Basketball season is back and Samford is looking to build on Lennie Acuff’s first year at the helm. As famous philosopher and rapper Bow Wow put it, “They’re playing basketball. We love that basketball.” Acuff’s squad finished 18-14 and 11-7 in Southern Conference play last season. And, as the song suggests, there was plenty to like about the way the Bulldogs moved up and down the court.
Those 18 wins match the best for a Samford head coach in their first season since Mel Hankinson won 18 games in his first season during the 1984-1985 season.
Acuff retained just two players last season from Bucky McMillan’s last team and essentially had to build a new team from scratch. He responded by bringing in two first-team all-conference players, Jadin Booth and Dylan Faulkner. Then Booth ended up winning the Southern Conference Player of the Year which was Samford’s first Southern Conference Player of the Year award winner.
After starting 2-6 in SoCon play, Samford went on to win eight of their final ten games to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the league. Their season ended in the first round of the SoCon Tournament to Furman.
Despite that early tournament exit, it was a big success for Acuff’s group in year one. The main question from the outside were, could Samford replicate their success under McMillan? Even though it was just one year, Samford told everyone that they are here to stay.
Replacing the Production
Roster building for year two did not include having to find a whole new team but Samford does have to replace their top three leading scorers. Booth has exhausted his eligibility, Faulkner transferred to Clemson, and Keaton Norris also used up all of his eligibility. Norris is now on Samford’s coaching staff as a graduate assistant.
In the movie Moneyball, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane meets with his group of scouts along with new assistant general manager Peter Brand. Yes Grady, the “kid” needs to be here. Beane and the team of scouts are going to work through scenarios on how they replace slugger Jason Giambi and outfielder Johnny Damon. Both left in free agency.
The scouts are ready with a long list of players they believe could replace Giambi and Damon. Beane’s response? “None of them.” He explains: “Guys, you’re still trying to replace Giambi. I told you we can’t do it. We can’t do it. Now what we might be able to do is recreate him. Recreate him in the aggregate.”
Now Acuff did not have to find three ballplayers whose average on base percentage is .364 but Jadin Booth did average 21.6 points per game. Dylan Faulkner did average 17.2 points per game.
So how did Samford fare in the transfer portal in trying to replace that production? Well it all starts with their last addition in former Cornell guard Cooper Noard. Noard played the last four years at Cornell.
Wait, Noard played all four years he should be out of eligibility right? Well Noard is eligible to play a fifth season as he is protected by a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the Glancey v NCAA lawsuit in California. That allows Noard along with more than 70 other players who were freshmen in the 2022 high school class, to play a fifth year following the NCAA’s change to the 5-in-5 model.
Noard brings proven production. He averaged 18.2 points per game, along with 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Those 18.2 points per game led the Ivy League in scoring and second team All-Ivy (yeah somehow just second team). Noard is the highlight of the transfer portal additions.
The Bulldogs also dipped back into the Division II ranks to bring in former Montevallo guard Brandon Fussell. Fussell was very productive in his own right, averaging 17.3 points per game while shooting 38% from three-point range. He started every game for Montevallo the last two seasons. Fussell earned first-team All-Gulf South honors, and his three-point percentage ranked sixth in the Gulf South.
Acuff has also brought two Birmingham boys back home in former Creighton guard Ty Davis and Belmont guard Win Miller. Both are Samford legacies and played their high school ball in Birmingham.
New Haven guard Najimi George is also a new addition to the Samford backcourt who spent two seasons up at New Haven.
In the frontcourt looking to replace Dylan Faulkner in the aggregate, Samford added former Coastal Carolina center Braeden MacVicar.
The Bulldogs had one freshman in the 2026 class: center Lawson Lee. At six-feet, 11-inches tall, Lee could work his way into the rotation as he adjusts to the college game.
In terms of returners, Samford does bring back two key contributors in Cade Norris and Isaiah Campbell-Finch. Both will be back in the Samford starting lineup.
Will Shaver, another Birmingham native, is also back for another season. Shaver will be the starting center on opening night.
Speaking of starters, let’s get into the starting lineup.
Projected Starters
G Ty Davis
2025-2026 stats (Creighton): 11.3 MPG, 1.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 30% FG, 4/20 3FG, 79% FT
The former three-star recruit is back home after starring for Mountain Brook High School for his father and Samford alum Tyler Davis. Ty spent the last two seasons at Creighton starting 12 games last season for the Blue Jays.
