BROOKS SAVAGE - ETSU HEAD COACH
Brooks Savage was named ETSU men's basketball head coach on March 20, 2023. Savage, the 19th head coach in program history, served as an ETSU assistant coach during its historic run from 2015-2020.
In his first season as the Buccaneer head coach in 2023-24, Savage led the Blue & Gold to 19 wins – the most since the 2019-20 season – as well as a trip to the Southern Conference Tournament championship game. The Bucs won three games in three days with victories over No. 10 VMI, No. 2 UNCG and No. 3 Chattanooga to get to the title game where ETSU fell to No. 1 seed Samford in a tightly contested battle.
Savage earned his first win as a head coach in his Buccaneer debut as ETSU defeated King 73-56 on Nov. 6, 2023, while his first win over a Division I program as the Bucs’ head coach came against Atlantic 10 perennial power Davidson on Nov. 17. Savage coached a pair of All-SoCon selections in Jaden Seymour and Jadyn Parker, while Seymour, Ebby Asamoah and Quimari Peterson earned SoCon All-Tournament Team selections. Parker set a new ETSU single season record with 73 blocked shots, while Asamoah broke the SoCon Tournament record for made threes with 17 in the four games. As a team, ETSU set a new SoCon Tournament record in steals (42) and tied the tournament record with 168 rebounds.
ETSU went 10-4 at home in Savage’s first season, marking the most home wins since that historic 2019-20 season where the Bucs went 16-1 inside Freedom Hall. The Bucs also secured true road non-conference wins at Conference USA member Jacksonville State and American Athletic Conference contender East Carolina where the Bucs dismantled the Pirates by 16, 86-70.
Savage has a plethora of experience in the Southern Conference as he has spent seven of his 12 years as an assistant in the league. Between his five years at ETSU and two years at Chattanooga, Savage’s teams have combined to win 79 percent of their conference games (98-26) and 72 percent overall (170-67). Savage’s teams have finished either first or second in six of those seven seasons, while also appearing in four tournament finals and winning two of those championship games.
Following a run where Savage played a vital role in ETSU going 130-43 (.751), he has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach under Steve Forbes at Wake Forest. During his time in Winston-Salem, Savage helped bring the Demon Deacons back to prominence in the Atlantic Coast Conference and on a national level.
Wake Forest enjoyed the third-largest turnaround in college basketball history in 2022 – seeing a 19-win improvement – while the Demon Deacons’ 13 ACC wins in 2021-22 were tied for the most in school history and their 18 home wins that year broke a program record. The 13 wins also marked a 10-win increase from 2020-21, featuring the largest year-to-year improvement in ACC history.
During the 2021-22 season, Wake Forest reached the NIT Elite 8, while the 25 wins marked the most since 2004-05. Over the last two years in Winston-Salem, Savage saw Wake Forest compile at least 10 ACC wins, resulting in the first time the Demon Deacons had back-to-back 10-plus conference wins since 1996-97.
In terms of player development, Savage assisted in Alondes Williams earning ACC Player of the Year honors and Jake LaRavia receiving All-ACC Second Team honors. LaRavia was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2022 NBA Draft, while Williams signed with the Brooklyn Nets. This 2022-23 season, Ty Appleby was named Associated Press ACC Player of the Year – joining Williams with that honor – becoming the first time in school history that Wake Forest had back-to-back AP ACC Players of the Year.
During his time in Johnson City, Savage saw the Blue & Gold win over 75 percent of their games, while capturing two Southern Conference regular season titles and two tournament championships. ETSU’s 130 wins were the most victories over a five-year run in program history and the most by a SoCon team since 1953. The Bucs also won 71 conference games over this stretch, resulting in a .789-win percentage.
The Bucs won the 2016-17 regular season title and went on to capture the SoCon crown, earning a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament where ETSU faced Florida in Orlando. A year later, the Bucs won a school-record 16 straight games – which was also the longest streak in the country at that point – and finished with a 25-win campaign and a trip to the SoCon championship game. In 2019-20, ETSU posted a school-record 30 wins en route to sweeping both the SoCon regular season and tournament titles. The Bucs became just the fourth team in SoCon history to reach the 30-win mark and were one of four Division I programs to register 30 wins that year – joining Gonzaga (31), San Diego State (30) and Liberty (30). To go with the 30 wins, ETSU set a program record with an .882-win percentage.
While at ETSU, Savage saw the Bucs reach the SoCon championship game in four of the five seasons, while he helped coach 15 all-SoCon players. The Bucs also defeated three Power-5 programs during his time in Johnson City – Georgia Tech (2015), Mississippi State (2016) and LSU (2019).
Prior to coming to ETSU, Savage spent two seasons as an assistant at Chattanooga from 2013-15. The Mocs won 40 games over those two years, including a 22-win campaign in 2014-15, marking Chattanooga’s first 20-win campaign since 2004-05. Chattanooga won 15 conference games in that 2014-15 season – at the time the second-most league wins in school history. Savage helped coach five all-SoCon players, while the Mocs finished second in the SoCon both years.
Savage entered the Division I ranks as an assistant in the Big South conference when he led Presbyterian College through the Division I transition during the 2012-13 season.
Savage’s first stint as an assistant came in 2011-12 when he joined Steve Forbes at Northwest Florida State College where the Raiders set a school record with 32 wins, while winning the Panhandle Conference title and finished as the NJCAA National Runner-Up. The Raiders were ranked No. 1 during the season and had a 13-win increase from the previous year.
