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A native of the Midwest, Corn played for Bartow at Memphis State in the early 1970s but transferred to Division II Missouri Southern after Bartow took the job at Illinois; five years later, he received a phone call from his first college coach, who was looking for help jumpstarting a program with just a single season of history to its name. Unaware that Bartow’s offer would shape the next decade of his life, Corn packed his bags and moved to Birmingham.

It didn’t take long for both the Blazers and Corn to realize a great deal of success. By 1981, Bartow’s squad had secured its first of seven consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, knocking off Kentucky en route to the Sweet Sixteen; the following season, UAB pulled off a titanic upset of Ralph Sampson’s Virginia Cavaliers and reached the Elite Eight in just its fourth year of existence. At the same time, Corn was steadily working his way up the ladder, promoted to full-time assistant in 1981 and named Bartow’s top assistant by 1983.

The position came with significant responsibilities and lofty expectations — Lee Hunt, who left UAB for the head coaching job at Ole Miss, was described by Bartow as “one of the great basketball coaches in the country” — but Corn was up to the task. Over the next six years, he played an instrumental role in recruiting, among others, Steve Mitchell, Alan Ogg, Reginald Turner, Anthony Gordon, and Michael Charles, putting together a resume that vaulted him into consideration for head coaching jobs of his own. In 1989, Corn returned home to take the reins at his alma mater, where he remained for 25 seasons, ultimately earning induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

38 years later, Bartow’s protégé is losing a trusted assistant of his own. Over the last six seasons, UAB associate head coach Ryan Cross has helped import and develop some of the most impactful players in UAB history. Now, following in the footsteps of Hunt and Corn, he’s been handed the keys to his own program.

Great staffs win games, but great staffs also serve as talent incubators. An impressive, underdiscussed aspect of Bartow’s UAB tenure is how many of his assistants went on to become college head coaches:

• Larry Finch, an assistant on the Blazers’ inaugural squad, later led Memphis from 1986-1997.

• Decades after serving as a graduate assistant under Bartow, former UAB player Chris Giles became the head coach of DII Miles College in 2006.

• Dan Monson, another of Bartow’s graduate assistants, has been a head coach at Gonzaga, Minnesota, Long Beach State, and Eastern Washington (where he remains today).

• Mike Hanks, who joined the Blazers’ staff after head coaching stints at Samford and South Alabama, went on to take the reins at DII St. Leo in 1996.

• Bill Walker, yet another former UAB graduate assistant, has been a head coach at DII Illinois-Springfield and is currently in charge at DII Missouri S&T.

• Onetime Bartow graduate assistant Jim Harter spent 16 years as the head coach at DII Pace University.

• The aforementioned Lee Hunt left Birmingham to take over Ole Miss’ program in 1982 and later became the winningest coach in UMKC history.

• Following a four-year stint with the Blazers, John Prince was named Jackson State’s head coach in 1986.

• The aforementioned Robert Corn was in contention for several HC jobs before landing at DII Missouri Southern.

• Murry Bartow, of course, succeeded his father at UAB and enjoyed a fruitful stint at ETSU.

The last four of those names — Hunt, Prince, Corn, and the younger Bartow, if you’re counting him — were plucked into their new roles directly off the elder Bartow’s staff. Although plenty of coaching talent has graced Bartow Arena since its namesake retired, few others have managed to jump straight from UAB to a men’s college head coaching job: Mike Anderson assistant Giles was hired by Miles in 2006, Mike Davis assistant Kerry Rupp was hired by Louisiana Tech in 2007, Jerod Haase assistant Rob Ehsan (again, if you’re counting him) succeeded his boss at UAB in 2016, and that’s the list.

At least, that was the list until last Wednesday. Cross’ achievement puts him — and Kennedy, whose staff he came from — in rare company among UAB coaches, an indicator of the Blazers’ pronounced post-2020 success.

“I’ve learned so much working for [Kennedy], his approach … He is relentless every day in his pursuit of us being the best version of ourselves,” Cross said at his ULM introductory press conference. “ … So much respect, so much appreciation for Andy Kennedy and what he’s done for me in my career.”

What exactly, the uninitiated might ask, did Cross accomplish at UAB? Does his name really deserve to be mentioned in the pantheon of Blazer coaches? Without even factoring in the program’s accomplishments over the past six seasons — the .701 winning percentage, the conference titles, the NCAA Tournament appearances — the answer to that question is yes, based solely on Cross’ record of talent acquisition and development.

Take a look at UAB’s last six rosters and pick out your favorite players. Former ULM guard Michael Ertel, the Blazers’ leading scorer during Kennedy’s first year at UAB? He followed Cross, who served as a ULM assistant for nearly a decade before joining Kennedy’s staff, from Monroe to Birmingham in 2020. Quan Jackson, one of the great defenders in the history of Blazer basketball? He was recruited to UAB thanks in part to his existing relationship with Ertel. Jordan Walker, Eric Gaines, and Chance Westry? All signed with help from Cross.

That’s just the beginning. Perhaps’ Cross greatest contributions to UAB basketball came in the form of his connections to the junior college ranks, forged by stints as the head coach at Barton County CC (1998-1999) and Chipola College (1999-2003). When nationwide roster retention rates collapsed and the era of unrestricted player movement began in earnest around 2023, the Blazers found themselves leaning more and more on a robust JUCO pipeline, a strategy that allowed them to keep pace with far better-funded rivals. UAB’s 2023-2024 team featured three of the top 15 junior college players in the nation — Alejandro Vasquez, Christian Coleman, and Yaxel Lendeborg, the last of whom became arguably the single best player in school history — and its 2024-2025 roster was bolstered by the addition of point guard Ja’Borri McGhee, a South Plains College alumnus. Take a guess at which Blazer assistant led the charge on those recruitment efforts.

Very few coaches across UAB history have helped fill the Blazers’ coffers to the extent Cross has.

For all parties, what comes next is unclear. After over three decades in the business, Cross has at last obtained a Division I head coaching job; however, he now faces down the daunting task of making ULM — long regarded as one of the nation’s hardest places to win — competitive. The Warhawks posted a 4-28 record last season while finishing 352nd in KenPom and haven’t cracked .500 since before Cross and Ertel left for UAB. Cross has previously borne witness to a turnaround: when he arrived at ULM as an assistant in 2012, the program was crippled by APR sanctions and despondent, but the Warhawks soared to an all-time school record of 133rd in KenPom by 2016. Replicating that feat in today’s landscape, though, may prove more challenging.

As for UAB, there are obvious questions to be answered. Among others: who replaces Cross? What will the Blazers’ staff hierarchy look like next season? How does Cross’ departure affect efforts to retain players like Westry and Salim London? How does Cross’ departure affect UAB’s approach to JUCO recruiting?

The ULM job also opened last offseason, and Cross’ name came up then, too, so his departure doesn’t come as a shock; some sort of contingency plan is certainly in place. With the busiest recruiting weeks of the year quickly approaching, however, UAB must immediately put its preparation on display.

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To bring us full circle, for what it’s worth: the season after Corn departed, Bartow’s Blazers didn’t miss a beat, winning 22 games, dominating the Sun Belt with a 12-2 record, and taking home a conference title. Let’s hope history repeats itself.

Eric Konkol was a main character of the Ehsan and early Kennedy eras, the architect of the Louisiana Tech teams that gave UAB some of its most memorable battles of the last decade.

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However, since he left Tech for Tulsa in 2022 and UAB joined the American in 2023, Konkol and his Golden Hurricane program have been all but forgotten, shunted into irrelevance by Memphis, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, and South Florida.

It does bring me some degree of joy to announce that Konkol has at last returned to prominence, putting together a cadre of sharpshooters that rolled through the non-conference slate like a knife through hot butter — the Golden Hurricane’s sole loss came in immensely unlucky fashion against erstwhile Tulsa guard PJ Haggerty and his Kansas State squad. Say what you will about Konkol as a coach — the sheen of his Louisiana Tech accomplishments has somewhat dimmed after his struggles in the American — but what Tulsa (KenPom #77, higher than all of its conference peers but South Florida) has accomplished this year is unambiguously impressive.

The question of whether Tulsa is for real is still unanswered, especially after the Golden Hurricane fell to North Texas and USF in back-to-back outings. Is the jump-shooting regression monster coming for Tulsa, and if so, can they survive it? Whatever the answer to that question may be, UAB needs to beat Konkol’s squad today if the Blazers truly want to contend for a conference title. Just like old times.

Tulsa Offense

This unit is an absolutely devastating one, the most effective offense Tulsa has fielded since the days of Buzz Peterson and Bill Self. The Golden Hurricane have been quick to take triples during the Konkol era, but they’ve never had the personnel to do it efficiently — until now. After several years of underwhelming offensive showings, Tulsa struck gold in the transfer portal, constructing an analytically pure, rim-and-three-oriented attack that attempts just 11.1% of its field goals from the midrange. Konkol’s squad ranks 45th in the country (and first in the conference) in KenPom offensive rating, having nailed a nation-leading 41% of its three-pointers.

You may remember Ian Smikle (4.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG), Tulsa’s starting center during the 2024-2025 campaign and the only TU player to score more than ten points during the Golden Hurricane’s most recent visit to Bartow Arena, in which they were thrashed 83-51. He returns, as does forward Tyler Behrend (5.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG), who saw little playing time last year but has now become the Golden Hurricane’s starting five. However, neither man is a floor-stretcher, and thus neither man takes many shots in the new-look Tulsa attack, which has all but eschewed post-ups and rolls in favor of guard and wing-driven rim pressure, cuts from the perimeter, and catch-and-shoot triples.

Let’s start, ironically, with a guy who rarely shoots threes: guard Tylen Riley (14.5 PPG, 3.6 APG), who has become a breakout mid-major star after a forgettable two-year stint at Cal Baptist. Although Tulsa prefers to operate at a reasonably fast pace, they’re not the transition-obsessed unit they were in 2023-2024; Riley isn’t PJ Haggerty. Most of his touches come in the half court, where he serves as the fulcrum of Tulsa’s drive-and-kick offense, whirling around dribble handoffs and relentlessly attacking the bucket.

Riley isn’t a great finisher, but he draws free throws at a monstrous rate and makes them at a sparkling 87% clip. If the opposing defense overcommits, the pass-first Riley will kick it out to one of Tulsa’s many lethal shooters; per hoop-explorer, Riley is in the 99th percentile of drive-and-kick efficiency.

Riley boasts an assist rate of 27.1%, among the highest marks in the American. A 20.6% turnover rate is unsightly and, along with his lack of three-point shooting, represents perhaps Riley’s greatest offensive weakness. Nevertheless, his passing skills, along with the gravity he creates, shouldn’t be discounted, as Riley is able to pound the rim, find open perimeter shooters, and hit cutters like forward David Green (16.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG).

Green, who currently ranks third on KenPom’s all-conference team, is the next player UAB has to worry about — he’s shooting 64.7% from three in American play. The Rhode Island transfer is a pure scorer, a 6’7”, 225-pound wing/forward who drains triples at a 39.2% clip, a strong rim attacker who connects on 62% of his two-pointers, Tulsa’s best scorer off offensive rebounds, and an intimidating force in transition.

Beside Riley in the backcourt is guard Miles Barnstable (13.7 PPG, 1.8 APG), a hyper-efficient catch-and-shoot threat who has made 42.2% of his triples and 94.1% (!!!) of his free throws on the year. Barnstable primarily lives behind the arc, but he’s also capable of attacking the rim and kicking it out to shooters. His KenPom player comparison, coincidentally, is a supercharged version of Tony Toney.

Make sure you don’t come down under him — Barnstable leads Tulsa in fouls drawn on three-point attempts.

Wing Ade Popoola (9.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG), who we’ll talk about more later, is another perimeter-oriented guy you don’t want taking triples — he’s making 46.6% of them — although he struggles a little bit with turnovers. Fellow wing Myles Rigsby (8.8 PPG, 2.1 APG), who comes off the bench, is the rare member of this team who can’t shoot threes; however, he makes up for it with passing chops and impressive numbers as a cutter and a rim attacker.