At six-foot, four inches, Davis gives Acuff a bigger point guard to direct the offense. HHe had some struggles against Big East guards but his potential at the mid-major level is an all-conference player. In Samford’s first exhibition against Alabama A&M, Davis had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He shined again in Samford’s second exhibition win at Jacksonville State with 17 points, five assists and five rebounds.
His three-point shooting is a question mark coming into the season but Acuff said Davis has really improved in that area shooting around 40% from three during their summer and fall practices. Early returns are good as he is five for seven in Samford’s two exhibitions from deep. Davis will be fun to watch in a Samford uniform.
G - Isaiah Campbell-Finch
2025-2026 stats: 23.4 MPG, 7.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.3 APG. 42% FG, 32% 3FG, 52% FT
Campbell-Finch returns after a solid freshman season that saw him start 19 games as a true freshman. He gave Samford a north-and-south presence that the team was missing, helping push the pace offensively.
He scored in double figures nine times including a season-high 21 points against Texas Southern. Improving at the free-throw line will be important; a guard should be making much more than just over half of his attempts. His three-point shooting needs to improve with more opportunities off the ball should Davis be the team’s primary point guard.
G Cooper Noard
2025-2026 stats (Cornell): 27.6 MPG, 18.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.0 APG. 50% FG, 38% 3FG
Noard was the last addition to the roster and immediately jumps to one of the best players in the Southern Conference. He finished his Cornell career with 1,187 career points and 228 made threes, the latter ranking fifth all time in Cornell history.
Across Cornell’s 28 games, Noard scored in double figures in every game but one and recorded two 30+ point performances. What Noard gives you on the offensive end, the defense has left some to be desired being one of Cornell’s worst defenders last season. He ranked near the bottom in defensive performance rating per Evan Miya. However, he will score points as he led Samford in scoring with 18 points against Alabama A&M.
G Cade Norris
2025-2026 stats: 30.5 MPG, 8.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 45% FG, 40% 3FG, 76% FT
One of Samford’s unsung heroes of last season was Cade Norris. Norris transferred to Samford from Illinois State where he received limited play time. However, Cade started every game but one last season and does all of the little things that contribute to winning basketball.
He can also serve as a hub for the offense. Norris recorded eight assists in the exhibition win over Alabama A&M. According to KenPom, His 4.6 rebounds per game was second behind Faulkner as well.
An off-ball guard who shoots 40% from three and contributes across the board is valuable in any lineup. Norris had Samford’s third best true shooting percentage just behind Dylan Faulkner and Jadin Booth. It will be interesting to see how Norris builds on last season. He had a complete performance against Jax State with 15 points along with five assists and five rebounds.
C Will Shaver
2025-2026 stats: 9.9 MPG, 2.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 48% FG, 4/12 3FG, 59% FT
Perhaps the biggest surprise heading into the season is how much Shaver has progressed over the summer and fall, according to Lennie Acuff. He will be Samford’s starting center replacing Dylan Faulkner in the lineup.
Shaver had 12 points along with 10 rebounds in the Alabama A&M exhibition. How Shaver looks in an increased role and more minutes, will be interesting to watch early in the season to gauge especially if that continues when the Bulldogs get into conference play. Will did have two games scoring in double figures including one game in place of an injured Dylan Faulkner with 11 points and four rebounds in a win over Western Carolina.
Acuff said Shaver came into Samford with “some doubt” and “now he has some belief.” Shaver, a former big-time recruit, will get his chance this season.
Projected Reserves
G Brandon Fussell
2025-2026 stats (Montevallo): 36.3 MPG, 17.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.4 APG, 45% FG, 38% 3FG, 82% FT
Samford is really excited about what Fussell brings from Montevallo to Homewood. Fussell started every game for Montevallo the last two seasons and has improved every season. Other than Noard, Fussell is Samford’s second best three point shooter and also scored in double figures in every game but two for the Falcons.
Fussell could earn a starting spot or provide a scoring punch as the sixth man. If he features as the sixth man, that is a strong option to have off the bench. He also was a great defender last season averaging over two steals per game which led Montevallo. No, not every Division II transfer is Jadin Booth but Fussell has a chance to be special making that same jump. Only 30% of Fusell’s shots last season were assisted.
