With Texas A&M storming out to a 5-1 start in SEC play, there’s a new buzz in College Station - and it’s got everything to do with first-year head coach Bucky McMillan. The former Samford head man has quickly become one of the most intriguing stories in college basketball, not just for the Aggies’ early success, but for how quickly he’s flipped the script on a program that, not long ago, was starting from scratch.
To understand the magnitude of what McMillan is doing, you have to rewind just a few months. When he was hired - the final Power Five coaching hire of the offseason - Texas A&M didn’t just need a new coach.
They needed a staff. They needed a roster.
Most of the top players in the transfer portal were already spoken for. Continuity?
That wasn’t even on the table. This was a full rebuild, and the clock was ticking.
Before McMillan could bring his signature brand of basketball - dubbed “Bucky Ball” - to life, he had to do something even more urgent: convince the Aggie community that this season was still worth fighting for.
“We had to rally the troops quickly,” McMillan said this week on The Next Round podcast. “In this day and age of college athletics, to build a roster, you’ve got to have the resources to do it right.
I remember getting here, and the very next day we had a meeting with all the boosters. I told them, ‘Guys, if we don’t rally together, I’m not talking about not winning an SEC game - we’re not going to have a team.’”
That message landed. The Aggie boosters didn’t just listen - they bought in.
And now, just seven games into SEC play, Texas A&M isn’t just fielding a team. They’re winning.
They’re competing. And they’re doing it with a style that’s hard to ignore.
McMillan’s system is everything fans were promised and then some - fast-paced, aggressive, and fun to watch. It’s a stark contrast from the more methodical approach under Buzz Williams, who certainly had his own success in College Station. But what McMillan has brought is a different kind of energy, one that’s resonated both on the court and in the stands.
Still, McMillan is quick to point out that this early success didn’t come out of nowhere. It started with belief - not just from him, but from the people who backed the program before the first win ever hit the board.
“What I really appreciated,” McMillan said, “was the people who supported the program before we started winning - the ones who made it possible to even have a functioning team that could compete in this league, which is the toughest league in college basketball.”
And he’s not wrong. The SEC is as deep and physical as it’s ever been, and yet here’s Texas A&M, sitting near the top of the standings, playing like a team that’s been together for years - not months.
The Aggies’ next test comes on the road, as they travel to Athens to take on Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum. Tipoff is set for Saturday, January 31 at 12 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
With McMillan at the helm and the Aggies surging, it’s safe to say this team - and this coach - are no longer flying under the radar. The rest of the SEC is officially on notice.