Samford Basketball’s New Era: A Season Preview
Samford football may be amidst their worst season in quite awhile but never fear Samford basketball is here. Albeit this season of Samford basketball will look dramatically different than the last five seasons.
Bucky Ball has moved onto the SEC and Texas A&M after five seasons in Homewood. Bucky McMillan compiled a 99-52 record in those five seasons with an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2023-2024 season.
McMillan had four straight 20-win seasons after the tough 2020-2021 COVID season as Samford won a regular season Southern Conference title in 2023 and shared the title in 2024. Samford had the close loss against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 and appeared in the NIT last season.
Samford did not have a winning record in Southern Conference play in the 13 years prior to McMillan’s arrival.
Martin Newton, Samford’s athletic director, had to act quickly in finding McMillan’s replacement and did just that as he hired former Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff to lead the Samford program. Here is a quick timeline of everything that transpired in the lead up to Acuff’s hiring.
March 8: Samford loses to Furman in SoCon Tournament
March 18: Samford appears in NIT Tournament, lose to George Mason
March 21: Jaden Brownell, Lukas Walls, Riley Allenspach, and Josh Holloway announce Samford return
April 4: Texas A&M hires Bucky McMillan
April 5: Brownell, Allenspach, Holloway hit transfer portal
April 8: Samford hires Lennie Acuff
Acuff comes to Homewood after six seasons at Lipscomb where Lipscomb won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2025. He finished with a 110-82 record as Lipscomb just had their third straight 20-win season.
Samford made the best possible hire they could have made as Acuff comes back to his home state after coaching at Alabama-Huntsville for 23 seasons. Acuff has a reputation as a great offensive mind and brings a system is successful to Samford. Samford might have a new coach but the goal remains the same.
Lennie Acuff at his opening press conference
As Lennie Acuff put it at his opening press conference, his job is not to replace Bucky McMillan. “My job is to keep Samford basketball at the top of the Southern Conference",” said Acuff.
Furman coach Bob Richey credits Acuff for their growth on the offensive end in his Furman tenure.
Acuff’s Princeton offense emphasizes constant motion, great spacing and fundamentals. Lipscomb had the A-SUN’s best offense last season and were first in effective field goal percentage. Bucky McMillan told us on the State of the Bulldogs Podcast on what Samford fans should expect out of Acuff.
“Lennie’s a really good offensive coach,” said McMillan. “Think Jimmy Tillette but way faster, very conceptual stuff on offense, very good concepts. But way faster, very smart players, he is going to have very skilled players that can dribble, pass, and shoot that can really think.”
Acuff also brings a majority of his staff from last year’s Lipscomb NCAA Tournament team and added his son, Will Acuff, as an assistant coach from Montevallo College. Multiple of Samford’s new assistants have coaching experience in the Southern Conference which will be a big help in year one.
Samford fans have grown accustomed to good offensive basketball but this version will have a more controlled pace. Last season in KenPom, Lipscomb finished 89th overall in his rankings in the entire country. They were top 50 in the country in three-point percentage and top 25 in two-point field goal percentage.
Lennie Acuff brings his system over to Samford but will have to do it with an almost entirely new Samford roster. Samford returns just two players from last year’s team and only one of them played last season.
In total, Samford’s roster consists of 13 newcomers with 10 transfers, three freshmen and those two returners.
Sophomore F Zion Wilburn and now redshirt freshman F Caleb Harrison return. Freshman guard Isaiah Campbell-Finch signed with the previous staff and stayed signed for Acuff and company.
The transfer class is highlighted by former Lipscomb C Dylan Faulkner and former Florida Southern College G Jadin Booth. Both Faulkner and Booth were named to the Preseason All-SoCon team.
The rest of the transfer class is listed below.
G DaJion Humphrey - Bowling Green
F Jaxon Pollard - Queens
G Keaton Norris - Wright State
G Cade Norris - Illinois State
F Judson Bjornstad - Union (D-II)
G Kam Martin - Long Beach State
C Will Shaver - UAB
G Zach Lamey - Lipscomb
Lennie Acuff will be down one of these transfer portal additions for the season. Former Bowling Green G DaJion Humphrey suffered an achilles injury in the Samford exhibition against Alabama A&M. He did have surgery and will be out for the season.
Humphrey was going to be a starter for Samford so Acuff and staff already have to adjust down a projected starter. He shot just under 39% from three last season. Speaking of, here are our projected starters.
Projected Starters
G Keaton Norris
2024-2025 stats (Wright State): 30.4 MPG, 7.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.9 APG, 46% 3FG, 44% FG
Norris comes to Homewood for his final season along with his brother Cade Norris. He was originally committed to Lipscomb out of the transfer portal. Norris was one of three Bulldogs that separated himself throughout the preseason. His 3.9 assists per game ranked in the top 100 in the entire country as he started 27 games for Wright State a season ago. Norris will have to look to score a little bit more with the loss of DaJion Humphrey as he is a 41% career three-point shooter.