G Najimi George
2025-2026 stats (New Haven): 33.7 MPG, 11.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.6 APG, 41% FG, 28% 3FG, 64% FT
George arrives in Homewood after two seasons at New Haven, which completed its first season as a Division I program last year. He played 87% of the team’s minutes and ranked second in scoring.
He did play well against two high-major Division I opponents that New Haven faced, scoring 14 points with four rebounds against UConn. Then George also had 14 points against Boston College. Like others on this roster, he will need to improve at the free-throw line, where he ranked among the Chargers’ least efficient players at the line with considerable minutes. George had 11 points with three rebounds and was +20 in the Jacksonville State exhibition win.
C Braeden MacVicar
2025-2026 stats (Coastal Carolina): 7.2 MPG, 2.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 30% FG, 30% 3FG, 11/16 FT
One of Samford’s additions to their front court, MacVicar has had an interesting first three years in college. He had a solid freshman campaign with six points and four rebounds per game but suffered a season ending injury at the beginning of his second year.
Coastal then hired former Western Carolina head coach Justin Gray to be their new coach and saw his minutes per game dip dramatically from his freshman season. MacVicar is more of a stretch five providing a huge pick-and-pop element that Samford did not have last season. He went two for four from three against Alabama A&M. MacVicar followed that up with 12 points on four made threes in the win over Jax State.
Samford’s center rotation will be worth monitoring, as each of its options brings a different skill set.
F Judson Bjornstad
2025-2026 stats: 7.8 MPG, 2.0 PPG, 38% FG, 28% 3FG, 73% FG
Bjornstad transferred in from Division II Union University last season. He started the season opener against Tulane but fell out of the rotation come Southern Conference play. Bjornstad had a season high 16 points against NAIA Reinhardt.
He has the size that you would want in a wing player being six-foot, nine-inches tall but only played four minutes against Alabama A&M. If Bjornstad could carve out a role, that would be extremely beneficial as Samford lost Zion Wilburn to the transfer portal who was a great defender.
G Win Miller
2025-2026 stats (Belmont): 8.7 MPG, 2.8 PPG, .7 RPG, .6 APG, 39% FG, 41% 3FG, 89% FT
Just like Ty Davis, Miller is back home in Birmingham. Miller’s father, Bud, played baseball at Samford. His mother, Mary, played volleyball at Samford. Even Miller’s great-grandfather, Carl E Miller Jr., and grandfather, Eddie Miller, played baseball at Samford.
Over his three seasons at Belmont, averaged a combined 7.1 minutes per game and looks to carve out a role at Samford. He scored 144 points and had 42 assists during his three seasons at Belmont. Samford has a good number of options to work through in the backcourt and Win could be one of those.
F/C Caleb Harrison
2025-2026 stats: 13 GP, 5.5 MPG, 1.5 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 9/15 FG
Caleb Harrison returns for his third season in the Samford program after redshirting two seasons ago. He had a season and career high eight points and five rebounds against Bryan College.
Harrison played just six minutes in the Alabama A&M exhibition and four minutes against Jacksonville State so we will see if Harrison can factor into the rotation. Should Samford see an injury in their front court, they will turn to Harrison, who chose Samford under Bucky McMillan over Belmont, Chattanooga and Davidson.
G JD Gossett
2025-2026 stats: N/A (Redshirt)
Gossett is ready to play after redshirting last season and is one of the last redshirt college basketball players ever with the new five-in-five rule. He committed to Samford after originally being committed to Lipscomb under Lennie Acuff. Another tall guard at six-foot, four-inches tall giving Acuff and company another option to use. Gossett played eight minutes against Alabama A&M and six minutes against Jax State.
C Lawson Lee
2025-2026 stats (Battle Ground Academy HS): 18 PPG, 10 RPG, 3 BLK, 2 APG
Samford’s lone true freshman comes to Samford from Franklin, Tennessee as Battle Ground made it all the way to the state championship game. Lee was All-State, All-Region and was a finalist for Mr. Basketball.
Here was Acuff on Lee when Samford announced his signing. "We were fortunate to sign Lawson in the early signing period last fall. Lawson is a highly skilled center with great feel for the game. His ability to dribble, pass and shoot at 6’11” is perfect for how we like to play and allowed him to have a tremendous year while leading BGA to the state championship game.” I would not be surprised to still see Lee in the rotation come mid February.
