Bryce Drew absolutely sucked at Vandy. I don't understand why people keep bringing him up.

Man, you are so fixed on the wrong stuff - when looking at mid-major guys, why does it matter where they are from? It really doesn't (to a certain extent, of course).

Nate Oats was from Buffalo. Todd Golden was from San Francisco. Both guys have been pretty freaking spectacular. Dennis Gates was from Cleveland State, he's been pretty good at Mizzou.

On the flip side, Matt McMahon was from Murray State (a pretty excepted mid-major power) and has been TERRIBLE at LSU.

Its about their personality and drive and their commitment to excellence, their basketball philosophy, how they can relate to players/boosters, etc. The name on their polo means so little.

Guys like Huss and McMillan are universally tabbed as two of the handful of "young rising stars" at mid-majors. Ok, Bryce Drew has been really good at Grand Canyon, why isn't is name coming up for big jobs this cycle? Maybe because he lasted 3 years as the Vandy head coach and was pretty bad the last 2 years and got fired?

Also, how do you know we didn't call on Ross Hodge? Maybe we did. But these constant comments of "if we have $7million why not get Coach X, Y or Z" have really got to stop, they are out of touch with reality and not at all how any coaching search as worked ever.

Texas had a lot of money to play with, why didn't they get Billy Donovan or Bill Self? Because thats not how hiring works.

Six years ago. I guess you wouldn't have hired Nate Oats either.

MarcAg said:

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We assume Huss would jump at this, but maybe he is holding out for something better next year.

Bucky is a ballsy hire. Not safe. Not boring. Could be an outstanding hire. Could be an absolute disaster. He will win over the fans, but keeping them won over will be dependent on do you win.

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Well Billy said on air today that Huss's camp made it apparent he was interested if the job came open.

agtrevino07 said:

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We were able to offer $7M for Chris Beard 3 days ago, but now we are going with some options options from 3rd tier leagues. Big South (High Point) ranked the #14 league...while Buck McMillan will come from Southern ranked #16...I can't believe that there was no other option available. Why not try a last-minute "steal" to get Ross Hodge, who just signed up with WVU?

Or if you are going to gamble, why not go after Bryce Drew from Grand Canyon? I am just surprised and disappointed that our options are coaches from High Point, Samford and that's it?

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Pretty sure Drew wants no part of SEC or here. Waiting a year for AZ State to crap the bed again, then short move (if he can beat out McDermott). Drew has $

Look what he did after Vandy. So far, 4 seasons at Grand Canyon, 3 straight trips to the NCAA tourney, and an overall record of 63-21. Before Vandy, he had a record of 65-19. In addition to have a background as a professional player (NBA draft).

I am not saying is my 1st option...nor my 2nd or 3rd...but he is higher than Bucky Mcmillan! At least with Drew, you have more data points in terms of forecasting success than Bucky McMillan.

Would be very intrigued by Bucky.

Looking at his resume and reading that piece in the Athletic about him form last March, it sounds like he's literally never lived outside of the Birmingham area.

The top booster at Samford is his childhood friend's dad. He grew up around a lot of the people supporting him all throughout the program.

Would definitely be about as big a risk as possible.

Yet, everything you read about him makes it sound like he is a potential superstar in the making. Everyone who knows him raves about him. His approach is almost entirely analytics based and has been running the same system his whole life. Everyone on the floor is a shooter.

A good quote from that piece, "If you can make a free throw, you can make a 3. If you can't make a free throw, you can't play anyway."

I will support the program and I will give the benefit of the doubt to the new coach. I am just not excited about what his experience, results and potential in terms of recruiting.

Not really, you do have a data point that he was absolutely horrible in his first shot at this level. And it's not like they were mediocre at Vandy, they pulled a full Melvin his last season.

Grand Canyon is well-funded operation compared to everyone else in their league, of course they're dominating it.

Recruiting? Same deal here. He has not recruited at this level. That said, he is kind of a system coach, so that could be a big advantage here. He may not need the best players to win, just the ones that

Isnt this what we just watched walk out the door? Needs his guys to win? This should be a major red flag,

Here we're talking about recruiting to a system and knowing what specific basketball skills you're looking for in players. Not which players parents have the best vibes or whatever Buzz was looking for.

Samford BLOBS [Bucky McMillan] vs. Kansas

If you can get 6 to 8 points a game off your Baseline OB situations might be the difference in winning or losing. pic.twitter.com/ylpD7XJaHB

— Marc Hart (@CoachMarcHart) April 17, 2024

I prefer throwing the ball into the backcourt on BLOBs.

The worse that can happen is we give them so much money, they lose motivation to be competitive. Jumbo ring a bell?