G Jadin Booth
2024-2025 stats (Florida Southern): 36.6 MPG, 21 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 5.3 APG, 39% 3FG, 44% FG
Samford fans are going to like watching Booth play basketball. He lit up the D-II ranks a season ago and can shoot it from anywhere. Last season at Florida Southern, Booth scored in double figures in all but three of his 35 games played. That includes dropping 40 points against Nova Southeastern who won the D-II national championship. Samford will look to Booth to lead them along with Dylan Faulkner. He had 14 points in the exhibition against Alabama A&M making three of six threes. Booth was named to the Preseason All-SoCon team.
F Zion Wilburn
2024-2025 stats: 20 GP, 5.1 MPG, 1.1 PPG, .7 RPG
Wilburn is the only returner from last season who played some. His prior coach Bucky McMillan said he was further along as a freshman than former Bulldog AJ Staton-McCray was. McMillan told us on the State of the Bulldogs Podcast that he wished he played Wilburn more. The offense will come along but Wilburn will excel on the defensive end as he continues to improve offensively. He only had five points but had five rebounds in the Alabama A&M game and was +11 in the game.
F Jaxon Pollard
2024-2025 stats (Queens): 17.5 MPG, 8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 40% 3FG, 51% FG
Pollard missed the Alabama A&M exhibition due to injury but he is back healthy and good to go for the season opener. He has good size at 6’7” (6-7) and will help on the defensive end. Pollard scored in double figures 11 times including 17 points against his new coach’s old squad in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. He will have to improve at the free throw line shooting just 65% but he did see his three-point percentage jump 13 points from two seasons ago.
C Dylan Faulkner
2024-2025 stats (Lipscomb): 15 GP, 17.5 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 60% FG
Faulkner is primed for a full breakout season. He suffered a season-ending foot injury in early January. Faulkner has SoCon Player of the Year potential if he can put together a season he was on track to have last season. When he was playing, Faulkner made Lipscomb’s defense 11 points better per 100 possessions. Faulkner had 15 points and six rebounds against Alabama A&M and showed more of what Acuff saw from him last season. If he continues on the trajectory he was planning to be on last season, the rest of the SoCon better watch out.
Key Reserves
G Kam Martin
2024-2025 stats (Long Beach State): 28 MPG, 8.4 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.4 APG, 34% 3FG, 40% FG
Martin transfers in from Long Beach after a freshman season where he started 24 of 32 games. He scored in double digits 14 times including a 25-point performance on the road at San Diego. Martin will be asked to play an increased role with the season-ending injury to DaJion Humphrey. He will have to cut down on his fouls committed per 40 minutes which was at a 2.9 clip. Samford’s depth will be tested this season and Martin can lean on his experience from playing a good bit out in California.
F Judson Bjornstad
2024-2025 stats (Union - D-II): 29.6 MPG, 9 PPG, 5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 27% 3FG, 40% FG
Bjornstad had a really good showing in the Alabama A&M exhibition, providing punch off the bench with 11 points and two rebounds in 19 minutes of action. He was originally committed to Lipscomb out of the portal and followed Acuff to Samford. Bjornstad was a solid D-II player in his freshman campaign and another building block for Lennie Acuff and company who will look to fill minutes when Wilburn and Pollard are not on the floor. At 6’8” he will also provide length on the floor defensively.
G Cade Norris
2024-2025 stats (Illinois State): 17 GP, 1.1 PPG
The younger Norris brother also finds himself in Homewood after being at Illinois State for his freshman season. He appeared in 17 games for the Cardinals and will be another piece for Acuff on this Samford bench. Norris is a smart player who is a good system fit who will help Samford on the defensive end. Norris is another player who will have to fill the void left by Humphrey’s injury. He’ll be in the right spots and knows exactly what Acuff wants.
F Caleb Harrison
2024-2025 stats: N/A
Harrison redshirted last season for Samford and his former coach spoke highly of him on the State of the Bulldogs Podcast. “Nobody works harder than Caleb” said Bucky McMillan of Harrison will look to provide even more depth in the Samford frontcourt. He played just five minutes in Samford’s exhibition as there are a lot of players at his position. Harrison played for former McMillan assistant Christian Schweers at Huntsville High School.
C Will Shaver
2024-2025 stats: N/A
Shaver might be one of the more intriguing players off of this Samford bench. He provided valuable minutes in the Alabama A&M exhibition with just one point but had five rebounds and three assists. That exhibition was the first game action for Shaver in over a year for the former 3-star recruit who started out at North Carolina. If he can provide any depth, as it looks like, at the center position, then that is just a great added bonus for a talented player out of high school looking to find his way back.