One frustrating thing about playing Tulsa is that there’s never truly a moment of respite. Ten members of their rotation play more than 10 minutes per game, and other than Smikle, all of them have a positive EvanMiya OBPR. Forward Romad Dean (5.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG) is a pick-and-pop threat; true freshman guard Jaylen Lawal (7.9 PPG, 1.6 APG) is an improving driver, a capable passer, and a strong three-point shooter who recently dropped 25 points against Rice; wing KJ Martin (2.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG) has been solid in limited minutes. Practically all of the Golden Hurricane’s lineups can both pressure the rim and shoot the three.

Per hoop-explorer, UAB’s defense is most effective against frontcourt-driven actions like post-ups, of which Tulsa runs very few. A positive note, however: although the Blazers don’t have the best efficiency numbers at the cup, they’ve generally been pretty good about limiting opposing rim rates and forcing opponents to take tough two-point shots. In conference play, Riley has struggled to assert himself on drives, posting a two-point percentage of just 44.4%; while it will prove difficult for UAB to contain Green, who just scored 34 points against the Izaiyah Nelson-led USF frontline, there’s a path to limiting Tulsa’s interior effectiveness if UAB sticks with cutters, walls off the paint, and limits defensive fouls, all things Andy Kennedy’s squad is middling-to-good at.

At the end of the day, though, this one might come down to jump-shooting variance. North Texas managed to hold Tulsa to a season-low 14 three-point attempts during their win over the Golden Hurricane; it is unlikely the Blazers, who play much less drop defense than the Mean Green and generally give up a lot of unguarded triples, will be able to replicate that feat. If UAB wins the turnover battle and limits Tulsa on the offensive glass, two things they are fully capable of doing, they’ll put themselves in a position to win with a shot volume edge, but little else will matter if the Golden Hurricane shoot 45% on what will probably be 20 or more three-point attempts.

The question that will define the game: can Tulsa’s roster of players who combined to shoot about 36% from beyond the arc before this season maintain the best three-point percentage in program history? We’ll see later today!

Tulsa Defense

Last season, Tulsa fielded one of the worst defensive units in its proud history. Although the Golden Hurricane’s backline wasn’t quite as porous as those of Charlotte, Temple, and, disconcertingly, UAB, that wasn’t saying much. Eric Konkol’s squad finished the campaign ranked 244th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric, marking a steep fall from grace for a program that once ruled the WAC on the shoulders of intimidators like Eric Coley and Jerome Jordan.

Tulsa’s drop coverage, anchored by forwards Smikle and Jared Garcia, was effective in its intended purpose of denying opponents the rim and the three-point line: when facing the Golden Hurricane, American Conference teams attempted nearly 30% of their total field goals from the midrange. However, Tulsa’s foes made those jumpers at a reasonably high clip, and when they actually reached the rim, it wasn’t pretty for TU.

That’s not to mention offensive rebounding — Golden Hurricane opponents scored a whopping 18.9% of their points on second-chance opportunities. You may recall UAB’s aforementioned 83-51 beatdown of Tulsa, during which the Blazers shot 70% at the rim while posting 17 second-chance points.

Despite retaining Smikle and Behrend, Tulsa has (understandably) scratched last year’s system. No longer is TU’s defensive identity oriented around forcing midrange jumpers; instead, the Golden Hurricane welcome the triple while denying interior shots. Through four games of conference play, Tulsa’s opponents have launched three-pointers on a sky-high 46.4% of their field goal attempts, an eye-popping number when compared to last season’s mark of 36.4%. On drives, defenders are in the gaps early, walling up to prevent easy paint access.

Although no one is going to mistake Tulsa for a defensive powerhouse — for the second consecutive campaign, the Golden Hurricane are the American’s eighth-ranked team in KenPom defensive efficiency — the new strategy has paid dividends for Konkol’s squad, as it allows about 3.5 fewer points per 100 possessions than it did in 2024-2025. Tulsa has also used increased defensive rebounding and steal rates to increase the efficiency of its once-mediocre transition attack.

That steal rate is less the product of Tulsa’s system (the Golden Hurricane’s overall defensive turnover rate lingers at a middling 16.2%, and although Tulsa occasionally deploys a three-quarter press, they force few turnovers with it) and more the product of ballhawking, aggressive wings Popoola and Rigsby, the latter of whom rocks the highest steal percentage (4.0%) in the conference. You don’t have to watch a whole lot of Tulsa basketball to see who has the most active hands on the floor:

Although Tulsa’s scheme doesn’t call for much ball pressure, Popoola and Rigsby will take advantage of opportunities to be aggressive. Unsurprisingly, the Golden Hurricane’s wing duo is excellent at the point of attack, and the pair is often deployed against the opponent’s best dribble penetrators and ball-screen operators. Blessed with multiple capable ballhandlers, UAB boasts the lowest offensive steal percentage of any team in the conference, but the matchup of Westry/Robinson against Popoola/Rigsby is nevertheless one to watch.

Speaking of ball-screen operators, the Blazers’ pick-and-roll teams are primarily going to run into an aggressive drop coverage that sees Behrend/Smikle meet the handler near the level of the screen before backpedaling.

This differs from the drop Tulsa deployed last year because, in this case, the five-man is not content to sit back and allow the handler to work in the midrange; instead, the five-man confronts the handler, all but ignoring the roller until the handler picks up the ball (or until the on-ball defender fully recovers to the handler). This is not a trap or a hedge — Behrend/Smikle do not move above the level of the ball screen — but it is a way to discourage an off-the-dribble three-pointer and to prevent an open midrange jumper (the kind that would be encouraged by a deeper drop).

Thus, it’s not much of a surprise that Tulsa opponents take midrange jumpers on just 20% of their field goal attempts and only make 33.3% of them — the eighth-lowest mark in the nation, per hoop-explorer.

The elephant in the room: what happens to the ignored roller? Drop principles still apply — a tagging defender from the weak side provides help and tries his best to prevent the completion of a pocket pass — but if the handler manages to get the ball to the roller, devastation can occur, especially because Tulsa’s big men aren’t fantastic in rim defense (the Golden Hurricane allow an ugly 60% opposing shooting percentage at the cup) or as movers in space.

In their recent win over Tulsa, North Texas put up a scorching 1.36 points per possession on big cut-and-rolls, per hoop-explorer. Mean Green guards Je’Shawn Stevenson and David Terrell navigated the aggressive drop and connected multiple times with rolling forwards Josiah Shackleford and Dylan Arnett. At one point early in the second half, Stevenson threw a perfect pass to lifting guard Cole Franklin, unmarked on the weak side because his defender was tagging Shackleford. Before the Golden Hurricane could get set again, Franklin drove into the paint and kicked the ball out to forward Buddy Hammer for three.

North Texas provided UAB with a replicable blueprint to score against the Golden Hurricane; it helps that the Blazers possess multiple effective passers and rollers in Westry/Robinson and Lindsay-Martin/Rivera. Overall, signs are good for UAB’s big men: although Tulsa doesn’t allow many offensive rebounds, they’re one of the nation’s least efficient teams against putbacks, and they’re only moderately effective against post-ups, of which the Blazers run a lot of (although the Golden Hurricane tend to bring help against post-ups, and none of UAB’s bigs are fantastic passers).

In more discouraging news: someone, anyone on this team is going to have to make a three. Tulsa’s willingness to bring help into the gaps leaves them reasonably vulnerable to drive-and-kick triples, but UAB doesn’t generate many of those; the Golden Hurricane have been absolutely burned by self-created threes off the dribble, but, per hoop-explorer, there is not a single shot the Blazers have made at a less efficient clip than the off-the-dribble three.

South Florida beat Tulsa thanks to ten (!) triples from old friend Wes Enis, while North Texas, one of the few American teams that might be worse at shooting than UAB, knocked off the Golden Hurricane on the back of an eight-of-18 (44.4%) performance from beyond the arc. The Blazers can put themselves in a position to win by limiting turnovers, grabbing offensive rebounds, and feeding their big men down low, but this one, as previously stated, might come down to jump-shooting variance.

With Tulsa’s offense likely to bomb away, it’s difficult to see UAB’s path to victory if they don’t get at least one performance in the vein of Quaran McPherson against USF.

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Despite leading by as much as 16, the Blazers ferreted away their sizable lead in the second half, getting outscored by 18 and outrebounded by eight in one of their worst stretches of the campaign. Shotmaking, defense, energy; every aspect of UAB’s performance was scrutinized by a frustrated Kennedy.

“We’ve got to grow up,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got to understand that no one is going to give you anything, nor should they. And you’ve got to earn it, and just because you were the better team for about 20 minutes today doesn’t mean anything. You’ve got to keep playing.”

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Kennedy shouldered partial responsibility for the Green and Gold’s slow start to league play, accepting blame for UAB’s failure to adequately defend Wichita State guard Kenyon Giles, the conference’s leading scorer. Giles sank the Blazers with a game-high 26 points and drained eight triples, including two daggers down the stretch.

However, the Blazers’ coach didn’t shy away from challenging his players. Much of Kennedy’s ire was directed at guard Chance Westry, who posted four points and zero rebounds over 31 minutes. According to Kennedy, the Blazers seemed “hesitant in that paint, hoping, praying, you know, not making definitive plays,” issues he said could only be fixed by an increase in effort.

“I mean, there’s got to be a determination from within that they want to change,” Kennedy said.

How’s that for determination?

On the first Sunday of the new year, UAB was resolute, moving past Wednesday’s struggles with a heart-stopping, double-overtime road victory over South Florida. It would be a laughable understatement to say it wasn’t always pretty — at multiple points, television cameras captured a hopeless Kennedy staring off into the Yuengling Center bleachers — but the Blazers never quit, responding with haymakers every time their backs were pressed against the wall.

The game’s script was familiar. Competitive in the opening minutes, UAB fell behind after a sloppy start to the second half. South Florida controlled the boards, becoming the rare opponent to out-rebound UAB by double digits. USF guard Wes Enis was unguardable from beyond the arc, scoring 36 points on a whopping ten triples; in a manner reminiscent of WSU’s Giles, Enis drained a late-game three that seemed to be the dagger.

However, the fortitude UAB lacked against the Shockers was present in Tampa. In the face of overwhelming odds (less than three-in-100, according to KenPom), Kennedy’s squad managed to send the game to overtime after being down by 11 with less than six minutes left and down by five with less than 50 seconds left.

It got no easier from there, but, taking advantage of several mistakes made by the exhausted Bulls, UAB emerged from the marathon with its heads held high. In his postgame radio interview with David Crane and Steve Mitchell, Kennedy struck a markedly different tone than he did on December 31st.

“Despite getting out-rebounded by 12, despite losing 50-50 balls — actually, we won it by one — despite a lot of struggles offensively, which are kind of par for the course for this group, despite missing 12 free throws, including two front ends of one-and-ones, we won the most important category, and that was the one of determination,” Kennedy said. “I thought we were the most determined team, and I’m really, really proud of their fight.”

A Backyard Brawl

“Fight” is an appropriate descriptor of Sunday’s contest, which saw UAB and South Florida commit a combined 52 personal fouls and shoot a combined 79 free throws.

On paper, the game’s physical, paint-oriented nature favored the Bulls, a squad boasting two centers (6-foot-10 Izaiyah Nelson and 6-foot-9 Daimion Collins) taller than every player in the Blazers’ rotation. The second-shortest team in the American at full strength, UAB’s already-notable size issues were exacerbated by foul trouble, brought on by USF’s relentless rim attacks. With 7:40 remaining in regulation, Evan Chatman fouled out; with 54 seconds left in the first overtime, Daniel Rivera fouled out; 40 seconds later, Kyeron Lindsay-Martin fouled out. At the beginning of the final period, the 6’6” Westry was forced to take the tip for UAB, unsurprisingly losing to Nelson.

Nevertheless, the “Fighting Midgets,” as the Blazers were dubbed by Noah Dartmann, found a way to win, avoiding their first 0-2 start to conference play since the final campaign of the Ehsan era.

The Blazers’ height disadvantage certainly proved to be an obstacle. UAB gave up a season-high 17 offensive rebounds while grabbing just 12 of its own, losing the second-chance points battle 17 to 9. Nelson and wing Josh Omojafo wore down the Blazer backline all day long, combining to attempt 25 free throws and helping to drive Chatman, Rivera, and Lindsay-Martin out of the game. During the two overtime periods, Nelson took four trips to the line as Collins ripped down five boards against UAB’s gutted frontcourt.

