Texas A&M Basketball Coaching Staff

Last Game

Michigan
Loss 79-91
Mar 22, 2025
2025 NCAA Tournament, Round of 32
Bucky McMillan

Bucky McMillan

Head Coach

Three-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year Bucky McMillan was hired as the Texas A&M men's basketball head coach on April 5, 2025.

McMillan's Samford Bulldogs won three SoCon Championships – two regular season crowns and a tournament title – while compiling a 99-52 record, which includes 20-plus victories in each of the past four seasons. He earned SoCon Coach of the Year honors in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The 41-year-old McMillan's fast-paced, attacking style of play made Samford one of the most exciting and entertaining teams in college basketball. In 2024-25, the Bulldogs ranked No. 13 nationally in scoring offense (82.9 points per game) while ranking in the top 10 in 3-pointers attempted and made. Defensively, Samford forced an average of 16.1 turnovers per game, which ranked No. 4 in the country.

McMillan orchestrated the best season in Samford program history in 2023-24 when the Bulldogs earned their first NCAA Tournament berth in more than 20 years. Samford compiled a school-record 29 wins and swept the SoCon regular season and tournament titles for the first time. In the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs narrowly lost to Kansas, 93-89, in one of the most memorable games of the tournament. The 2023-24 season included a school record 17-game winning streak, and the team was a perfect 18-0 on its home court.

McMillan's path to the collegiate level came after experiencing unprecedented success at the high school level in the state of Alabama. As the head coach of Mountain Brook High School, located just outside of Birmingham, McMillan led the Spartans to five state championships in Alabama's highest classification and advanced to the championship game seven times in his 12 seasons at his alma mater. Named the National Coach of the Year in 2018 by the National High School Coaches Association, McMillan won 333 games at Mountain Brook while averaging nearly 28 wins per season.

Mitch Cole

Mitch Cole

Assistant Coach

Coaching veteran Mitch Cole returned to Aggieland as the first addition to Bucky McMillan's initial coaching staff at Texas A&M.

Cole, who served on Billy Kennedy's Texas A&M staff for five seasons from 2011-16, had been McMillan's associate head coach at Samford since 2021. With Cole on the Samford staff, the Bulldogs posted four straight 20-win seasons, won three Southern Conference championships and advanced to the postseason twice.

Before his time at Samford, Cole was the head coach at Berry College from 2018-21. In his time at Berry, Cole posted a record of 51-17. In the 2020-21 season, Cole led the Vikings to both the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) regular season and tournament titles. For his efforts, Cole was named 2021 SAA Coach of the Year. The 2021 Vikings also broke onto the national scene, finishing the season ranked No. 11 in the final NCAA Division III poll.

Cole arrived at Berry after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. On Kennedy's staff at Texas A&M, Cole served as a special assistant for three seasons before being elevated to assistant coach from 2014-16. In those two seasons, the Aggies posted a 49-21 record, including a school-record 28 victories in 2015-16 as the Maroon & White won the SEC regular season title and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Kyle Keller

Kyle Keller

Assistant Coach

Men's basketball head coach Bucky McMillan announced the addition of former Stephen F. Austin head coach Kyle Keller to his initial coaching staff at Texas A&M on April 6, 2025.

In addition to coaching the Lumberjacks from 2016-25, Keller also served on Billy Kennedy's Texas A&M men's basketball staff from 2011-16. During his time in Aggieland, Texas A&M advanced to the postseason three times, including a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2015-16. The 2015-16 Aggies also won the SEC regular season crown and posted a school-record 28 victories.

Keller compiled an 171-95 record in eight seasons in Nacogdoches, while winning Southland Conference championships twice. His 2017-18 team won the SLC Tournament title to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament and his 2019-20 squad won the SLC regular season crown with a 19-1 record but saw its season end due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keller brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Aggie sidelines. Keller was an assistant coach for two Naismith Hall of Fame coaches: Bill Self at Kansas and Eddie Sutton at his alma mater Oklahoma State. He started his coaching career at Louisiana Tech and served as head coach at Tyler Junior College. Keller served as an assistant coach at Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M.

TJ Cleveland

TJ Cleveland

Assistant Coach

Men’s basketball head coach Bucky McMillan added veteran assistant coach TJ Cleveland to his initial coaching staff at Texas A&M.

Widely regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the game with a focus on guard play, Cleveland has established a reputation as a strong recruiter in stints at UAB (2002-06), Missouri (2006-11), Arkansas (2011-19), St. John's (2019-23) and most recently Wichita State (2023-25).

At Wichita State, Cleveland played a key role in the team’s success as the Shockers advanced to the NIT in 2024-25. He helped coach Paul Mills win 34 games in his two first seasons at WSU, which was the third-most by a second-year head coach in school history. A pair of Shockers earned American Athletic Conference honors, which hadn’t happened in the same season since 2022.

Prior to his time at Wichita State, Cleveland served 21 seasons under four-time coach of the year Mike Anderson at four different schools – St. John’s, Arkansas, Missouri and UAB. He originally joined Anderson’s UAB staff in 2002 as video coordinator before being promoted to assistant coach in 2005.

 
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