The Schedule
Samford faces another challenging non-conference slate, much like it did a season ago. This season, Samford has three exhibitions instead of one as October exhibitions continue to grow around the country.
Acuff’s squad got their revenge on last season’s Ballin in Boutwell event loss to Alabama A&M, beating the other Bulldogs 71-61. Then Samford went on the road to Jacksonville State and won 80-75.
Samford’s exhibition season will end on Thursday, October 29th against another in-state foe, the Auburn Tigers. This will be also Auburn’s third and final exhibition after they faced Alabama last week in downtown Birmingham. Samford then opens the 2026-2027 season against Division III Berry. The opener will feature a Davis-versus-Davis matchup, as Ty Davis’s younger brother Trey is a freshman guard at Berry.
While Samford may have an easier season opener than Tulane last season, it ramps up quickly as Samford travels to Sin City to take on UNLV. Josh Pastner’s team was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West preseason poll.
The Southern Conference has a new “alliance” with the Big South this year, following the expiration of its alliance with the Atlantic Sun. After a home date with Wright State, Samford will go on the road to USC Upstate then host UNC Asheville right after that.
Samford has two big buy games against high-major foes at Georgia Tech and at Alabama. As long as Alabama does not make the Players Era Invitational final, Samford will play in Tuscaloosa. That game would be canceled should Alabama make it to the final. The Bulldogs are at Georgia Tech on November 24th and at Alabama on December 29th.
December starts off with a matchup that we have been waiting on and that is Samford at the UAB Blazers. Samford fans have been clamoring to play UAB and that will finally happen on December 2nd. This matchup is apart of a three-year series which will see UAB play at the Pete Hanna Center next year then Samford will play at Bartow Arena in 2028.
Samford will not be taking part in a multi-team event this season after playing in the Cancun Challenge last season. Below is how KenPom projects all of Samford’s non-conference opponents.
Berry (D-III): N/A
UNLV: 78th
Wright State: 157th
USC Upstate: 335th
UNC Asheville: 302nd
Georgia Tech: 101st
Point University (NAIA): N/A
UAB: 118th
Presbyterian: 215th
Bryan: N/A
Alabama: 9th
Covenant College: N/A
The rest of the December schedule will look different than it has in previous years. With the addition of Tennessee Tech to the Southern Conference, conference play will start in December. The round robin schedule stays but SoCon play will get started for Samford on Saturday, December 5th as Samford travels to Tennessee Tech for their first ever game in the Southern Conference.
Samford hosts Wofford on Saturday, December 19th and will play at Chattanooga on December 22nd. Those will be Samford’s first three conference games before hosting ETSU on Saturday, January 2nd.
Lennie Acuff’s Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth in the SoCon Preseason Poll while Cornell transfer Cooper Noard was named to the preseason all-conference team. Furman was picked to finish first in Bob Richey’s tenth season in Greenville. The rest of the preseason poll is below.
1st - Furman
2nd - ETSU
3rd - Wofford
4th - Samford
5th - Chattanooga
6th - Tennessee Tech
7th - Mercer
8th - Western Carolina
9th - VMI
10th - The Citadel
11th - UNCG
VMI guard Rickey Bradley Jr. was named the Southern Conference preseason Player of the Year for the second season in a row. This was even after missing all of last season due to an undisclosed injury.
Samford will play on national television four different times as the SoCon announced their national TV schedule on ESPN networks and CBS Sports Network. The Bulldogs will play at Mercer on ESPNU on January 11th. Then Samford will play three games on CBS Sports Network starting with hosting Western Carolina on February 7th and Chattanooga on February 17th. Then the regular season will end on CBSSN when Samford travels to ETSU on February 27th.
There is not a super challenging stretch like last year where Samford played the other best teams in the league over a six game stretch. It is more spread out albeit with two challenging consecutive games. The first two games in January are probably the toughest as Samford travels to Furman after playing ETSU. Then look to the end of January as Samford plays at Wofford, then hosts Furman and Western Carolina to kick off February.
Much like many other schools around the country, Samford has to replace their top three scorers from last season. This season Samford seems to have more depth even though a large part of it is unproven. How does Samford replace the production that Dylan Faulkner took with him to Clemson in the front court? How this group gels on the defensive end is the other question mark.
Every team has its preseason mysteries but Samford basketball is back and we will see how Acuff’s squad fares in year two.