However, the Blazers stayed afloat by limiting turnovers (committing eight to South Florida’s 14), getting high-leverage shotmaking from some unlikely suspects (we’ll get to that in a moment), and beating USF at its own game — drawing free throws.

“If we could get them to take a perimeter shot and we could secure the rebound, which was a problem for us all night, then I felt like offensively, we were going to be able to get some dribble penetration,” Kennedy said.

Despite suffering through a nightmarish afternoon from the floor, making just one of his 15 field goal attempts, Ahmad Robinson went eight-of-ten from the charity stripe. The probing Westry drew 13 free throws and drained eight of them, while Jacob Meyer went six-of-six from the line, converting multiple crucial and-one layups near the end of the game.

According to Kennedy, UAB’s frontcourt was “pretty effective” on offense — although Chatman was limited, Rivera put up an efficient 18 points, and Lindsay-Martin scored 11 off the bench — but the Blazers weren’t going to win unless their guards played bigger than their listed sizes, and did they ever. Behind the efforts of its backcourt, UAB generated 43 free throw attempts and made 31 of them; USF, conversely, finished 23-of-36 from the line. Meyer also posted a double-double, recording 11 rebounds in addition to his 19 points, while Robinson grabbed eight boards, half of them coming in the third and fourth periods.

Chance Westry Meets the Moment

In 2024, Nelson, USF guard Joseph Pinion, and USF coach Bryan Hodgson dealt UAB a backbreaking home loss while the trio was at Arkansas State. Sunday, the Blazers returned the favor.

Kennedy compared the two games in his presser, taking a playful shot at Westry in the process.

“Remember last year we were up like 20-something, and they came back and beat us when [Hodgson] was at Arkansas State in overtime?” Kennedy said. “That was probably about as improbable as us winning today. We look out there, we have to play basically two overtime periods with the tallest player on the floor being Chance Westry at 6-foot-6, and defensively, Chance plays at about 5-foot-6.”

As he’s made apparent, the UAB coach would have expressed it in much more explicit terms if he truly harbored frustration with Westry. After the Blazers’ December 14th loss to Troy, Kennedy called out the guard for a perceived lack of energy. Roughly two weeks later, he did the same thing, criticizing Westry for failing to corral a rebound during UAB’s loss to Wichita State.

Westry responded to Kennedy’s first challenge with a hyper-efficient, 31-point outing against Cleveland State. He answered his coach’s most recent call-out in a similar manner, pacing the Blazers with a team-high 24 points and six assists. Although he came off the bench for just the third time this season, benched in favor of Quaran McPherson, Westry displayed no signs of discouragement, immediately driving to the hoop and drawing a foul upon first entering the game. In combination with Lindsay-Martin, Westry gave the Blazers a much-needed early burst of energy.

Even in the second half, when his shot briefly stopped falling, Westry continued getting to the free throw line, tapping into the aggression Kennedy begged to see against Wichita State. Most critically, he served as the team’s go-to offensive option when it mattered most, posting 11 points on 100% shooting across the ten bonus minutes. He had a hand in UAB’s first eight points of the initial overtime and ultimately broke USF’s back in the final period, driving past an exhausted, flat-footed Pinion to give the Blazers a four-point lead that proved to be insurmountable.

Westry’s rebounding numbers still lagged — unlike his backcourt counterparts, he failed to dominate the glass, grabbing just two boards — but his hustle showed up on the defensive end, where he deflected several balls. With no hope of containing Nelson one-on-one with a foul-stricken frontcourt, UAB began deploying a 3-2 zone at the conclusion of regulation. Westry played a crucial role in heading the zone, which seemed to disrupt South Florida’s rhythm throughout both extra periods.

“Jacob [and] Chance I thought were really good with using hand-eye — length, as it relates to Chance — and getting our hands on some passes,” Kennedy said. “And then we had to go to that 3-2 zone, simply because we had no chance to guard them man-to-man. We went to the 3-2 zone, and I thought it was a really effective force in the overtimes.”

Roughly halfway into the season, it’s become clear that Westry is UAB’s best and most important player: he ranks second in the American Conference in Evan Miya’s BPR (behind only USF’s Nelson), and he leads the Blazers in Miya’s indispensability score by a significant margin. The Green and Gold will contend for a conference title if Westry continues playing like he did against South Florida, but that’s no guarantee: he hasn’t posted a triple-digit offensive rating in back-to-back games since November. Once again, Kennedy will be intently observing Westry during UAB’s Wednesday tilt against FAU.

Coming Up Clutch

UAB, notoriously, cannot make triples.

Westry, the Blazers’ leading scorer, has connected on eight of his 33 (24.2%) three-point attempts, while Meyer has made just 14 of 47 (29.8%). Although Chatman is capable of popping out to the perimeter, he’s still shooting 27% from beyond the arc. The team’s best shooter, therefore, is Robinson, who went 1-for-15 from the floor on Sunday. Ouch.

How, then, was UAB able to keep pace with a South Florida team whose starting shooting guard nailed ten triples on the afternoon? Not because of Meyer or Westry, who combined to go one-of-three from deep. Not because of Robinson, who, as one ESPN commentator put it, found himself unable to hit the side of a barn.

No — the Blazers’ Enis equivalent was McPherson, a man that entered the game having made two three-pointers on the season. In UAB’s loss to Wichita State, the Northern Illinois transfer was allocated just three minutes of playing time, a sight that has become familiar during the 2025-2026 campaign. Although McPherson saw stretches of usage against UNC Asheville, Cleveland State, and High Point, he’s been forced adapt to a new role after previously serving as one of NIU’s top offensive options, typically on the floor for roughly 20% of a given game, give or take a few minutes.

On a hunch, however, Kennedy gave McPherson his first start of the year against South Florida, sending him onto the floor in place of Westry.

It’s safe to say Kennedy’s instincts paid off. McPherson played a season-high 23 minutes, posted a season-high 17 points, and shot a career-high 75% from the floor, making four out of five three-point attempts and two out of three two-point attempts. With UAB having missed six of its last seven field goals and the clock ticking under seven minutes in the first half, McPherson caught fire, draining three triples in a 90-second span.

The first was a spot-up from the left corner; the second was off a stepback at the top of the circle; the final was a spot-up from the same location. By the time all was said and done, McPherson had turned a five-point Blazer deficit into a two-point Blazer lead.

“What a game by Q, huh?” Kennedy said. “You know, Coach Bartow used to talk about trusting your gut, trusting the instincts. I went with him in that lineup because I just felt like he’s always got good energy, and he’s kind of — he’s always positive. I need him just to talk to me every once in a while … But man, I thought he gave us a great lift early.”

McPherson one-upped himself about 32 minutes of game time later, when the Blazers’ win probability had dropped to just 12.9% at the end of the first overtime. Down 94-91 with 40 seconds on the clock, UAB needed a bucket, but Meyer came up short on a three-pointer; however, in one of its many late-game miscues, South Florida knocked the rebound out of bounds and allowed the Blazers to try again. In perhaps the most important moment of his young UAB career, Salim London drove around Pinion and converted a difficult layup over Nelson, cutting the Bulls’ lead to one. USF’s Isaiah Jones split a critical pair of free throws on the other end, and with less than 15 seconds remaining, UAB had a chance to stay alive.

Robinson grabbed the defensive rebound and maneuvered his way into a near-empty paint; however, perhaps unwilling to test the hulking Nelson after an ice-cold afternoon, he found McPherson standing in the left corner. In accordance with the game’s theme, what happened next wasn’t pretty — a mishandled reception forced McPherson to step inside the arc and attempt the least analytically-friendly shot of all time — but it worked. UAB 95, South Florida 95. Double overtime.

“I was going to shoot a three at first, but I caught it and I kind of bobbled it,” McPherson told Steve Irvine in an interview you need to read in its entirety. “ … I went right, pulled up and knocked it down.”

It wasn’t just McPherson who produced a memorable moment under pressure. With 3.6 seconds left in regulation and UAB down 83-81, Rivera, a sub-50% free-throw shooter, went two-for-two from the charity stripe; a single miss almost certainly would’ve spelled the Blazers’ doom.

“Daniel with two huge free throws,” Kennedy said. “I mean, goodness gracious. I mean, again, a testament to how much he has really, really improved in that area from a confidence standpoint. Two huge ones.”

And so on, and so forth. With the Blazers trailing by three early in the second overtime and the game threatening to slip away, Robinson, who hadn’t yet connected on a field goal, stepped back and hit an enormous triple, evaporating what would prove to be USF’s final lead of the afternoon. Meyer’s entire night was a masterclass in clutch scoring — all 19 of his points came after halftime — but he saved his most determined effort for last, diving after a loose ball to seal the Blazers’ victory in double overtime. Nearly every member of UAB’s rotation made a play that, in a less eventful game, would have been discussed for days.

A team might look “determined” and “clutch” one week and uninterested the next; there is, of course, no guarantee that UAB continues to win close games through March or even through Saturday. But the Blazers succeeding in so many high-leverage situations — and Kennedy unreservedly praising his squad’s grit — is a positive sign, without a doubt.

Behind Enemy Lines

South Florida’s Hodgson on his team’s late struggles:

“Just costly, costly mistakes down the stretch … Unfortunately, we had a couple guys that didn’t have a great week of practice, weren’t very locked in, couldn’t go to them. You know, we had two freshman out there down the stretch, and we had five turnovers.”

“ … It seemed like every possession in those two overtimes and the end of regulation, every possession was just an and-one for them … That’s extremely soft, you know, to let guys score the basket, draw the foul … I think our bigs didn’t do a very good job of sprinting back and showing a presence at the rim. Our guards didn’t do a very good job containing the basketball. We just allowed them to get to the rim time, and time, and time again. For a team that doesn’t shoot the ball well, and we know that, they attack the rim. They’re number one in the country in rim shot percentage.”

“So obviously, that’s a high level basketball game. It’s a good team, good coach, good players. You know, I have a feeling that’s a team we could see three times this year, but we for sure have got them one more time at their place, and we’ve got to get a lot of things fixed before we head there.”

Other notes:

• Two out of UAB’s three leaders in rebounding rate were guards — Jacob Meyer (16%) and Ahmad Robinson (10.7%). The other was Chatman (13.4%), who grabbed five boards in just 19 minutes of playing time.

• Meyer and Chatman were particularly tenacious on the defensive end, posting defensive rebounding rates of 29.2% and 26.9%, respectively.

• Per KenPom, UAB’s 109 points are the third-most the Blazers have scored against a Division I opponent since 1996 (111 vs. Alabama State on 11/7/2022, 116 vs. Houston on 1/9/1999).

• Per KenPom, South Florida’s 106 points are tied for the most a team has scored against UAB since 1996 (Memphis, 106 on 3/3/24).

• Hodgson was right in that the Blazers now rank first in the country in rim shot percentage, with 46.2% of their total field goal attempts coming at the bucket, per CBB Analytics. When you’re on pace to post the worst team three-point percentage in program history, as UAB currently is, you might as well drive to the paint.

• After committing just five turnovers against UNC Asheville, seven against Wichita State, and eight against South Florida, UAB now leads Division I in offensive turnover rate at 12.7% percent. Kennedy’s teams have been known to take care of the ball, finishing top-55 nationally in offensive turnover rate in 2021, 2022, and 2025, but the Blazers are now on pace to surpass the sparkling 13.8% mark they posted last season.

• Only twice has UAB finished a season ranked first in a KenPom statistical category: in both 2003 and 2006, Mike Anderson’s “40 Minutes of Hell” squads paced the nation in defensive turnover rate, generating takeaways on over 27% of opposing possessions.

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Not visible in the box score, however: the key to the game Kennedy identified during his postgame presser.

“The way [UNC Asheville was] blitzing ball screens, they were really hedging that ball screen hard,” Kennedy said. “So, our guards, if we could get it out of there clean, we were going to have plays behind the [screen]. And that’s what happened all night.”

From the game’s opening seconds, the Blazers were able to generate consistent, reliable offense by exploiting their opponents’ ball screen coverage.

Moments after Daniel Rivera won the tipoff, Evan Chatman set a slip screen for Salim London on the left wing, pretending to screen UNCA guard DJ Patrick but instead cutting to the basket.

The simple action immediately prompted a communication breakdown amongst the Bulldogs. UNCA forward Myles Mayfield, Chatman’s defender, hedged the screen and jumped out to pressure London. Looking unsure of himself, Patrick, London’s defender, briefly followed Chatman before also getting in London’s face. No Bulldog tagged the streaking Chatman, who received a pass from London and scored one of the easier buckets he’ll get all season.

