Lennie Acuff has been hired as head basketball coach at Samford, school officials announced Wednesday.

The 60-year-old Acuff replaces Bucky McMillan, who was hired over the weekend at Texas A&M. Acuff comes to Samford from Lipscomb, which he led to the ASUN regular-season and tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA tournament this season.

Prior to his six seasons in Nashville at Lipscomb, Acuff spent 22 years as head coach at Alabama-Huntsville. During his tenure, the Chargers won 454 games, eight Gulf South Conference championships and reached the NCAA Division II tournament 11 times — with two trips to the Elite Eight and three more to the Sweet 16.

A Huntsville native, Acuff also coached on the NAIA level at Belhaven and Shorter, his alma mater. He was 110-82 at Lipscomb, taking the Bisons to the NCAA tournament — where they lost to Iowa State in the first round — for the first time since 2018 this past season.

Samford won 99 games in five years under McMillan, including four straight 20-win seasons. The Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament in 2024 for the first time since 2000, and played in the NIT this past season.