"He plays a way that will warrant continuing to get good players because people want to play like that. He's in a far better place than I was early in my career."

—Kansas head coach Bill Self on @SamfordMBB's Bucky McMillan pic.twitter.com/aVHHBrvMP5

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2024

This is definitely the kind of risk worth taking at this point. We need to seriously upgrade the infrastructure around him to make sure he is successful, but the guy can flat out coach.

One thing I REALLY like about him is the fact that if we give him his big shot, and we pony up for infra, he won't leave, IMO, if he is wildly successful. This is exactly the type of hire that either a) burns out quickly or b) is majorly successful and changes a program. Worth the risk, IMO.

This thread has me excited about Bucky!

I love a press at the College Level. (And the NBA if it is even allowed) . If you can take 9 seconds off of the shot clock before a team sets up their offense it's a huge defensive advantage.

He thinks players who can't shoot a freethrow can't play!!??? Thats awesome

I also like that high-major programs have taken guys off his roster and he keeps going. They lost players off last year's team to K-State and Miami.

But Steve Forbes was 30-4 at east Tenn st!

And hasn't been great the last 5 years at Wake

bobinator said:

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Not really, you do have a data point that he was absolutely horrible in his first shot at this level. And it's not like they were mediocre at Vandy, they pulled a full Melvin his last season.

Grand Canyon is well-funded operation compared to everyone else in their league, of course they're thdominating it.

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You can say the same about both High Point and Samford..more High Point.

Wasn't his fault

That might be true, I have no idea. Chattanooga has also been pretty good for a long time in the SoCon, Wofford has had some good coaches.

Drew probably makes like a million more than the next highest paid coach in the WAC.

Just looked at Bucky results this past season.

Put up a fight against Michigan State.

But, what really got me on the bandwagon is that he beat Wofford.

TWICE.

Buzz never did that!

these "resources" posts get me. Those resorces didn't seem to matter the previous entire history of either program when they didn't accomplish anything. What have they done at their programs compared to what others have done there? Huss has the 2 best seasons in High Point history. Bucky had the best season in Samford history last year. Are they just guys who understand how to put those resources to proper use unlike every other coach in program history? If so, we should be excited bc that's kind of been our problem.

if it really is Bucky, you're probably gonna get a lot of football fan interest just on the name alone

I would start the interviews with these 4 questions.....

1. Do you dress casual when coaching your games?

2. When I ask a question, can you give me a direct answer vs. some circuitous reply that takes
so long I forget the question?

3. Can you, your staff and family engage our students, fans and the community?

4. Can you recruit some basketball gym rats that can shoot, or do you run a boot camp for athletic role players?

Great marketing tie-in: Bucky and Buccee's

Get Ol' Arch to fund some NIL or arena renovations/new one.

Head coach @BuckyBasketball getting the Pete ready for you tonight 🐶🏀#BuckyBall | #AllForSAMford pic.twitter.com/wrYcjfwJGr

— Samford Men's Basketball (@SamfordMBB) February 12, 2025

He's dork but he seems to work hard to connect with the fans.

scd88 said:

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Head coach @BuckyBasketball getting the Pete ready for you tonight 🐶🏀#BuckyBall | #AllForSAMford pic.twitter.com/wrYcjfwJGr

— Samford Men's Basketball (@SamfordMBB) February 12, 2025

He's dork but he seems to work hard to connect with the fans.

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This is what we desperately need. Nerdy, but effective

Love it! Better than a Coach off by himself reading a book!

zgolfz85 said:

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scd88 said:

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Head coach @BuckyBasketball getting the Pete ready for you tonight 🐶🏀#BuckyBall | #AllForSAMford pic.twitter.com/wrYcjfwJGr

— Samford Men's Basketball (@SamfordMBB) February 12, 2025

He's dork but he seems to work hard to connect with the fans.

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This is what we desperately need. Nerdy, but effective

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Let's face it, a lot of us are dorks. A lot of Aggies are dorks and we have weird traditions. This guy would connect with a lot of our fans and students (the ones who go to basketball games).

He's the anti-Buzz.

The more I read (and watch), I am strongly in the hire Bucky camp. I was already leaning that way, but I'm now sold. Sure, he could be a disaster I guess. But he also has the chance to be amazing (and a ton of fun at the same time), and like someone said above, he's the type of coach that could be program changing because he may not jump at a chance to leave in 4 years if he has success.

As an example of what works....I am not a fan of Bruce Pearl, but his out going personality, glad handing
rah rah stuff works in recruiting and with the Auburn fans. Not sure his actual coaching is top shelf, but he has them at or near the top for a few years now.