Texas A&M head basketball coach and Birmingham native Bucky McMillan made his return to the Yellowhammer State Wednesday night when his Aggies came to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama.
Despite the loss, the homecoming was special for McMillan, as both of his parents graduated from the Capstone and he grew up attending Crimson Tide games as a kid.
“It was great for my parents to get to see that,” he said. “But they were pulling for the Aggies tonight.”
The Mountain Brook High School alumnus has his Aggies atop the SEC standings thus far in Year 1, after replacing longtime head coach Buzz Williams in College Station.
McMillan began his coaching career at Mountain Brook, spending 14 years with the program as both an assistant and head coach. He was then named head coach at Samford University in 2020 where he led the Bulldogs to an NCAA tournament appearance in 2024.
His “Bucky Ball” style of play has become a staple of his team’s strategy and has paid dividends this year specifically. This style of play relies on hustle, quick 3-pointers and a smothering defensive attack.
In Wednesday’s game, there was a clear emphasis on playing a full-court-press style of defense for most of the contest. Alabama head coach Nate Oats called it “the most any team has pressed all season.”
One of his players, Amari Allen, said that the team was prepared for that brand of basketball.
“I feel like we were prepared coming in,” Allen said. “We had two good practices coming into this game.”
For McMillan, he thought the press made the game “fun” and a “treat for the fans.”
Despite the loss, the experience of returning to a place he called home appeared to be consolation for the first year head coach.
