SAN ANTONIO — Texas A&M is set to hire Samford coach Bucky McMillan as the school’s next men’s basketball coach, sources told ESPN. The sides are finalizing a five-year deal, according to sources.

McMillan is the head coach at Samford, which he led to a pair of Southern Conference championships and one NCAA tournament in his five seasons there. His overall record there is 99-52, and he led Samford to four-consecutive 20-win seasons.

His teams play at a hyper tempo in a style known as “Bucky Ball,” which translated immediately to success at Samford. Three times, he has been named the Southern Conference coach of the year at a place that struggled to win for a generation.

McMillan takes over for Buzz Williams, who left for Maryland in the wake of three consecutive NCAA tournaments for the Aggies. Texas A&M earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament this year.

McMillan has a track record of consistent results at every level. The NCAA tournament bid at Samford in 2024 was the school’s first since 2000. Samford took No. 4 seed Kansas to the brink in the 2024 tournament, cutting a 22-point deficit to one point with less than a minute remaining. They lost, 93-89, after a controversial foul call in the final minute.

McMillan, 41, profiles as one of the country’s most intriguing and promising young coaches. He won five state high school titles at Mountain Brook High school in Alabama and, in a rare move, took the head college job at Samford directly from high school. In a 12-year run at Mountain Brook, he won 333 games, averaged nearly 28 wins per season and turned the local program into a household name nationally.

He defined a style that includes a heavy emphasis on pressing and disruption. They not only play fast on offense, but they attempt to speed up the opposition. In each of the last two seasons, Samford’s opponents turned the ball over at a rate that put them in the Top 20 in the country for opponent turnover percentage.

The energy and style should help engage and A&M fan base that isn’t organically a basketball fan base. A&M is expected to have nearly $7 million available in both NIL and revenue share this season, a competitive number for the SEC that should give Texas A&M a chance to be competitive in the SEC.