M basketball very well could be one of those teams again in 2026.
The post Texas A&M finds Buzz Williams replacement with 2024 NCAA Tournament coach appeared first on ClutchPoints.
