Samford Bulldogs head coach Bucky McMillan during the second half in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the Kansas Jayhawks at Vivint Smart Home Arena-Delta Center. Gabriel Mayberry-Imagn Images

Texas A&M Guard Rylan Griffen Shares Hilarious Description of 'Bucky Ball'

Originally posted on Texas A&M Aggies on SI
By DJ Burton | Last updated Sep 26, 2025 3:01 PM ET

Texas A&M basketball fans have become accustomed to former coach Buzz Williams’ old-school, offensive-rebound centric play style for years. Non-existent 3-pointers, down-low ground-and-pound, big bodies with big rebounding abilities.

When Williams announced his departure to Maryland, Texas A&M fans almost rejoiced that the “boring” style of basketball Williams coaches was leaving Aggieland. Clearly, Texas A&M brass felt the same and went out and brought in a coach who is the exact opposite of of Williams in Bucky McMillan.

With McMillan comes his “Bucky Ball” play style, something that has taken the basketball world by storm. In a recent media availability, Texas A&M guard and Kansas transfer Rylan Griffen gave a preview of what fans could expect.

Rylan Griffen’s Interpretation of ‘Bucky Ball’

When McMillan was hired to be the head coach of the Aggies, many members of the 12th Man were left wondering “what the heck is Bucky Ball?”

“When I was coaching high school basketball in Alabama back in the day, all the coaches in the suburban schools they played in the ’30s and ’40s,” McMillan told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein in June. “Really slow. Ran the flags. No shot clock. Shoot it after a minute, and we were just — if I coached, we were never going to do that. We were going to trap until they shot the ball. Shoot as quickly as possible. Take a lot of threes.”

Essentially, his different pace and style set his teams apart from the teams they were playing, thus bringing on the term “Bucky Ball.”

”Bucky Ball is like a dog with the zoomies,” Griffen said. “That’s how I like to describe it. You know a dog, sometimes they just run back and forth for no reason. We’re doing it to play defense, play offense. It’s a lot of movement, it’s a lot of up and down. It’s fast paced. [The fans] are going to see a lot of threes. Hopefully the crowd can make something to where when we hit a three, they got something they do in the stands… because its going to be a lot of threes made.”

Texas A&M fans will get their first chance to see the new-look Aggies and Bucky Ball when the Fightin’ Farmers travel to Rosenberg, Texas to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in a neutral-site game on Oct. 26. The first time McMillan and Co. will play in Reed Arena is set for Nov. 3, when the Aggies host the Northwestern State Demons.

This article first appeared on Texas A&M Aggies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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