In his 12 years as an assistant, Savage has worked for six conference Coach of the Year winners, while coaching 32 all-conference players. Savage has averaged 22 wins per season in 12 years as an assistant, has totaled 20-plus wins in seven of the last nine years and been to seven career NCAA Tournaments. Savage has also seen his student-athletes succeed in the classroom as he has a 100 percent graduation rate during his time as a coach.
A 2008 graduate of Tennessee, Savage holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sport management/business. As an undergrad, he worked as a student manager and graduate assistant from 2004-10 and was a part of five Volunteer NCAA Tournament teams in his six seasons.
Savage and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of daughters Waverly and Sloane.
LENNIE ACUFF - SAMFORD HEAD COACH
Lennie Acuff was named the 30th head coach in Bulldogs program history on April 9, 2025. "I am thrilled to announce Lennie Acuff as the head men's basketball coach at Samford University," said Newton. "Coach Acuff is a basketball lifer, who comes to Samford with vast coaching experience and has been a proven winner everywhere he has been. I want to welcome him and his family to Birmingham and am confident in his ability to continue to elevate the Samford basketball brand and compete for championships." Acuff arrives in Birmingham with a storied coaching career of success, spending the previous six seasons as head coach at Lipscomb University. Acuff guided the Bisons to the NCAA Tournament this past season as Lipscomb finished with a 25-10 record overall and a 14-4 Atlantic Sun mark. The Bisons have had three straight 20-win seasons under Acuff, who compiled a 110-82 record overall in his time leading the Lipscomb program. "I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as the head basketball coach at Samford University," said Acuff. "I am grateful to Dr. Taylor and Martin Newton for believing in me and entrusting me with a basketball program that has enjoyed unparalleled success over the past five years under coach Bucky McMillan. Samford University is a special place and I can assure everyone who loves this institution that we will work tirelessly to put a team on the floor that you will be proud of while never compromising what the university stands for." Lipscomb completed the season sweep by winning the ASUN regular-season and conference tournament titles, with Acuff earning conference Coach of the Year. The Bisons earned a 14-seed in the NCAA Tournament as they matched up with 3-seed Iowa State. Acuff had three players named to All-ASUN teams, and Jacob Ognacevic was named the conference Player of the Year. Acuff is known for his efficient offense that ranked 27th nationally in effective field-goal percentage this season. His Lipscomb teams have ranked top-four in scoring offense each of the past four seasons in the ASUN and they led the league in field goal percentage each of the last three seasons. "Coach Lennie Acuff is the perfect fit for Samford," said Samford President Beck A. Taylor. "His 35 years of head coaching experience, his commitment to basketball excellence and to pursuing championships, and his deep Christian faith will put the Samford men's basketball program in a position to succeed. We warmly welcome Coach Acuff and his wife, Kelly, to the Samford Bulldog family." Prior to his time in Nashville, Acuff built the University of Alabama in Huntsville into a national power. In his 22 seasons with the Chargers, Acuff compiled a 437-214 record and had 20 winning seasons. He led UAH to eight Gulf South Conference regular-season titles and won the GSC tournament three times. The all-time winningest coach in GSC history, he was named conference Coach of the Year a record eight times and NABC District Coach of the Year four times. At UAH, Acuff made 11 Division II NCAA Tournament appearances, winning the NCAA South Regional twice and earning two trips to the Elite Eight. Acuff had the Chargers ranked in the top 25 for 44 straight weeks and peaked at No. 2 in the nation during the 2011-12 season. Acuff spent four years as the head coach at Berry College, where he turned around the NAIA program, earning back-to-back 20-win seasons before returning to his hometown of Huntsville to lead the UAH program. He began his coaching career at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, where at age 25 he became the nation's youngest head coach at a four-year college. A 1988 graduate from Shorter College, now Shorter University, Acuff had a stellar playing career that led to his induction into the school's Hall of Fame in 2011. He still holds school records for assists in a single game, season and career. A native of Huntsville, Acuff is married to the former Kelly Gregory of Mobile. The Acuffs are proud parents of two children, Will and Molly.
The Southern Conference, which celebrated its 100th season of intercollegiate competition in 2020-21, is a national leader in emphasizing the development of the student-athlete and in helping to build lifelong leaders and role models.
The Southern Conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first postseason college basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issue of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women’s championships (1984), to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer.
The Southern Conference is the nation’s fifth-oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association. Only the Big Ten (1896), the Missouri Valley (1907), the Pac-12 (1915) and the Southwestern Athletic (1920) conferences are older in terms of origination.
Academic excellence has been a major part of the Southern Conference’s tradition. Hundreds of Southern Conference student-athletes have been recognized on CoSIDA Academic All-America and all-district teams. A total of 20 Rhodes Scholarship winners have been selected from conference institutions.
The conference currently consists of 10 members in six states throughout the Southeast and sponsors 22 varsity sports and championships that produce participants for NCAA Division I Championships. The league added rifle, becoming just the second Division I conference to sponsor the sport, in 2016-17, and added women’s lacrosse for the 2017-18 campaign.
The Southern Conference offices are located in the historic Beaumont Mill in Spartanburg, South Carolina. A textile mill that was in operation from 1880 until 1999, Beaumont Mill was renovated in 2004 and today offers the league first-class meeting areas and offices as well as a spacious library for storage of the conference’s historical documents.