Last spring, Samford University attracted national attention as its men’s basketball team pushed a blue blood to the buzzer in the NCAA tournament. The excitement centered around Samford’s style of play, taking the name of its head coach.
“I’m an underdog coach, and I fit well in the ‘David’ role,” Bucky McMillan, head coach of the Samford University men’s basketball team told me in an interview.
McMillan exploded onto the national sports scene last March when he took Samford to March Madness for the first time in more than two decades. His fresh approach to the game caught the attention of sports analysts all over the country and was quickly dubbed “Bucky Ball.”
It’s the fast-paced, full-court press, attack style of play McMillan has made famous at Samford. The New York Times called Bucky Ball “frenetic.” ESPN called it “pesky.” And something about Bucky Ball echoes the essence of McMillan’s faith in Jesus.
“When it comes to basketball, win or not, we play the game with courage,” said McMillan. “From where I sit, the worst thing you can do is to not play to win. The worst thing is to hold back. … It’s very similar to living the Christian life. You can’t be afraid to know who you are and to say who you are. We know where we’re going, so what do we have to lose?”
Let’s go back to the Big Dance 2024.
The Samford Bulldogs, 13 seed, played the Kansas Jayhawks, a four, in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. With veteran coach Bill Self and two national championship titles in recent memory, Kansas is, by anyone’s measure, the proverbial Goliath.
With just 16 seconds left, in true Madness fashion, Samford was within one point of tying the game. The score was 90-89, Kansas. The Jayhawks moved the ball downcourt, and Kansas’s Nicholas Timberlake attempted a dunk — when Samford’s A.J. Staton-McCray came in from behind with an utterly clean swipe, blocking Timberlake’s shot.
The official, however, called the block a foul, and Kansas was awarded two free throws and eventually won the game.
“That was all ball,” the TV commentator pronounced, even after watching multiple replays. “With the game on the line, that is an incredible block that just got taken away from Samford.”
They were so close, and the referees, in the opinion of this alumna, snatched victory right out of Samford’s grasp.
I read the transcripts from McMillan’s post-game press conference and his reaction was perplexing. “I have seen the play,” he said. “I’m not faulting the call. Some people can see it different ways. But I was really proud of our guys’ ability to go make a play.”
Why wouldn’t he defend his team?
“You have to take the long view in life,” McMillan told me. “I was granted an opportunity to set an example for my guys. In our locker room, we have a sign that says, ‘No victims. No excuse-makers. No blame shifters.’ I could have done any of those things. But I knew in the moment that I could make a decision that would probably resonate with the guys on my team even more deeply and for much longer than if we had blocked that shot and won the game.
“When it comes down to it,” McMillan said, “as far as my role, it’s one thing to be a good basketball coach, but it’s another thing to impact the life of a young person. Whether you’re at a secular university or a Christian one, you can always set examples; you can do that anywhere.” That’s just Bucky Ball.
