The most popular name being discussed in the early search for Alabama’s next basketball coach isn’t Steve Prohm.

It’s not Fred Hoiberg or Kelvin Sampson or Gregg Marshall or Mick Cronin or Frank Martin or Andy Kennedy or any of the names I’ve been hearing. (And, no, it’s not Rick Pitino either … unfortunately.)

No matter who is hired at Alabama, according to a source, there is strong support inside the search committee for the new coach to hire Mountain Brook High School basketball coach Bucky McMillan as an assistant. McMillan was the national high school coach of the year in 2018, and this season his team won its third consecutive state championship and defeated IMG Academy in the prestigious City of Palms Classic.

McMillan, who played at Birmingham-Southern, is a rising star in the coaching profession. Just 35 years old, he has resisted the jump to college basketball to this point and built a dynasty in his hometown. He might not be able to ignore offers much longer, though.

For Alabama, hiring McMillan would potentially help sign five-star recruit Trendon Watford, who McMillan coached at Mountain Brook, but even if Watford lands elsewhere, the thinking goes, McMillan could be a key piece to building Alabama into a nationally relevant program.

There’s just one problem. Auburn might already have an inside track on Alabama for both McMillan and Watford. Under NCAA rules, a college program can hire a high school coach and sign his players as long as the high school coach is given an assistant’s position on the team bench.

A month ago, Auburn wasn’t even among Watford’s top four schools, but a series of sliding doors over the past few weeks have put Auburn into excellent position to make a late play for Alabama’s top prospect, and also hire McMillan. If Auburn somehow pulls off a McMillan-Watford combo after making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, then we will look back on this March as one of the most significant in Auburn basketball history.

Watford’s top schools were Memphis, LSU, Alabama and Indiana early this season, but two of those schools are now without head coaches. LSU is no longer a contender for Watford with Will Wade likely out, but Alabama, believe it or not, is back in contention after the departure of Avery Johnson. Meanwhile, the job Bruce Pearl has done at Auburn is now impossible to ignore.

Pearl has built a championship-caliber program at Auburn — something many thought impossible before he was hired — and his style of play suits versatile prospects like Watford, who can stretch the floor and is committed to team-first, defensive-oriented basketball.

Not only is Auburn playing in the Sweet 16 next Friday, but Pearl’s player development is undeniable. Sophomore forward Chuma Okeke, who is 6-8 and 230 pounds, was a little known prospect last year, but he currently is being listed in mock drafts as a potential late first-round pick.

Watford is larger than Okeke, but has a similar skill set.

Pearl isn’t expected to retain first-year assistant coach Ira Bowman after his connection to the scandal at the University of Pennsylvania. Former Penn coach Jerome Allen pleaded guilty on March 8 to accepting $300,000 from a Florida health-care executive in exchange for preferred athletic admissions priority for his son. Ivy League schools to do not give athletic scholarships.

Allen testified that Bowman was in on the fraudulent scheme, and Auburn suspended Bowman before the SEC Tournament.

It’s a bad look for Pearl, who already has had one assistant coach busted by the feds.

Now, McMillan could potentially slide into Bowman’s spot on Auburn’s bench, and perhaps bring Watford with him to Auburn.

Talk about reverse serendipity.

Would Watford follow McMillan to Auburn? More than likely.

Would McMillan actually leave Mountain Brook? That remains unclear. He loves coaching at the high-school level.

McMillan told me after his most recent state championship that he was committed to at least one more season at Mountain Brook, but a potential bidding war between Auburn, Alabama and other schools could pull him away from his high school alma mater and the unlikely dynasty he has built inside the affluent Birmingham suburb. Mountain Brook has won five large-school state championships in the past seven years.

More impressive from a national perspective than all of those championships, however, was McMillan's victory against IMG Academy this season in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. IMG Academy, which is ranked No.4 nationally by MaxPreps, features three McDonald’s All-Americans and several other top-ranked players. With one Division-I player — granted, Watford is, himself, a McDonald’s All-American — Mountain Brook upset IMG Academy 72-67.

Watford had 38 points and 12 rebounds in the victory, including 26 points in the second half. It remains IMG Academy’s only loss of the season.

Watford’s family moved to Mountain Brook four years ago so their son could play for McMillan. Other families have done the same. McMillan is revered now by every high school prospect in the state. Recruiting will not be a problem for him. It begs the question: should he just skip the assistant coaching offers and go straight to being a college head coach?

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.