Making the case to bring Bucky Ball to the Bud

Samford's McMillan is the low-cost high reward option for Arkansas

Here’s where we are, folks, and you’ll never convince me otherwise. (Former) Head coach Eric Musselman really wanted out of Arkansas (To head back to the West Coast? Because he was battling with big money donors? Because he has a shelf life of five years at one job? Some combination of all three?) before next season. Razorbacks Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek helped usher Musselman out because A) you don’t twist the arm of an employee who actively wants to leave, and B) he thought his number one option (Chris Beard) was a lock to come to Fayetteville when the job opened.

Yuracheck got the first part, but the second part fell through. Now Yurachek is left seemingly scrambling. His other reported top targets (Jerome Tang and Will Wade) have not developed any major traction.

Yurachek is conducting the coaching search all wrong at this point. Instead of seeking sitting high-major coaches or coaches with high-major experience, he should return to the same well that brought him Musselman: mid-major coach on the rise.

And drinking from that well should lead him to Samford Head Coach Bucky McMillan.

Bucky Ball has style

There is no noise like an amped Bud Walton Arena after a stiffiling, up-tempo run. I’ve spoken before about how that Hog call that happens when a team has to take a timeout after the Razorbacks go on a run at home is the best cheer in all of sports.

That Hog call would be the sirensong of Bucky Ball’s uptempo style. According to a piece from The Athletic, Bucky Ball is a “full-court-pressing, breakneck-running, 3-point shooting, blur of activity.”

Sounds pretty similar to a style that was awfully successful in Fayetteville. It’s 40 Minutes of Hell with a modern offensive twist.

Here are some of Samford’s numbers from this season:

• 8th nationally in Tempo (per KenPom)

• 7th nationally in fastbreak points per game

• 6th nationally in bench points per game

• 5th nationally in scoring offense

• 7th nationally in steals per game

• 5th nationally in three-point percentage

• 5th nationally in turnovers forced per game

High speed, forced turnovers, modern offense, where many guys play? I’m already in line, Hunter!

Arkansas has always been at its best—in every sport—when it has a coach with a unique style that can compensate for talent disparity. You saw it with Nolan Richardson and Bobby Petrino. Bucky Ball is the best option from a style of play perspective.

Plus, wouldn’t you love to see BLOBs like this being run on Nolan Richardson Court?

Bucky Ball is fresh and clean

At just 40 years old, with his entire career ahead of him, McMillan would be a fresh face rather than a retread or major baggage carrier. Thus far at Samford, McMillan has won 65% of his games. After an initial rebuilding year, though, he’s actually 71-28 (72% winning percentage).

Maybe it’s just me, but the more I think about names like Chris Beard and Will Wade as the top options, the less I like them or what they say about my alma mater. (I know, I know. I was excited about Chris Beard, but that’s my own cognitive dissonance I need to sort out.) McMillan would be one of the slew of coaching options for Arkansas that does not have a dubious past.

He’s also a candidate who has built-in hope in the unknown. Other names like Porter Moser, Brad Underwood, or Buzz Williams have been mentioned as possible candidates. While each of those has had some success in their careers, we also know (and more importantly, so do opposing coaches) what their teams look like at the high-major level.

And before you get scared off by the fact that he has only coached in the SoCon and start having John Pelphrey PTSD, his record at Samford way outshines what Pelphrey did at South Alabama.

Bucky Ball is a fresh, unknown commodity. That would be a good thing for Arkansas.

Bucky Ball is inexpensive

McMillan did sign a contract extension with Samford in late March for the second consecutive year. Since Samford is a private institution, the details of those contracts are not part of the public record.

At the same time, this is Samford in the SoCon, not Arkansas in the SEC. Musselman left the Razorbacks as the 12th highest-paid coach in college basketball. I guarantee Arkansas could afford McMillan’s buyout, pay him a competitive yet reasonable salary (something in the $2 million range to start), and still have plenty of lettuce left over to build his NIL salad.

Bucky Ball is the way

You don’t have to scroll for long on Twitter to see that fans have quickly turned on Yurachek. Even folks who were ok with Musselman leaving and the moves he made to facilitate that exit have started to lose trust in his abilities as Athletic Director. Pressure is mounting.

Yurachek can respond to that pressure in two ways. The wrong thing to do would be to buckle to that pressure and bring in a more popular name to win a press conference despite their drawbacks. That list includes names like Moser, Underwood, Wade, and Williams. Those hires are all wax fruit. Shiny but inedible.

Option two is to ignore the pressure and make the right basketball hire, knowing that fans will come around once they see the right product on the floor. That’s McMillan, and he’s Yurachek’s only real option.

Bucky Ball should be the future of Hog Ball.