Alabama high school basketball coach Bucky McMillan gets job at Division I Samford University

Samford University, a Division I school in the Southern Conference, made news Monday by naming Mountain Brook High School (Birmingham, Ala.) head coach Bucky McMillan to lead its program.

McMillan took over at Mountain Brook when he was 24 years old and led the Spartans for 12 years, compiling a 333-74 record with five state championships.

Mountain Brook became the first team in state history to win three consecutive large school titles in 2018-19. The Spartans were the only team to knock off eventual national champion IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and finished the season ranked No. 5 by MaxPreps.

McMillan helped develop two-time Alabama Mr. Basketball winner Trendon Watford, who averaged 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest as a freshman for LSU in 2019-20.

Samford is saving on relocation expenses as its campus in Homewood is less than 10 miles from Mountain Brook High School.