By Rubin E. Grant
Bucky McMillan’s mobile phone was blowing up for most of last week. He received more than 2,000 text messages and countless other phone calls.
That’s what happens when you are the men’s basketball coach at Samford University and you lead the Bulldogs to their first appearance in the Big Dance since 2000.
“It’s been a crazy week,” McMillan said.
The Bulldogs earned their NCAA Tournament bid by winning their first-ever Southern Conference Tournament title with a 76-69 victory against ETSU in the championship game March 11 in Asheville, North Carolina, at Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
“We had a lot of people in Birmingham who came to Asheville with us and we celebrated a lot into the night,” McMillan said. “So it was fun.”
On Sunday, Samford (29-5) learned it would be the 13th seed in the Midwest Region and will play No. 4 seed Kansas (22-10), one of college basketball’s blue bloods, Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Obviously, I’m very excited for our program to be on the national scene,” McMillan said. “Those that have been following our program know this is a special team. It’s a special group of guys, the way they represent our university goes hand in hand with our university, how hard they work, how unselfish they are and the confidence in how they approach their business on a day-to-day basis.”
This is Samford’s third trip to the NCAA Tournament, having previously gone in 1999 and 2000. This will be the first-ever meeting between Samford and Kansas in men’s basketball.
The Bulldogs join UAB, Auburn and Alabama in the field of 68, with those three all playing their first-round games Friday in Spokane, Washington.
Samford celebrated its berth Sunday with a March Madness Selection Show Watch Party in the Edgewood neighborhood of downtown Homewood, presented by Bandwagon Sports.
“We’re not going for exercise,” McMillan quipped. “I think we realize the hardest game is always the first game. If you can get by that, anything can happen. We’re not going to just be a part of the show. We’re going on a mission and to play hard-nosed, unselfish and fearless basketball.”
McMillan relished seeing his team achieve its goal of a conference title.
“I’m so happy for this team, I’m so happy for Samford University,” he said afterward. “I remember sitting in here our first year and playing as a 10 seed, we won six games and at the end of the year we lost by 35 or 40 points to Mercer. I remember we had to recruit players for my first recruiting class, and we had to convince them that we could win this league. I said in the press conference that we would win this league and win this tournament, and we did.”
McMillan is in his fourth season at Samford after a successful run as head basketball coach at Mountain Brook. During his 12 years at the helm of the Spartans, McMillan won 333 games, averaging nearly 28 wins per season, and five state championships.
His first season at Samford finished 6-13 overall, 2-9 in SoCon play. In his second season, the Bulldogs finished 21-11, winning 20 games for the first time since the 1998-99 campaign. In his third season, the Bulldogs won their first regular-season SoCon title since joining the league in 2008 with a 15-3 conference record as they finished 21-11 overall again, giving the Bulldogs consecutive 20-win regular seasons for the first time in program history.
McMillan, who been named the SoCon Coach of the Year for three straight seasons, was confident that he could turn Samford into a consistent winner. Their 29 victories this season are a program record, eclipsing the previous mark of 25 wins set during the 1938-39 season.
McMillan brought his successful brand of basketball – known as “BuckyBall,” an up-tempo style of play with relentless pressure defense and frequent substitutions – to Samford.
“I knew it would translate if you have good enough players who like to play,” McMillan said. “I’ve always been a head coach and I am committed to what we believe in. It’s all about player movement and ball movement and committing to defense and rebounding.”
“It took us the first year to get it right. We had to get rid of guys who were not prepared to play for the team. It’s been a gradual build.”
Junior forward Samford Achor Achor, who is originally from Melbourne, Australia, and came to Samford from Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, is Samford’s leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and rebounder (6.1 rpg). He scored 25 points and grabbed nine rounds in the SoCon final against ETSU and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
The Bulldogs have two seldom-used players from Mountain Brook on their roster, senior forward Grayson Walters and sophomore guard Paulie Stramaglia. But the main local guy has been Jermaine Marshall, a senior forward who’s from Brighton and played at Hueytown High School. He had 23 points and eight rebounds in the victory over ETSU, earning All-Tournament honors.
“He’s probably the face of the team,” McMillan said. “He’s been with us for three years. He’s a fun player to coach. He played at the University of Akron for a year and came here on a leap of faith. We weren’t good at all, so I am happy for him to be playing in the NCAA tournament.”
