Lennie Acuff
American basketball player and coach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lennie Acuff (born January 24, 1965) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at Samford University.[1]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Samford |
| Conference | Southern |
| Record | 18–14 (.563) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 24, 1965 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1985–1988 | Shorter |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1993 | Belhaven |
| 1993–1997 | Berry |
| 1997–2019 | Alabama–Huntsville |
| 2019–2025 | Lipscomb |
| 2025–present | Samford |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 582–319 (.646) (NCAA) 114–114 (.500) (NAIA) |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Playing career
Acuff attended Shorter College where he set the single game, single season and career record for assists, which still stand to this day.[2]
Coaching career
At 25, Acuff landed his first head coaching job with Belhaven College where he posted a 49–50 record over three seasons.[3] He then moved on to Berry College where he'd compile a 65–64 overall record with back-to-back 20-win seasons in his final two seasons.[4] Acuff would accept the head coaching position at Alabama–Huntsville, the town he grew up in. Over the course of 22 seasons at the helm of the Chargers, he would guide the team to eight Gulf South Conference regular season crowns, three conference tournament titles and 11 NCAA Division II tournament appearances, including the Elite Eight in 2011 and 2012.[2][1]
On April 24, 2019 Acuff was named the 19th head men's basketball coach at Lipscomb, replacing Casey Alexander who departed for the same position at Belmont.[1][5]
On April 9, 2025 Acuff, who led Lipscomb to three consecutive 20-win seasons and a spot in the 2025 NCAA tournament, was announced as Samford's new head coach, replacing Bucky McMillan, who left for the same position at Texas A&M. [1][6]
Head coaching record
NAIA
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belhaven College (N/A) (1990–1993) | |||||||||
| 1990–91 | Belhaven | 14–19 | |||||||
| 1991–92 | Belhaven | 17–16 | |||||||
| 1992–93 | Belhaven | 18–15 | |||||||
| Belhaven NAIA: | 49–50 (.495) | ||||||||
| Berry College (N/A) (1993–1997) | |||||||||
| 1993–94 | Berry College | 13–20 | |||||||
| 1994–95 | Berry College | 11–19 | |||||||
| 1995–96 | Berry College | 20–13 | |||||||
| 1996–97 | Berry College | 21–12 | |||||||
| Berry College NAIA: | 65–64 (.504) | ||||||||
| Total: | 114–114 (.500) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
NCAA DII
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama–Huntsville (Gulf South Conference) (1997–2019) | |||||||||
| 1997–98 | Alabama–Huntsville | 9–17 | 5–9 | 7th (East) | |||||
| 1998–99 | Alabama–Huntsville | 15–12 | 9–5 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 1999–00 | Alabama–Huntsville | 22–7 | 11–3 | 1st (East) | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2000–01 | Alabama–Huntsville | 19–8 | 9–5 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2001–02 | Alabama–Huntsville | 17–9 | 7–7 | 5th (East) | |||||
| 2001–02 | Alabama–Huntsville | 17–9 | 7–7 | 5th (East) | |||||
| 2002–03 | Alabama–Huntsville | 20–11 | 11–3 | 1st (East) | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2003–04 | Alabama–Huntsville | 14–13 | 6–8 | 6th (East) | |||||
| 2004–05 | Alabama–Huntsville | 16–12 | 9–5 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2005–06 | Alabama–Huntsville | 22–8 | 10–4 | 2nd (East) | NCAA first round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Alabama–Huntsville | 18–11 | 6–6 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2007–08 | Alabama–Huntsville | 13–15 | 6–6 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2008–09 | Alabama–Huntsville | 17–11 | 7–5 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2009–10 | Alabama–Huntsville | 23–7 | 9–1 | 1st (East) | NCAA first round | ||||
| 2010–11 | Alabama–Huntsville | 29–5 | 11–1 | 1st (East) | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2011–12 | Alabama–Huntsville | 29–4 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2012–13 | Alabama–Huntsville | 25–6 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Alabama–Huntsville | 15–13 | 11–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Alabama–Huntsville | 23–9 | 15–7 | 1st | NCAA first round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Alabama–Huntsville | 25–8 | 18–4 | 1st | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Alabama–Huntsville | 26–8 | 17–5 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Alabama–Huntsville | 16–12 | 9–11 | 9th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Alabama–Huntsville | 24–8 | 15–5 | 3rd | NCAA first round | ||||
| Alabama–Huntsville: | 454–223 (.671) | 236–120 (.663) | |||||||
| Total: | 454–223 (.671) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
NCAA DI
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lipscomb Bisons (Atlantic Sun) (2019–2025) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Lipscomb | 16–16 | 9–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 2020–21 | Lipscomb | 15–12 | 9–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 2021–22 | Lipscomb | 14–19 | 6–10 | 4th (West) | |||||
| 2022–23 | Lipscomb | 20–13 | 11–7 | 5th | |||||
| 2023–24 | Lipscomb | 20–12 | 11–5 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2024–25 | Lipscomb | 25–10 | 14–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Lipscomb: | 110–82 (.573) | 60–39 (.606) | |||||||
| Samford Bulldogs (Southern Conference) (2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025–26 | Samford | 18–14 | 11–7 | T–2nd | |||||
| Samford: | 18–14 (.563) | 11–7 (.611) | |||||||
| Total: | 128–96 (.571) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||