It was mistakes like these that hampered the visitors in the early going. On the following possession, another mishandled slip screen forced UNCA center David Hermes to scurry back to the hoop and foul Rivera in order to prevent a free layup. Less than a minute later, the Bulldogs aggressively hedged a Chance Westry-Rivera side pick-and-roll, only for a lack of help defense to generate a (missed) open triple for Chatman.

Although UNCA successfully blitzed Ahmad Robinson on the Blazers’ next trip down the court, stripping the UAB guard and converting his turnover into a transition layup, the Green and Gold’s backcourt otherwise navigated the ball screen pressure with composure. The slip screen continued to prove effective in defeating the Bulldogs’ hedges: at the 16-minute mark, UNCA guard Justin Wright and forward Toyaz Solomon forced Robinson to pick up the ball, but he made up for his earlier mistake by finding the rolling Chatman deep in the paint. The forward proceeded to muscle in a tough two-pointer. Soon after, a heavily-defended Westry delivered a beautiful pass to a slipping Rivera with a hand in his face.

Wary of Rivera, UNCA center Sage Tolentino hedged Robinson less aggressively on the Blazers’ next ball screen; Robinson made the Bulldogs pay by draining a triple.

UNCA suffered fewer and fewer coverage breakdowns as the game progressed, but their ball screen defense remained an Achilles’ heel. This was in large part due to the performances of UAB’s rollers, and specifically KyeRon Lindsay-Martin, who scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting. All of the forward’s first-half points (sans a last-second tip-in) came off of hedged ball screens. While Chatman and Rivera dove all the way to the hoop to score their early buckets, Lindsay-Martin twice found success operating in space — once at the 12:31 mark, when he received a pass on a short roll and converted a floater over Wright, and once at the 0:57 mark, when London dragged out a screen and found Lindsay-Martin for a midrange jumper.

Lindsey-Martin also found himself the beneficiary of an overaggressive hedge at the 10:31 mark that allowed Westry to spin away from two defenders, barrel downhill, and generate an open layup.

This technique — “rejecting” the screen, or catching the defense by surprise by going in the opposite direction of the screen — was used multiple times by both Westry and Robinson to create space and prevent the Bulldogs from deploying their preferred coverage. Even when it wasn’t presented with easy passes, the Blazer backcourt was rarely stumped or overwhelmed by UNCA’s pressure, firing back with rejections or fitting assists into tight windows.

In spite of the Bulldogs’ aggression, UAB committed turnovers on just two ball screens during the first half, with one an unforced Lindsey-Martin throwaway. The forward made up for it, however, on the other side of the break. The second period was slower-paced than its predecessor and saw the Blazers’ ball screen rate decline; on the occasions UAB did go to the ball screen, UNCA often displayed a more conservative drop coverage that succeeded in slowing down a Green and Gold offense perhaps running out of energy before Christmas break. Westry couldn’t finish over Mayfield at the 17:28 mark; Tolentino swatted Westry at the 12:57 mark; Mayfield denied Chatman at the 6:18 mark.

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Although Westry had his second-half moments, backing down Wright for a tough layup before rejecting another screen to get downhill and draw free throws, he made just one of his five field goal attempts. Robinson, on the other hand, found himself even more out of rhythm, connecting on just one of his eight field goal attempts. Deprived of the same looks available to them in the first half, neither Chatman nor Rivera scored a point. The only consistent source of production was Lindsay-Martin, who recorded 16 second-half points to his teammates’ combined 14.

Neither Tolentino nor Hermes, both of whom have three or more inches on Lindsay-Martin, could contain the self-described “dog” in drop coverage as he interspersed powerful rolls to the rim between transition dunks. In a fitting conclusion to his spectacular outing, Lindsay-Martin locked Patrick out of the play with an effective screen, beelined into the paint, and bailed out a pivoting Westry with a difficult, left-handed finish.

The Blazers didn’t reinvent the wheel on Sunday; rather, they attacked UNCA’s ball screen coverage with slips and rejections, got steady, composed play from their guards, and took advantage of impressive efforts from their rollers, especially Lindsay-Martin, who Kennedy said did a “terrific job” of “catching, of finishing in traffic.”

“It is a big confidence booster,” Lindsay-Martin said. “It just shows me and just reinstills in my brain, like, what I can do even if I’m not trying to score, just finding open spots and just being available and active. And that’s the kind of the mindset I went into today.”

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“John Calipari once said, ‘Man, you don’t have to make them all, but you damn sure can’t miss them all.’”

Invoking the legendary Arkansas coach, Andy Kennedy fittingly summarized UAB’s 94-70 blowout loss at N.C. State Friday night. The Blazers were helpless from the field and from the charity stripe, making four of their 25 three-point attempts (16%) and eight of their 14 free throw attempts (57.1%).

Although the Wolfpack didn’t light it up from behind the arc, either, finishing ten for 30 (33.3%) after a zero for 12 start, Will Wade’s squad connected on 18 of its 22 free throws (81.8%) and absolutely dominated the interior. Powered by the efforts of forwards Darrion Williams and Ven-Allen Lubin and guard Tre Holloman, NCSU posted a two-point percentage of 74.2%, the second-highest mark by a UAB opponent since 1996, according to KenPom.

But for about 15 minutes in the first half, it seemed as though UAB had a chance to pull off the upset. The second game of the Wade era saw the Lenovo Center bathed in red, an adoring crowd of 15,918 showering the coach with cheers on each of the many occasions he appeared on the Jumbotron; never was the building louder than when a camera followed Wade from the tunnel to the Wolfpack bench.

Wade’s aura of supreme confidence influenced all facets of the pregame presentation: an elaborate light show promised to deliver college basketball a “reckoning,” a message the NCSU faithful took to heart as they relentlessly jeered Kennedy, who played for the Wolfpack in 1987 before transferring to UAB. It was quite the change of pace for a Blazer squad that tipped off the season against Mississippi Valley State.

The Green and Gold met the moment, however, deploying a zone that threw the hosts out of sorts in the opening minutes. Daniel Rivera swatted Williams, a preseason All-American and Texas Tech transfer that came to Raleigh after accepting a lucrative NIL package. Chance Westry stripped the Wolfpack’s Quadir Copeland and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Although he committed two quick turnovers, Jacob Meyer made up for it with a masterful display of shooting, starting four for four from the field and scoring the Blazers’ first six points. At the U16 media timeout, UAB led 10-9, buoyed by an NCSU offense ice-cold from beyond the arc.

“I thought early in the game our zones bothered them a little bit, and we were able to score, which allowed us to get in our zones,” Kennedy said. “I thought Chance and Jacob Meyer — I didn’t think the moment was too big for them, and they were really on the attack, and then we were able to get back into the zone and had them a little disjointed. And that’s how we were staying in the game.”

A triple from Evan Chatman and two layups from Westry kept UAB competitive until the 6:25 mark; it was at that point the basket began expanding for the hosts. Paul McNeil hit the Wolfpack’s first three of the night, NCSU connected on two more triples over the next two minutes, and the crowd finally found its voice. Aided by a technical against a screaming Wade, UAB managed to stay within single digits of the Wolfpack, but the Blazers missed their final eight three-point attempts of the half, a sign of what was to come. A frustrating moment in the period’s waning seconds summed up UAB’s night: with his team down 41-33, Meyer put up a jumper that seemed to be through the rim before it rattled out.

“The reality is, we were down eight at the half,” Kennedy said. “The way that they had played, if we could have finished the half a little better, you know, that should have been a two, three, four-point game. We might have even could have taken the lead if we could make a shot. We go four for 25 from three, which is just going to be a recipe for disaster for a group that’s undersized already.”

On the other side of the break, the onslaught began. Rivera opened the second half with a layup that made the score 41-35, but the Blazers got no closer. From the 18:11 mark to the 4:55 mark, NCSU orchestrated a 39-17 run that blew UAB out of the building. The Wolfpack peppered the visitors with triples, making seven of its 14 three-point attempts in the second period, while still leaning on the paint-oriented strategy that brought it success in the first half, converting a whopping 11 of 12 two-point attempts.

The Blazers simply had no answers. Their second-half shooting numbers were almost identical to their first-half shooting numbers; that wasn’t enough. In the absence of a Lendeborg-like interior threat, UAB is heavily reliant on their guards, but it received little-to-no production from any but Westry after halftime. Robinson, in particular, was unlucky from the field, drawing the attention of the NCSU student section after airballing two consecutive three-point attempts. He finished with eight points on a team-low 20.8 eFG%.

“Ahmad Robinson is a guy that we brought in to to to be a scorer,” Kennedy said. “He’s a 17, 18 points per game guy, you know. You put bigger guys on him, you know, the moment — I mean the kid’s great, he works hard, but it’s going to be hard to survive when a guy that you think is potentially your leading scorer goes two for 12 and one for seven overall.”

On the night, Meyer finished with 15 points on six of 18 shooting, Westry scored 14 on six of nine shooting and recorded a team-high five assists, and Salim London made a team-high two threes, scoring eight points. In the frontcourt, Rivera put up 12 points and seven rebounds while KyeRon Lindsay-Martin posted eight and six. Evan Chatman made one three and scored five points on two of six shooting.

The game mirrored the trajectory of the Vanderbilt exhibition: a competitive first half followed by an extended scoreless stretch that put the second half out of reach. According to Kennedy, the Blazers are still figuring out where to turn on offense when the shots aren’t falling.

“I think it was shotmaking on their part and the inability to do so on our part,” Kennedy said. “When you have empty stretches — and it’s been problematic for us, we played Vanderbilt in a exhibition game, we played Western Kentucky in an exhibition game, and now NC State — and we have these stretches where we’ll go three, four possessions: empty, empty, empty.”

UAB will have an opportunity to address these woes November 11th at home against Alabama State, but Friday night, Kennedy was left with no choice but to give props to Wade’s squad and move on.

“They booed me, but that’s what they should do to the opposing coach,” Kennedy said. “It’s been a long time, you know. I’ve got great memories from my time at N.C. State. For some reason, people think I don’t, but don’t believe in all the tabloid journalism, please. I’ve got great memories here. My wife is from Raleigh, and her family was here, and they’re all Wolfpack fans … I think Will brings the right energy at the right time to really ignite this place, and he’s done a great job with his roster construction.”

“Authority” has been the word of the early season for UAB.

During its exhibition losses to Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky, the Green and Gold didn’t play with enough of it. Against the Commodores, Andy Kennedy’s squad was severely outmuscled in the paint, leading the UAB coach to criticize the Blazers’ hustle. A week later, Kennedy watched his team again lose the physicality battle as it failed to overcome the Hilltoppers.

“There’s going to be bodies in your way,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to play through them in an effective manner. The best teams that I’ve ever had can do it at about at least a minimum of 55% rate. This team is under 50%, woefully.”

Monday night, UAB’s rate must have been over 70%. Although their opponent will go down as one of the weakest squads in the recent history of Division I basketball, the Blazers finally did what their coach expected of them, scoring 48 paint points to Mississippi Valley State’s 18, forcing 26 turnovers to the Delta Devils’ eight, and hauling in 49 rebounds to the visitors’ 34. Albeit against far stronger foes, UAB spent its previous two season openers shaking off rust. Not this time: the Blazers drilled MVSU for 1.25 points per possession while holding the Delta Devils to .65 PPP of their own.

Even Kennedy, for whom the matchup prompted a remarkable level of apprehension, was reassured by the Green and Gold’s performance, saying he was “really pleased with the way we approached the game.”

“I know Mississippi Valley had their struggles last year, but they only returned a couple of guys, you know, and I’ve seen our struggles,” Kennedy said. “So I just wanted us to play good.”

And play good they did. UAB started strong, riding steals and fast-break buckets to a 16-4 lead, but responses from Michael James and Tyrone Iroghama kept the visitors within striking distance; that was, until KyeRon Lindsay-Martin made the play of the game. As the Blazers broke the Delta Devils’ three-quarter-court press, Ari Gooch found the cutting forward on the baseline, who disregarded flagrant contact from Iroghama to throw down a highlight-reel slam.

