Samford is turning to the local prep ranks to replace Scott Padgett as its basketball coach. The Southern Conference school in Birmingham, Alabama announced the hiring Bucky McMillan on Monday after his 12-year run at nearby Mountain Brook High School.

McMillan led the school to five state championships in the state’s highest classification, including three straight from 2017 through 2019 while coaching touted prospects such as LSU’s Trendon Watford and class of 2020 Xavier signee Colby Jones. In 2018 McMillin was named the national coach of the year by the the National High School Coaches Association. 

“We wanted someone with head coaching experience and a proven track record of winning championships, someone who could excite and engage the Birmingham and Samford communities and someone who understands and embraces the mission of our great university,” Samford athletic director Martin Newton said in a school announcement. “Bucky McMillan quickly became the obvious choice.”

McMillan starred at Mountain Brook High School before playing at Birmingham-Southern College from 2002 to 2006 when the school was Division I program. He will be tasked with revitalizing a Samford program that has yet to post a winning record in league play since joining the Southern Conference for the 2008-09 season.

“I am thankful and grateful for this opportunity,” McMillan said in the school announcement. “I want to especially give thanks to the leadership at Samford for their confidence in me to lead this program. When I came to Mountain Brook I had never been a high school head coach and the administration there took a chance on me, and this is a similar situation. I am ecstatic to be going to work for one of the top Christian universities in the country, whose values I believe in. I am excited to get to Samford and build relationships with the faculty and staff, and most importantly with the student-athletes.”

Here is the breakdown of the 2020 college basketball coaching carousel.

.