Teams I Want to Watch More This Year: Samford

 #BuckyBall

The hashtag commonly found on Samford’s social media accounts has been synonymous with Samford basketball since Bucky McMillan, their head coach and namesake of the Bucky Ball brand, was hired in the spring of 2020. 

A lifelong Birmingham, Alabama basketball area staple, McMillan has almost immediately led Samford to success after an incredible jump from a fourteen year high school coaching career at Mountain Brook High School, where he coached the Spartans to nine area titles. 

In just three seasons, McMillan has quickly helped transform Samford into one of the most exciting and feared mid-majors in all of college basketball. Case in point: in Samford’s dozen years in the Southern Conference prior to McMillan’s tenure, the program achieved just one .500 conference record, but over the last two seasons, Samford has a 25-11 SoCon record and the program’s first consecutive twenty win seasons since moving up to the Division 1 level five decades prior, with each season concluding with McMillan earning the SoCon Coach of the Year award. 

Last year, the Bulldogs earned their first SoCon regular season championship, so naturally the next step for Samford is to aim for their first SoCon tournament championship and first tournament selection since the 1999-20 season. 

Back to Bucky Ball: it’s a fast, ball-movement based offense where set plays are rare and three point attempts are plentiful. Spacing and unselfishness is paramount and the players have freedom, which in turn helps them to grow and build confidence. 

Like almost every team entering this season, Samford’s starting rotation will look quite a bit different with starters Logan Dye and Bubba Parham graduating and Ques Glover transferring to Kansas State.

However, despite this turnover, the Bulldogs will roster one of the most experienced squads in the SoCon, with nine rotation pieces playing on the fourth or fifth year of eligibility.

Fifth-year senior forward Jermaine Marshall, a Third Team All-Southern Conference selection, will look to step up as the team’s top player after averaging 13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.9 free throw attempts per game last season, while finishing with impressive shooting efficiency (53.4 2P%, 37.5 3P%, 79.5 FT%). He is also one of the team’s best defenders. 

Other top returnees include defensive specialist and efficient interior scorer AJ Staton-McCray and three-point specialist Jaden Campbell, one of the four Bulldogs returning for their extra year of eligibility. 

A four-man transfer haul brings in a mix of proven veteran options with enticing upside. Amongst the more known additions, fifth-year Rylan Jones, formerly of Utah and Utah State, is a pass first, savvy two-way point guard who has shot over 34% from three throughout his career while Alabama A&M grad transfer Garrett Hicks has scored over 1300 points and hit over 200 three pointers in his career, making him a perfect fit with the team.

Their less proven additions bring a championship pedigree vital to the team looking to take the next step. Zach Loveday is a seven-foot senior and former National Champion who played  sparingly throughout three seasons at Baylor. Never playing more than sixty minutes in a season, Loveday is poised to show his three-and-D potential, hopefully to the tune of a starting role vacated from Logan Dye’s graduation.

Fresh off his Division II national championship with Nova Southeastern, sophomore Dallas Graziani stands at just 5’7 and averaged 11.3 points, 6.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 35.6% from three. Graziani is expected to back up Jones, but as the underclassman most likely to earn rotation minutes this season, he is a very important foundational piece. 

Rounding up Samford’s rotation is Australian senior backup big man Achor Achor and fifth-year returnees Nathan Johnson and Brody Boyer, both of which are perimeter shooters with good size. 

6’11 center Riley Allenspach is the headliner of Samford’s three-man freshman class, who picked the Bulldogs after receiving fifteen other offers earlier in his recruitment. A consensus three-star recruit, Allenspach is ranked within 247’s top-250 prospects of the 2023 class and their database lists him as the fourth highest ranked recruit in program history. 

Although Furman returns a ton of talent from last year’s championship squad, Samford is on the short list of true title contenders in the SoCon with their talent, depth and veteran moxy. After three straight pillowy non-conference schedules, McMillan and his staff did a good job beefening up their tune ups to help prepare for conference play, highlighted by visits to Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State.

With sustained success and respect throughout the SoCon, the Samford Bulldogs are no longer just a buzzy team with a unique style – they are a potent offensive machine that will be a team I will watch more this season as they search for their first tournament selection under Bucky McMillan.