“Oh my gosh, that boy just pushed right through him … ” Chance Westry said, recalling his reaction to the play. “It just gets us going, you know, seeing that impact. Like, ‘Dang, alright, bet, let’s all try,’ you know? ‘Let’s all try to push through and get to that rim.’”

In exchange for a hard-earned two points, Lindsay-Martin received a bloody nose and a technical foul, a trade he’d probably make again; sans the tech, Kennedy sure would. Although the UAB coach dinged the forward for missing a few bunnies in the second half, his dunk was emblematic of the effort the Blazers displayed throughout their wire-to-wire victory.

That effort started with the UAB backcourt. It’s no secret that the Blazers’ talented guard unit will likely determine whether the team contends for a conference title, and the group couldn’t have possibly gotten off to a better start. Jacob Meyer paced the Green and Gold with 16 first-half points, orchestrating a game-breaking 32-6 run that was sparked by Lindsay-Martin’s slam; Ahmad Robinson posted 14 points and seven assists; Westry led the Blazers in scoring, putting up 23 points in just 20 minutes. No member of the trio recorded a turnover.

Although Westry acknowledged UAB’s exhibition slate “didn’t go well,” he credited the Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky games with bringing the Blazers together, familiarizing the team’s many newcomers with each other’s playing styles. After the WKU loss, Kennedy complained that his squad wasn’t “good at anything” and didn’t “really have an identity”; Monday night, a more synchronized UAB team pushed back on its coach’s assertion.

“[The win] shows potential with the team,” Westry said. “I mean, we still got a lot to grow from. It shows a lot, you know. We had some big leads, some fast break points — we had 28 fast break points — so it shows that we can get out and run, and [48] points in the paint shows that we can play for force.”

The Blazers bullied the Delta Devils in transition, forcing 26 turnovers — their most in a single game since 2021 — that led to 40 UAB points. Supremely effective in space was Meyer, who topped the Green and Gold in fast break points with 12. Kennedy, a man who has described himself as pessimistic to a degree that is “not healthy,” found nits to pick with Meyer’s game, but he also lauded the guard’s quickness and straight-line speed.

“I think Jacob is our most aggressive scorer,” Kennedy said. “I think that’s pretty clear. I think he still leaves fruit on the vine, so to speak, and that he shoots with his right hand more than any left-hander I’ve ever seen in my life. Anybody got David Copperfield’s number? I wonder if he could maybe hypnotize him. Is Copperfield still doing his thing? This dude thinks he’s right-handed, but at our level, I think he’s going to really be dynamic. He can really get by. He’s explosive off that dribble.”

Overall, UAB dominated almost every statistical category. It held MVSU to an eye-watering eFG% of 33.6, turned the Delta Devils over on nearly 30% of their possessions, and pulled down offensive rebounds on 38.9% of missed shots compared to its opponent’s mark of 11.8%. The game was slightly more competitive in the second half as Kennedy emptied much of his bench in an effort to flesh out the Blazers’ rotations. Despite the constant substitutions, Kennedy felt as though his team remained focused for the majority of the game.

“Before viewing the tape, I thought in a 40 minute game, about 75% of the time we were pretty locked in,” Kennedy said. “When the score gets like this — and I guess it ends up over 50, that’s a big number — sometimes you’re going to have a little bit of a lapse in attention to detail, and I’m playing everybody. I tried to play everybody that I could play, and with that you’re going to disrupt your rhythm as well.”

The only aspect of UAB’s performance Kennedy blasted was its struggles from the free throw line: Westry went 4-8, Robinson went 2-4, Evan Chatman went 2-5, and Daniel Rivera went 0-2. The Blazers were inefficient from the charity stripe during the preseason, and that didn’t change last night.

“Chance has a monster game, and he misses four free throws as a guard,” Kennedy said. “It’s inexcusable. Evan Chatman’s too good of a shooter to be missing free throws like this. Daniel’s always struggled with it in his career, but he’s a guy that plays physical, and he’s going to draw contact. We need to make free throws at a much more efficient rate. We end up at 62% on the game, and that’s not to our standard.”

“We’ll continue to focus on it and continue to try to get the reps necessary to get these guys comfortable at the line.”

The Blazers’ next test — N.C. State on the road Friday — will be a little more complicated. NCSU is KenPom’s 31st-ranked team and just missed being included in the preseason AP Poll. Will Wade made his Wolfpack debut last night, leading his team to a 114-66 thrashing of overmatched N.C. Central in front of an announced crowd of 19,119 at Raleigh’s Lenovo Center; with a late-night tipoff of 8 PM CT, this weekend’s environment will likely be the most hostile UAB faces all year.

Kennedy is well-aware of the challenges Wade’s squad will pose — although the former McNeese State coach wasn’t on the sideline when the Cowboys crushed the Blazers 81-60 in 2023, serving a suspension stemming from violations he committed at LSU, he was the architect of the team that dealt UAB one of its worst home losses of the decade.

Nevertheless, Kennedy believes the early-season nature of the contest could give the Blazers a chance.

“We don’t have that much head-to-head experience, but I do know the way in which his teams play,” Kennedy said. “I’m sure he’s familiar with the way in which ours play. Both of us are kind of going at it with a limited knowledge base because we’re still trying to figure out our own teams. I know that we’re going to have to play really good to give ourselves a chance. They’re a team that’s predicted to do big things this year, and we look forward to the opportunity.”

To end his presser, Kennedy hit a familiar note.

“We’re going to have to play with a lot of authority.”

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At the dawn of every college basketball season, the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils begin a brutal, cross-country road trip that takes them into the lairs of power conference foes and elite mid-majors alike.

Without fail, their non-conference strength of schedule ranks among the country’s top ten. The constants in these games: MVSU loses, and MVSU makes money. At one of the poorest athletic departments in the nation, this buy-game gauntlet keeps the lights on.

To quote a piece by The Athletic’s Sam Blum:

“[The Delta Devils] are the Washington Generals of college basketball, paid to lose spectacularly every time they take the court.”

MVSU hasn’t won a non-conference game on the road since November 22nd, 2006, a streak that doesn’t seem likely to end in 2025 — the Delta Devils’ schedule includes over 8,800 miles of travel and features matchups against Florida State, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Kansas State, among others.

Tonight, MVSU’s annual ritual begins as it travels to Bartow Arena for the christening of a new era in UAB basketball’s storied history. Nine times have the Delta Devils played against the Blazers; nine times have they lost by double-digits, including a 100-58 demolition spearheaded by Josh LeBlanc (!) in 2021.

Last season, MVSU went 3-28 and 1-17 in the SWAC, its only Division I win coming against Arkansas Pine Bluff, which KenPom pegged as America’s second-worst team. The Delta Devils, as you may have guessed, were KenPom’s worst team, posting an adjusted efficiency margin of -42.12 compared to UABP’s -25.94.

Only once in KenPom’s 28-year history — 2013 — has the gap between a season’s worst and second-worst teams been larger.

That year’s 0-28 Grambling State squad is the only team of the KenPom era to achieve a lower AdjEM (-46.26) than the 2024-2025 Delta Devils. Put simply: last year, MVSU fielded the second-worst team Division I basketball has seen since 1996-1997.

MVSU head coach George Ivory has lived this life for a long time. He starred for the Delta Devils as a player in the 80s, began his coaching career on the staff of the Jackson State women’s team in 1991, and returned to his alma mater as an assistant in 2002.

From there, Ivory bounced from SWAC sideline to SWAC sideline until he landed a job as the head coach at UAPB in 2008; he remained with the Golden Lions for 13 years. Ivory resigned after the 2021 campaign and took the reins of MVSU’s program the following spring. He’s about to enter his 38th year in the SWAC.

It remains to be seen whether Ivory can overcome immense budgetary restraints and lead the Delta Devils to their first March Madness berth since 2012. He’d probably settle for a winning record in SWAC play, something else MVSU hasn’t accomplished since 2012. In all likelihood, he’d be satisfied with six SWAC wins, a milestone MVSU hasn’t reached since 2017.

Our only concern, however, is what Ivory’s bunch will accomplish tonight. What should UAB expect to see from its first opponent of the post-Lendeborg era?

An Anemic Offense

MVSU has long struggled to shoot, but last season was the first time under Ivory the Delta Devils finished with the lowest effective field goal percentage (42.1%) in the country. They were incapable of making twos, threes, or free throws. Ugly.

Ivory’s squad also turned it over on nearly 25% of its possessions, and the Delta Devils’ strengths during the first two seasons of the coach’s tenure — offensive rebounding and foul-baiting — dissipated. MVSU sported a team-wide three-point percentage of 28.8%; as such, it attempted triples at one of the 20 lowest rates in the country. The Delta Devils also rarely got out in transition, so its offense was predicated on two-point attempts in the half-court.

The Delta Devils’ clunky roster construction — multiple guards that lived inside the arc, a non-shooting center in Alvin Stredic that posted up with great frequency — crowded the floor and made generating spacing and open shots difficult. As a result, many MVSU possessions ended in ISOs that were neither successful nor aesthetically pleasing: the Delta Devils recorded assists on 41.7% of their made field goals, the tenth-lowest rate in Division I.

MVSU’s strong suit, if it existed, was not passing or ballhandling. Save forward Jair Horton, no Delta Devil posted an assist-to-turnover ratio that ranked above the 18th percentile for their position. During MVSU’s 2024 non-conference gauntlet, several opponents found defensive success in being aggressive in the passing lanes and trapping on the baseline and sidelines.

The Delta Devils were also hamstrung by regular unforced turnovers.

As I alluded to earlier, MVSU once combatted its woes from the field by drawing fouls and creating second-chance opportunities; however, free throws and offensive rebounds were nowhere to be found last season. Stredic was the only player that consistently got to the line, but he posted pedestrian OREB numbers, and MVSU’s guards and wings were non-factors on the boards. Horton also provided little help. The Delta Devils boasted four players above 6’8”, but one — Walter Hamilton — was lost for the season after 11 games, and the others were too raw to see consistent playing time.

Thus, MVSU was out-offensive rebounded in all of its Division I games but three. The Delta Devils bulked up their frontcourt over the offseason, adding a slew of junior college bodies in the hopes that one of them will stick. We’ll see!

MVSU has made over nearly its entire roster, and some of the problems that plagued it in 2024-2025 could be slightly alleviated: last season, newcomers Michael James and Delkedric Holmes were both roughly 35% three-point shooters at the JUCO level.

Nevertheless, KenPom projects this unit, which features ten JUCO transfers, to once again be the nation’s worst. Even if MVSU becomes marginally more capable from the field, several structural problems remain in place. Sisk, the returning team leader in turnover rate (a whopping 34.1%), now becomes the presumed starting point guard. Uh oh!

UAB, which has been one of the best offensive rebounding programs in the country during Andy Kennedy’s tenure, is also insulated from losing games like this even if MVSU does go ballistic from beyond the arc. The Blazers are sans Lendeborg, yes, but KyeRon Lindsay-Martin should ensure UAB generates far more second-chance opportunities than do the Delta Devils.

A Porous Defense

While MVSU’s offense was just the 33rd-worst of the KenPom era, its defense was the second-worst of the KenPom era, beating out only 2018 USC Upstate. A telling statistic: the Delta Devils’ average defensive possession length of 16.4 seconds, the eighth-lowest mark in the country. This wasn’t a purposeful attempt to push the pace — remember, Ivory’s squad didn’t care to get out in transition — but rather a number that betrays the fact MVSU was simply unable to stop opposing offenses from doing as they pleased. The Delta Devils’ foes used an average of 16.4 seconds per possession because, more often than not, that’s all the time they needed to find a good look.

Whether it be in transition — which MVSU faced at a 98th percentile rate due to its tendency to miss shots and commit turnovers on the offensive end — or in the halfcourt, it didn’t take long for the Delta Devils’ opponents to put the ball in the basket.

Ivory’s squad couldn’t stop opponents from any region of the court, allowing them to hit threes, midrange jumpers, and shots at the rim — especially shots at the rim — at clips well above the DI average.

The point of defense is to make your opponents take bad shots, but MVSU had essentially no control over shot selection, its defense serving as a funnel to the paint. 37.4% of its opponents’ field goal attempts came at the rim (a really bad number), and they converted those attempts at a 68.4% rate (an even worse number). Just 9.4% of opposing shot attempts came from the midrange.

On the occasions the Delta Devils forced a miss, they gave up offensive rebounds 38% of the time; they also allowed .384 free throws per opposing field goal attempt, ranking 305th in the country in that category.