G Isaiah Campbell-Finch
2024-2025 stats: N/A
Campbell-Finch is a former three star recruited who stayed signed with Samford after the departure of Bucky McMillan. He is a good mid-major get who chose Samford over the likes of Dayton and Charlotte. Campbell-Finch looked confident in his 12 minutes of action against Alabama A&M. Lennie Acuff is excited about the Cambell-Finch and what kind of player he can become and could provide minutes for Samford this season. Oh and Campbell-Finch starred in a movie called Basketball Jones: The First Chapter that can be found on Amazon.
G JD Gossett
2024-2025 stats: N/A
Gossett also comes from Huntsville High School being a high school teammate of Caleb Harrison. He also was previously committed to Lipscomb before signing with Samford. At 6-5, Gossett averaged 15.3 points per game in high school. He too is another player that will grow playing for Lennie Acuff. Gossett also had five points in 11 minutes of action against Alabama A&M.
Samford will look to take this new roster against a compelling non-conference slate in year one of the Lennie Acuff era. As we have seen in previous seasons, it will take some time for this new look roster to gel. Samford played Alabama A&M in an exhibition matchup in downtown Birmingham falling 74-73 and a game this team can learn from.
The Bulldogs also played a “secret scrimmage” against Georgia Tech so this roster has had a couple preseason games before their season opener.
That season opener is against Tulane on November 3rd. Tulane, out of the American Conference, is a nice test for Samford on opening night who were picked to finish third in the American. The Green Wave do have the preseason American Player of the Year in Rowan Brumbaugh.
The Bulldogs will then have their home opener on Samford’s homecoming week taking on South Carolina State on November 7.
Samford does have their one buy game against another NCAA Tournament team and that is against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Samford travels to Fayetteville on November 14th. John Calipari’s Razorbacks will be in contention to win the SEC this season.
Another interesting matchup is against VCU on December 5th. Samford heads back to the Siegel Center after playing in Virginia two seasons ago.
Cornell makes their return trip to Samford on December 7th after the Bulldogs went up to New York last season falling to a buzzer-beater three against Big Red. Cornell was also picked to finish third in the Ivy League.
The Atlantic Sun-SoCon Scheduling Alliance (do you want to form an alliance with me?….absolutely I do) returns for another season. This year Samford will take on Florida Gulf Coast at home and will play Central Arkansas on the road. Samford won both of their games in this alliance last season.
One thing that does not return is the Samford hosted Multi-Team Event during Thanksgiving week. The Bulldogs will take part in the 2025 Cancun Challenge. In that challenge, Samford will travel to New Mexico State for an on campus game before heading down to Cancun.
In Mexico, Samford will play Georgia State and Utah Valley. Last year Samford played Utah Valley at home in that Thanksgiving MTE.
Here is where Samford’s non-conference opponents finished in KenPom last season.
Tulane: 144th
SC State: 192nd
Texas Southern: 278th
Arkansas: 36th
Central Arkansas: 349th
Florida Gulf Coast: 179th
New Mexico State: 134th
Georgia State: 262nd
Utah Valley: 112th
VCU: 34th
Cornell: 129th
Bryan: N/A
Reinhardt: N/A
Southern Conference play will be another battle night in and night out (well maybe not when Samford plays The Citadel twice). Every other team minus Samford and Wofford (what a story that was) returns their head coach from last season. Every team like every other mid-major program is experiencing some level of roster turnover.
Samford point guard Keaton Norris
19 of the 20 players who made All-Southern Conference last season are now gone to graduation or the transfer portal. The one who returns is VMI G Rickey Bradley Jr. who was named the preseason player of the year.
Samford was picked to finish third in the conference by the coaches and have two representatives on the All-SoCon team in Dylan Faulkner and Jadin Booth. Samford tied with Furman with the second most representatives behind Chattanooga who had three.
Even though Samford was picked to finish third it feels like there is a top tier of Furman, Chattanooga, and ETSU. Although it does feel like at least before the season, Samford and those top three will fight for the top of the conference. Then of course anything can happen in Asheville.
The Bulldogs open Southern Conference play on New Year’s Day against VMI in Lexington. The Samford home conference opener is on January 7th vs UNCG.
The toughest stretch of the conference slate has to be these six games that could make or break whether Samford can fight to stay near the top of the Southern Conference. Samford plays both of their games against Chattanooga and Furman in this stretch.
1/10 at Chattanooga
1/14 vs Furman
1/17 vs ETSU
1/21 at Wofford
1/24 vs Chattanooga
1/29 at Furman
February is set up a little easier for Samford getting to play Mercer and The Citadel twice following that six-game stretch
Samford basketball looks much different than it did last season around this time. Gone is Bucky McMillan and the Lennie Acuff era is here. Samford looks to keep the same standard that was set over the last four full seasons. It will take some time for this new Samford team to gel and learn this system. Acuff has the staff continuity from Lipscomb and has two players in Dylan Faulkner and Jadin Booth that can lead this team.
The Southern Conference will be challenging once again but Samford has the right coach to navigate that schedule. We’ve made it as another basketball season is here. Here we go.