It was one of the worst units of all time, and it’s unlikely to get much better: KenPom again pegs the Delta Devils as the nation’s weakest defensive team by nearly three points per 100 possessions.

Outlook

Win by 40, get ready for NC State on Friday.

Prediction: UAB 82, MVSU 51

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Week nine of the college football season produced one of the most exciting American slates we’ve witnessed all year.

Saturday’s marquee South Florida at Memphis matchup lived up to the hype, delivering a frantic finish that saw the Tigers ride a 14-point fourth quarter into the lead before a catastrophically-timed holding penalty tanked USF’s attempt at a game-tying field goal.

Memphis’ shocking loss to UAB put Ryan Silverfield’s squad in danger of missing not just the College Football Playoff but the American championship game. After (barely) passing perhaps the toughest test of their season, the Tigers remain in postseason contention.

Both Temple and Rice picked up overtime victories over Tulsa and UConn, respectively; at 5-3 (3-1), Temple is enjoying its best season since 2019. In his first year in Philadelphia, Owls head coach K.C. Keeler has instantly transformed the program from a three-win embarrassment to one capable of competing with almost any conference opponent.

Although Temple still has a ways to go before returning to the standard it established under Matt Rhule, the Owls must feel good about rivaling UTSA and Army in SP+ a year after losing to those teams by a combined 52 points. An FCS national championship winner at both Delaware and Sam Houston State, Keeler is one of the most successful coaches in college football history. Over the last few months, he’s shown why.

Even the weekend’s bad games were fun. North Texas and Charlotte fought a battle that, while predictably uncompetitive, featured 74 points and over 1,150 yards, while Navy beat FAU as the two teams combined for just one punt. The Mean Green (7-1, 3-1) and the Midshipmen (7-0, 5-0) are barreling towards a head-to-head matchup in Denton this Saturday, one with significant implications for both the conference title and playoff races.

So what were the week’s defining moments? How did its most important games play out? What did we learn from week nine?

Memphis Finds a Way

For a moment, it looked as though South Florida was going to finish what UAB started.

As the clock ran out on the third quarter, Bulls running back Sam Franklin received a handoff in the backfield, patiently picked his way through a scrum of defenders, and turned on the jets once he reached the second level. 73 yards later, USF’s lead was 31-13.

With Memphis’ highly-touted rushing offense having struggled all day, it seemed unlikely the Tigers were capable of mounting a response. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, ESPN Analytics gave them a five percent chance of victory.

However, quarterback Brendon Lewis — listed as questionable until the day of the game and perhaps still ailing from the injury he suffered against UAB — remained calm and composed; after accumulating just 173 passing yards in the first three quarters, Lewis racked up 148 in the fourth alone. Of Memphis’ three fourth-quarter drives, two resulted in touchdowns, while the other ended in a field goal. Although it’s taken a backseat to the ground game all season, the Tigers’ air attack shined when it mattered most.

It helped that USF had no recourse for the hosts’ onslaught, its offense unable to cross the Memphis 45-yard line from the beginning of the fourth quarter until its final possession of the afternoon.

“I think really the most frustrating piece is just not able to score in the fourth,” USF head coach Alex Golesh said. “We protected well, but I felt like at times we we couldn’t get open. Man, it was frustrating.”

With less than 90 seconds on the clock, Memphis receiver Cortez Braham hauled in a contested touchdown pass to put his team up 32-31.

Moments later, Lewis stretched out for a critical two-point conversion that barred the Bulls from winning the game on a field goal. This forced the visitors to cobble together a frantic drive that achieved forward progress by any available means — passes across the middle, quarterback scrambles, and Memphis penalties alike propelled USF to the Tigers’ 24-yard line.

The Bulls had little chance of defeating Memphis in regulation, but their mad dash set up kicker Nico Gramatica with an opportunity at a game-tying, 42-yard field goal. On the season, Gramatica was nine for nine from inside that range. Overtime seemed inevitable.

The key word being “seemed.” On USF’s final offensive play of the game, an overthrown shot to the end zone, graduate student center Cole Best briefly and illegally wrapped up Memphis defensive back Kamari Wilson from behind. This transgression did not escape the eyes of the officials. Now attempting a kick ten yards further back than he was expecting, Gramatica’s try (which almost certainly would’ve been good from 42) sailed wide left, sealing the Tigers’ crucial victory and prompting fervent celebrations from the Memphis sideline.

USF will be kicking itself over this one for many months. Quarterback Byrum Brown wasn’t perfect, throwing a game-opening interception to former UAB linebacker Everett Roussaw, but he played well enough for the Bulls to win. Brown turned in a solid-enough passing performance while spearheading a USF ground attack that averaged 7.8 yards per carry. Included in his 121 rushing yards was a 44-yard first-quarter touchdown that must be seen to be believed.

However, the Bulls managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory thanks in large part to a controversial game management decision. Up 24-17 with 5:51 left in the third quarter, USF faced a fourth and 3 at the Memphis 7-yard line; instead of taking the near-automatic points, Golesh went for the jugular with a risky conversion attempt that was promptly blown up Memphis linebacker Sam Brumfield. Although the Bulls’ ugly fourth quarter also played an outsized role in their demise, it’s hard to ignore the fact that USF lost by three points. Would’ve been nice to have that field goal.

On the opposite sideline, the time for playing with fire is over. The day’s positives shouldn’t outweigh the fact that Memphis was all but out of it with 15 minutes left in the game. The Tigers’ remaining schedule includes East Carolina, Rice and Navy and Tulane, the American’s only remaining unbeatens; a loss would essentially eliminate Memphis from conference title contention. As the winner of the American will, in all likelihood, receive the G6 bid to the College Football Playoff, Memphis’ dreams of making a national splash hinge on the next few weeks.

USF is in the same scenario, only it now loses the tiebreaker to Memphis and needs to win out while hoping the Tigers suffer a defeat. With UTSA, Navy, UAB, and Rice left, the Bulls have a more manageable slate than does Memphis, but its November 15th visit to Annapolis will be one of the conference’s games of the season. And who knows? Maybe UAB has something in store for another of the American’s top contenders.

Temple’s K.C. Keeler: AAC Coach of the Year?

For our purposes, the details of Temple’s 38-37 overtime victory over Tulsa are academic.

Despite having won just one FBS game all year (against Oklahoma State, ironically), the Golden Hurricane gave the Owls all they could handle on a dreary Oklahoma afternoon. Tulsa quarterback Baylor Hayes completed several spectacular throws, tight end Brody Foley accounted for three touchdowns, and the home team erased an 11-point deficit to send the game into overtime tied at 31. Temple only escaped after stopping Tulsa on a two-point conversion, breaking up Foley’s wildcat pop pass.

The Owls are 5-3 and 3-1 in the American — the same conference record as North Texas, South Florida, and Memphis — but they play UNT and Tulane in the coming weeks, opponents that will likely deal crippling blows to Temple’s status as a dark horse title contender.

Nevertheless, Temple is 3-1 in the American, a development observers of the 2024 campaign would have a hard time believing. This site’s preview of that season, the last of the doomed Stan Drayton era, read:

Another 3-9 season would put the program in its worst condition since the nadir of the Wallace era. Almost unanimously the worst team in the AAC, the Owls will attempt to claw their way back to relevancy while saddled with a gaping hole at quarterback, a head coach on the hot seat, and the remnants of a historically bad defense.

That team indeed finished 3-9 (2-6), and Drayton was fired before the year ended.

But let’s take a look at the last sentence of that quote and identify what’s different in 2025. The remnants of a historically bad defense? Ranked 98th in SP+, Temple’s defense is by no means great, but it’s much improved from last season’s 125th-ranked unit. A gaping hole at quarterback? Former Rutgers transfer Evan Simon is PFF’s 19th-ranked signal-caller and has thrown 21 touchdowns and no picks; he’s 15 passes away from tying the FBS single-season record for pass attempts without an interception. A head coach on the hot seat? The furthest thing from it.

Hired less than 11 months ago, K.C. Keeler has already done what no Temple coach has been able to do since the pandemic: surpass three wins in a single season. He’s accomplished the feat in impressive fashion, positioning his squad one victory away from bowl eligibility by October. The Owls’ only losses have come against Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, and conference leader Navy; the neck-and-neck Navy game was decided by a two-point conversion Temple couldn’t stop. The Owls’ luck swung the other way against Tulsa, and Temple now has to beat one of East Carolina, Army, UNT, and Tulane to reach six wins for the first time since 2019.

Keeler has been undervalued throughout his long career. Hired in 2002 at Delaware, his alma mater, Keeler was a sensation in Newark, winning the FCS national championship in his second season and posing with bobbleheads bearing his likeness. However, a rough 2012 campaign led to his shock firing; after a year out of coaching, Keeler moved on to Sam Houston, where he posted an 11-win debut season. By the turn of the decade, he had transformed SHSU into a national championship-winning program, becoming the all-time leader in FCS playoffs victories and the only coach in history to capture FCS titles at two different universities.

Keeler’s success continued when the Bearkats jumped up a level in 2023. After a shaky FBS debut, he led SHSU to a 10-3 record and a New Orleans Bowl win last year. However, Keeler told 247Sports, Sam Houston’s administration encouraged him to move on after the campaign, citing the school’s lack of resources.

“We’re not going to be able to give you what you deserve in terms of your salary, in terms of coaches’ salaries, in terms of NIL money,” Keeler said SHSU athletic director Bobby Williams told him.

Although people in the know understood what Temple was getting, the Owls swiped Keeler over the offseason to relatively little buzz, hiring a man ESPN named one of the 150 greatest coaches in college football history for less than $2 million a year. There’s some buzz now.

Other Notes

Rice’s first season of Scott Abell is going great. Although the Owls are 4-4 and just 1-3 in conference play, that’ll do the trick for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2014. In two weeks, UAB will take on the option offense in Houston, a contest that could prove to be crucial in the Blazers’ pursuit of bowl eligibility. More pressingly, Rice defeated UConn, UAB’s next opponent, over the weekend by a double-overtime score of 37-34. The Huskies struggled to establish their running attack and were worn down after facing 78 plays from scrimmage, two things the Blazers are surely happy to hear.

North Texas beat Charlotte 54-20, a score that belies the fact the Mean Green, hampered by turnovers and drive-finishing struggles, led just 27-20 going into the fourth quarter. For the first time this season, Charlotte found itself within seven points of an FBS opponent in the fourth quarter — a wild stat — and thus got aggressive, attempting a fake punt from its own 23-yard line that was snuffed out by UNT special teamer Dalton Carnes. This blunder sent the Mean Green offense into hyperdrive: North Texas immediately scored on the short field before posting three more touchdowns in quick succession. Charlotte recorded a grand total of one more first down.

On the day, UNT quarterback Drew Mestemaker set a school and conference record with 608 passing yards, throwing for four touchdowns and 12.4 yards per attempt. His total is the most by an FBS QB since UCF’s Dillon Gabriel threw for 601 yards against Memphis in 2020. Per The Athletic’s Sam Khan, almost 400 of Mestemaker’s yards came after the catch, a testament to the offense installed by North Texas head coach Eric Morris and offensive coordinator Jordan Davis.

Navy knocked off FAU 42-32, but the Owls were never in it. Like Charlotte, FAU held on during the first half thanks to a Midshipmen fumble and failed fourth-down conversion; however, the Owls suffered turnover troubles of their own and had no answers for Blake Horvath and his clinical service academy offense. Prior to FAU’s garbage time shenanigans, Navy led 42-19, and that’s after going two-for-five on fourth down.

Navy’s real season begins now. The Midshipmen are 7-0 and 5-0 in conference play, but its toughest opponent thus far has been Temple. The next five weeks are absolutely brutal: North Texas, Notre Dame, USF, Memphis, and a game against Army that doesn’t count for the playoff or conference title races. With the Fighting Irish on its schedule, Navy has the potential to shake up not just the G6 CFP picture but the national one. It enters the gauntlet this weekend at Apogee Stadium.

This Week’s Slate

Thursday: UTSA (3-4, 1-2) vs. Tulane (6-1, 3-0)

Friday: Rice (4-4, 1-3) vs. Memphis (7-1, 3-1)

At all costs, the conference’s top contenders must avoid trap game losses to lower-tier opponents, something easier said than done. For Tulane, only about a field goal favorite at the Alamodome, this weekend presents a nerve-wracking challenge. Memphis (-14.5) has more room to breathe, but the Tigers haven’t turned in a wire-to-wire win since October 4th. As we saw two weeks ago, anything can happen in the American.

Saturday: UAB (3-4) at UConn (5-3)

Saturday: Army (3-4) at Air Force (2-5)

Both UAB and Army are battling down the stretch for bowl eligibility. If the Black Knights can get past a bewildering Air Force team that balances a cripplingly bad defense with one of the best offenses in service academy history, they’d have to beat two of Temple, Tulsa, UTSA, and Navy to get to six wins. It’ll be close, but a loss on Saturday would probably doom Army to a losing record.

The Blazers (+11.5) walk a similarly narrow path. Vegas sees UAB as likely to fall at UConn, which would force the Green and Gold to beat both Rice and Tulsa on the road while taking down one of North Texas and USF at home.

Saturday: Temple (5-3, 3-1) vs. ECU (4-3, 2-1)

Bowl eligibility is on the line here for Temple, which hasn’t made the postseason since 2019. Don’t sleep on ECU (-4.5), though, which has only lost to BYU, NC State, and Tulane. If the Pirates win on Saturday, they’ll be 3-1 in conference play with Charlotte, Memphis, UTSA, and FAU ahead. An American record of 6-2 or better is possible in Blake Harrell’s first full season.

Saturday: North Texas (7-1, 3-1) vs. Navy (7-0, 5-0)

Massive title implications in the indisputable game of the week. Already having lost to USF, North Texas desperately needs this one; UAB, Rice, and Temple make up the remainder of UNT’s schedule, and a 7-1 finish is in sight. The high-octane Mean Green welcome another offensive juggernaut in Navy, albeit one that achieves success by much different means. This is not a game to miss.

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There is little to say about what Iverson Hooks did against Memphis that hasn’t already been said.

With 172, the redshirt sophomore set UAB’s single-game FBS records for receiving yards against a ranked opponent and receiving yards by an underclassman. His 11 catches are tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history. For his efforts, Hooks was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Week and was lauded on ESPN.

Considering the stakes, the quality of opponent, and his age, Hooks’ performance is one of the greatest in the history of UAB football. But how does it stack up against the best days of legends like Roddy White, Derrick Ingram, and J.J. Nelson? Going by receiving yards, let’s take a look at the top wide receiver statlines in program history, first touching on some honorable mentions.

HM: Roddy White, 171, 10/11/03 vs. Cincinnati

In Cincinnati’s second-to-last season in Conference USA (and its last before it began its march to prominence under Mark Dantonio), UAB quarterback Darrell Hackney and wide receiver Roddy White left the Bearcats a parting gift. On a dreary Saturday afternoon at Legion Field, the Blazers’ battery torched the visiting secondary as White accumulated 171 yards on just four catches. The future Falcons star, a fixture on this list, caught touchdown passes of 56 and 95 yards.

HM: Iverson Hooks, 172, 10/18/25 vs. Memphis

Long after Hooks leaves Birmingham, his contested touchdown catch over former UAB safety Chris Bracy will be the lasting image from Saturday’s upset win.

HM: Roddy White, 177, 09/25/04 vs. Memphis

Another dominant effort against Memphis, this performance came during an era where UAB regularly defeated the Tigers. In 2004, the Blazers, fielding perhaps their best pre-Clark team, extended their winning streak against Memphis to five en route to securing their first-ever bowl bid. Running back Corey White (no relation) scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left, but Roddy’s 177 yards and three touchdowns carried UAB to victory.

HM: Tejhaun Palmer, 179, 11/04/23 vs. FAU

This was the historic afternoon during which Jacob Zeno set the program’s FBS record for passing yards in a game, finishing 29-35 with 484 yards and five touchdown passes. Jermaine Brown and Palmer, who racked up nine catches for 179 yards, served as Zeno’s security blankets; with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter, the latter broke free for a game-tying touchdown. A Matt Quinn field goal eventually secured UAB the win.

HM: Trea Shropshire, 180, 12/18/20 at Marshall

The honorable mention status of this entry undersells the role Trea Shropshire played in capturing the Blazers’ second conference championship. Much of the 2020 Conference USA title game was a physical, low-scoring defensive showdown; the Green and Gold led 9-0 at the half, but Marshall reclaimed the momentum with a third-quarter fumble recovery. The Blazers were only able to break away thanks to the efforts of Shropshire, who entered the evening with just 130 receiving yards all year but accumulated 180 in the game alone. A dagger touchdown with 4:03 left in the fourth quarter is one of the most memorable plays of both Shropshire’s career and the Clark era.

HM: Trea Shropshire, 183, 12/16/22 vs. Miami

Two years after his performance at Marshall, Shropshire had matured into UAB’s leading wideout and one of the most dangerous deep threats in program history. He proved it in his final college game, torching Miami (OH) to the tune of 183 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches. Shropshire tied the Bahamas Bowl record for receiving yards and hauled in three passes of 45-plus yards to ensure the Blazers emerged victorious from a wild game.

HM: Austin Watkins, 183, 9/24/20 at USA

No Tyler Johnston III, no problem. The absence of the Blazers’ injured starting quarterback didn’t bother Austin Watkins, owner of hands so steady he eventually parlayed them into an NFL stint. As was customary for the senior, he came down with all of his targets but one. The first play of the game saw backup Bryson Lucero hit Watkins for 56 yards on a play-action pass; their connection only grew stronger as the evening progressed, with Watkins later posterizing a South Alabama defender in the corner of the end zone to put UAB up 35-10.

HM: Reggie Lindsey, 184, 10/08/05 vs. SMU

October 8th, 2005 is a day few Blazers look back on fondly. A 3-1 UAB squad, having suffered no setbacks but a one-possession loss to Tennessee, all but had a mediocre SMU team beat. In the first quarter, Darrell Hackney tossed an 89-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Lindsey before later finding him for a 50-yard strike. UAB clung to its advantage until the end of the game, when it led 27-22 with 22 seconds remaining… and lost. Despite Lindsey’s heroic effort, SMU wide receiver Bobby Chase hauled in a 31-yard heave with no time on the clock, sending Legion Field’s homecoming crowd into a state of stunned silence.

10. Derrick Ingram, 186, 9/17/94 vs. Jax State

The first receiver in our proper top ten is Derrick Ingram, perhaps the most potent offensive weapon in UAB’s FCS history. There were doubts that the 5’11” Dallas County native could cut it at the Division I level, but Ingram proved doubters wrong in 1993 when he turned in a second-team All-American season. He continued his hot streak at the beginning of the 1994 campaign as he hauled in 21 receptions for 311 yards over three games. One of these contests was a loss to Jacksonville State in which Ingram provided most of the Blazers’ scoring pop, taking a pass 95 yards for a first-half touchdown that gave UAB a short-lived halftime lead.

9. Kevin Drake, 187, 11/15/97 vs. Tennessee Tech

The greatest game of Kevin Drake’s career was perhaps the least interesting of any on this list. The Birmingham Post-Herald described UAB’s “workmanlike” 38-14 win over FCS Tennessee Tech as “drudgery,” contested on a “cold, dreary day before fewer than 5,000 people.” For most of the afternoon, the 3-6 Blazers played unmotivated football in a game that had neither stakes or an audience. The only bright spot was Drake, a converted quarterback, who turned in one of the most prolific halves in UAB football history. In the game’s first 30 minutes, he hauled in six receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, a second-half shoulder injury robbed Drake of a chance to break the 200-yard threshold.

8. Trea Shropshire, 193, 10/08/22 vs. MTSU

Before Saturday’s win over Memphis, the most impressive game UAB had played in Protective Stadium was arguably its 2022 demolition of Middle Tennessee. Although the campaign was a frustrating one that saw the Blazers suffer five one-possession losses after being projected a conference title contender, the Green and Gold lived up to its promise for one October afternoon, dropping 38 points on the Blue Raiders before halftime. Like Drake, Shropshire did all of his damage in the first 30 minutes, racking up six catches for 193 yards and one 68-yard touchdown.

7. Derrick Ingram, 194, 11/6/93 at Butler

For many years, the 1993 UAB football team stood as the program’s winningest of all time, finishing the year with a sparkling record of 9-2. One of the reasons for the Blazers’ success was their ability to adapt to their circumstances and find ways to achieve victory when their preferred path was blocked off. No game made that more evident than UAB’s November contest against Butler, during which the Green and Gold rushed for a mind-blowing seven yards on 18 carries. No matter; Ingram, a one-man offense, grabbed nine catches for 194 yards and powered UAB to a stunning 13-point comeback, then a school record.

6. Xavier Ubosi, 196, 10/13/18 at Rice

The first appearance of Xavier Ubosi, the premier deep threat of the early Return era. The California native turned in a productive but not spectacular 2017 campaign; in 2018, however, he led the entire FBS in yards per reception with 23.9. Ubosi introduced himself to the nation during UAB’s 42-0 October victory over Rice as he went for 196 yards and two touchdowns on just four receptions, posting a whopping 49.0 yards per catch. The latter mark remains UAB’s FBS record for single-game YPC among players that hauled in three or more receptions. Ubosi’s most memorable moment of the day, of course, was his 95-yard bomb that broke the game open in the Blazers’ favor.

5. J.J. Nelson, 199, 08/31/13 at Troy

J.J. Nelson’s 2013 effort against Troy bears many similarities to Reggie Lindsey’s above effort against SMU: both performances were turned in by fantastic all-around players, and both performances were erased by a heartbreaking loss. Like Lindsey, Nelson was a dangerous returner — the greatest in school history, in fact — but he wasn’t just a special teams threat, although he did take a kickoff 97 yards to the house in this game. Nelson also grabbed ten catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns, including one that gave his squad a late 14-point advantage. Alas, UAB blew that lead in the fourth quarter; it would go on to post a miserable 2-10 record that got Garrick McGee fired.

4. Patrick Hearn, 201, 11/24/12 at UCF

Patrick Hearn was a productive contributor across his four years on the Southside, starting 29 games; by the end of his career, Hearn ranked in the program’s all-time top ten in receptions (110) and receiving yards (1,551). However, Hearn was usually the second or third option and rarely The Guy, eclipsing 100 single-game yards just thrice. The most notable of those occasions was an otherwise-forgettable November loss to UCF in which some players had long since checked out of an uninspiring 3-9 campaign. Not Hearn, who not only broke the 100-yard threshold but broke the 200-yard threshold, taking a second-quarter pass 76 yards into the end zone.

3. Xavier Ubosi, 227, 12/18/18 vs. NIU

By December 2018, UAB football had accomplished nearly everything it had set out to achieve after the Return. Winning season, check. Division title, check. Ten-win season, check. Conference championship, check. Bowl berth, check. New stadium in the works, check. After Ohio thrashed the Blazers in the 2017 Bahamas Bowl, the only thing left on the list was a bowl win. That’s why Ubosi’s 227-yard, three-touchdown Boca Raton Bowl explosion is so memorable: from the first play of the game, when Ubosi scored on a 70-yard go route, it was apparent the wide receiver wasn’t going to let the Blazers go home with anything short of a trophy.

2. Roddy White, 253, 10/23/04 at Tulane

Like in many cases we’ve discussed today, White’s 2004 showing against Tulane was overshadowed by an incredible football game that ultimately went the way of UAB’s opponent. Entering the afternoon, the Blazers were 5-1 to Tulane’s 1-4 and were 18-point favorites as visitors to New Orleans; nevertheless, UAB managed to drop its third straight to the Green Wave despite putting up nearly 650 yards of offense and leading by three points with under two minutes left in the contest. Blazer defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt apologized to fans after the game, and The Birmingham News called UAB’s special teams performance “schizophrenic.”

In spite of the defeat, White’s performance can only be described as his magnum opus — 253 yards and a touchdown on ten receptions (seven yards off of what was then the Conference USA record). He made catch after catch on the day, converting a fourth and 13 that allowed UAB to jump ahead 55-52 in crunch time; unfortunately, Tulane responded.

1. Derrick Ingram, 289, 11/19/94 at PVAMU

Here we have it — the closest a UAB receiver has ever gotten to breaking 300 yards. Just over two months after rewriting the record books against Jacksonville State, Ingram did so again against one of the worst teams of all time, a Prairie View A&M squad in the midst of the longest losing streak in college football history. The Blazers certainly took advantage of their opponents’ weakness, describing their 48-6 smashing of the Panthers as though it was a flag football game.

“It was fun…” UAB quarterback John Whitcomb, who threw for 539 yards and six touchdowns, said. “The offensive line had probably the best game I’ve ever seen. I just set back and looked for the receivers.”

The primary beneficiary of Whitcomb’s unlimited time in the pocket, Ingram was unstoppable, posting 12 receptions for 289 yards and four touchdowns. After the victory, USA Today named both Whitcomb and Ingram its nationwide co-offensive players of the week.

If it were a movie, audiences would have claimed it was too cliche.

With no permanent coach, no starting quarterback, and no conference wins in the last 329 days, UAB hosted its biggest rival, a ranked, undefeated College Football Playoff contender it hadn’t beaten since 2011. Sportsbooks gave the Blazers, 23.5-point underdogs, a greater chance to lose by four touchdowns than to achieve victory against No. 22 Memphis.

But — although it’s been a few years — UAB is accustomed to doing the impossible. Saturday afternoon, the Blazers tapped into a muscle memory they had repressed since 2021, shocking the world as they once did so often. Backup quarterback Ryder Burton was efficient and composed, Iverson Hooks accumulated a career-high 172 receiving yards, and the Green and Gold emerged from the wilderness it had inhabited since beating BYU in Shreveport. Six days after Trent Dilfer’s firing, the Tigers fell 31-24; the Bones returned to Birmingham.

“I’m so proud of these guys, man,” Burton said. “We battled like crazy. I couldn’t be more proud, man. It took everybody today, and we did it.”

UAB turned in its best offensive performance of the season, controlling the tempo of the game with 219 rushing yards — its time of possession was 35:05 to the visitors’ 24:55 — and outgaining Memphis 470 to 362. Burton completed 20 of 27 pass attempts for 251 yards, earning himself a Manning Star of the Week. Running back Solomon Beebe ran for 106 yards on five carries against the nation’s 15th-ranked rushing defense. Hooks’ explosion won him American Conference Player of the Week honors.

An Auspicious Debut

Interim head coach Alex Mortensen had never led a college team before. Set to make his 15th consecutive start, Jalen Kitna was officially ruled out with an upper-body injury just hours before the game. With the odds so dramatically stacked against them, no one would have batted an eye if the Blazers rolled over in front of a sparse homecoming crowd.

Instead, UAB set the tone with a 10-play, 75-yard possession, scoring its first opening-drive touchdown since week 2 at Navy. Small gains were interspersed with large chunk plays; explosive runs from Nate Rogers and Beebe carried the Blazers deep into Memphis territory, at which point Burton established his fruitful connection with Hooks, finding the redshirt sophomore receiver streaking down a crease into the end zone.

A redshirt sophomore who saw the bench at both BYU and West Virginia, Burton quickly adapted to his first extended stint in an FBS game, starting 5/5 and throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass. Burton attributed his composure to three years of “preparing like a starter” and a Mortensen gameplan that eased him into action.

“I think with Coach Mort’s plan, it was easy to see some of those first little completions, you know?” Burton said. “I didn’t necessarily make all the big throws on the first drive. I think I just settled in well, and then it just opened up a little bit from there.”

Holding Strong

No observer of UAB football was shocked by what happened next: a Blazer team that struggles to string together positive plays again struggled to string together positive plays.

Moments after Hooks scored, a Sutton Smith return touchdown erased the hosts’ lead. On UAB’s subsequent drive, a pressured Burton threw a telegraphed interception that gave the Tigers the ball at their own 38-yard line. From there, the script was obvious. The fun was over; the hammer was about to drop; Memphis would use the 18 minutes left in the half to take the lead, consolidate its advantage, and cruise to an easy victory.

In perhaps the most important sequence of the afternoon, that didn’t happen. For the first time all year, UAB denied its opponent a first-drive touchdown, overcoming one of its biggest weaknesses to do so. Facing a fourth and 3 at the Blazers’ 40-yard line, Memphis decided to try its luck against a defense prone to giving up fourth-down conversions, but the UAB secondary held steady. Chased out of the pocket, Tiger quarterback Brendon Lewis had no options but to throw the ball into the stands.

Although the Blazer defense went a middling 5-11 on third downs and 2-4 on fourth downs, it walled up on the plays that mattered most. UAB’s offense was also highly effective on late downs, a welcome departure from precedent. Entering the matchup, the Blazers ranked 70th nationally in third-down offense and 76th in fourth-down offense. Saturday, the Green and Gold went 9 of 13 on third down and 1 of 1 on fourth, a result set up by early-down successes.

“We’ve struggled a little bit when we’ve gotten behind the sticks on early downs,” Mortensen said. “And so one of our key focuses on offense this week was to try to stay ahead of schedule, and let’s see if we can make another team beat us first, you know, instead of defeating ourselves.”

The Blazers’ lone fourth-down conversion briefly rescued their next drive, which came at the beginning of the second quarter. After stopping Memphis in their tracks, UAB mounted one of its many long marches but found itself in traction at the opposing 39-yard line. On fourth and 2, Jackson ripped off a 10-yard run, keeping his balance as he barely evaded a Tiger defender in the backfield.

Two plays later, a 19-yard Beebe touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty against UAB, but it seemed the hosts would score anyway as they advanced to the Memphis goal line on the shoulders of Hooks and Jacobs. However, the Green and Gold’s red zone offense — another of the weaker facets of its game — couldn’t punch it in, forcing UAB to settle for a field goal. Memphis proceeded to find the end zone and took a 14-10 lead with less than 80 seconds to go before the break.

The Middle Eight

The “middle eight” — referring to the four minutes on either side of halftime — is a game management theory pioneered by Bill Belichick. According to SportSource Analytics, FBS teams that won the middle eight from 2014 to 2019 went on to win the game 74% of the time. Saturday proved no different.

UAB’s momentum begun to dissipate as the second quarter drew on. Down four points with the ball at their own 25-yard line, the Blazers had one minute to drive the length of the field and revitalize the crowd entering the locker room. For an offense that had scored on all but one of its possessions, a field goal seemed attainable.

It was attainable and more. Turning in one of his best series of the day, Burton was phenomenal under pressure, avoiding multiple near-sacks and methodically moving his unit into enemy territory. A seven-yard completion to tight end Elijah Lagg was followed by a 17-yard completion to receiver Brandon Hawkins; Burton was unfazed by a Hawkins drop on the next set of downs, finding Lagg for 15 more yards as a Memphis linebacker bulldozed the pocket.

Although it appeared UAB would have to bring out the special teams unit, sitting at the Tiger 36-yard line with 14 seconds on the clock, Jonah Delange’s entrance was delayed by the Strap Hooks Show; instead of attempting a field goal, the kicker was brought on for an extra point. Hooks followed up a 20-yard reception with a highlight-reel catch in the corner of the end zone, made all the sweeter by the identity of the defender — former UAB safety Chris Bracy.

“[Hooks] is my dog, man,” Burton said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just a guy that’s as competitive as they come. Confident as all get-out, and I don’t think you can ask for much more as a receiver.”

“Get the ball to zero,” the quarterback added. “It’s that simple, right? The guy’s electric, man. The quickness, the twitchiness, and also, he wants the ball. What kind of receiver am I going to want that doesn’t want the ball? He wants the ball, so I’m going to give it to him.”

Even outside of his three touchdowns, Hooks served as a safety blanket for Burton all day: five of his 11 catches were third-down conversions, and he caught the ball every time he was targeted. The receiver attributed his success to the connection between him and Burton, crediting the quarterback for “putting the balls in the right spot and trust[ing] me to go get them.”

“[Burton] knows I’m a competitor,” Hooks said. “There was times in the game I go up to him and say, ‘Hey, if he’s looking like this, if [a defender] is flat like this I’m running right by him.’ Like, it was just like a connection-type thing that we had.”

Thanks to its dynamic duo of redshirt sophomores, UAB went into halftime leading 17-14, an advantage it expanded on almost immediately. After another redshirt sophomore — safety Jeremiah Vessel — sacked Lewis, knocking him out of the game and forcing Memphis to make its first punt of the afternoon, Beebe ripped off the longest touchdown run in UAB history, rumbling 81 yards down the left sideline to put his team up 24-14.

Against a team that held Florida Atlantic to just 75 rushing yards, the play was a home run. On the day, UAB averaged a respectable 5.3 yards per carry. According to Mortensen, the Blazers’ consistency on the ground set up Beebe’s explosion.

“We really like our backs,” Mortensen said. “We still like our offensive line, and a lot of respect to Memphis. They’ve been really good against the run, and their front has been incredibly disruptive. So really, our guys did a good job of covering them, getting a hat on a hat, and then the ball-carriers, again, like we talked about, just gaining the extra two at the point of contact. We felt like we could treat it that way, and we kind of talked about, ‘Hey, treat it like a boxing match,’ you know.”

“We’re not going to come out and throw haymakers, but we’re going to set them up.”

When all was said and done, UAB won the middle eight by a score of 14-7.

A Wild Fourth Quarter

Of course, the battle wasn’t yet won. On the visitors’ final drive of the third quarter, Memphis backup quarterback AJ Hill powered the Tigers into the UAB red zone. Once again, the Blazers’ defense bent without breaking, stuffing Memphis running back Greg Desrosiers in the backfield on third and 3 and forcing a field goal.

However, a Rogers fumble killed a potentially crushing UAB drive, and Memphis again had life with 12:33 on the game clock.

Over the past two and a half seasons, the much-maligned Blazer defense consistently came up short in moments like these, in which game-changing plays were necessities, not luxuries. It was for this reason what happened next prompted such an impassioned celebration — from the Blazers’ 33-yard line, Hill overthrew Cortez Braham, his top receiver. The ball fluttered into the end zone, landing not in a Tiger’s hands but those of UAB safety Pierre Royster.

“Off [the] game plan, we knew [Braham] was their guy,” Royster said. “So once they put him in the slot, that kind of gave me like a light bulb. Quarterback tried to look me off, he didn’t do too much of a good job, and I saw four streaking up the field, so I went and made a play.”

Royster spoke of the interception with pride, evidence of the fact that the Blazer defense had turned a corner. He credited cornerbacks coach Ryan Lewis, defensive coordinator Steve Russ, nickels coach Tee Mitchell, and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer with keeping the unit focused even as it received criticism.

“Yeah, coach Lew, coach Tee, coach Russ, coach V do a good job at telling us, like, don’t listen to the outside noise,” Royster said. “We know we got a good defense, it’s just a lot of different pieces. And I think tonight we finally clicked. We finally showed the world what we got.”

A 99-yard UAB drive that saw Hooks accumulate 74 receiving yards and yet another touchdown made the score 31-17 and put a nail in the coffin.

Or so the Protective Stadium audience thought. Using just two of its remaining four minutes, Memphis exploded down the field for a score before forcing UAB’s lone punt of the day. All of a sudden, the game was on.

With the hosts clinging to a 31-24 advantage, everything came down to the Tigers’ final series, the emotional volatility of which is difficult to express in words. It started with a heroic catch by Braham, who scurried over the UAB logo on fourth and 7, rescuing his team with a pickup of 21 yards. It continued with a Desrosiers touchdown run that, after minutes of review, was not a touchdown run; Blazer cornerback Tariq Watson dragged him down at the 1-yard line.

It ended with a goal-line stand for the ages. A false start backed Memphis up five yards, allowing Watson to again deny Desrosiers at the goal line; another false start wiped out the Tigers’ progress, sending them back to the 6; two incompletions preceded an inexplicable delay of game penalty, which forced Hill to toss the ball into the end zone on an 11-yard fourth and goal. Intended receiver Braham was out of bounds, and improbably, the scoreboard read UAB 31, Memphis 24.

“We preached all year, field goals and takeaways,” Roster said. “So we weren’t surprised. We knew we had to buckle down and just play good defense like we did.”

“We’ve been through so much adversity this year,” he added. “It was just another thing, like get them down, we’re going to go finish it. We’re going to go play defense, no matter what.”

Moving Forward

It is unclear where Mortensen stands as a candidate for the permanent job. On the one hand, there is something to be said about paying a guy $2.4 million to go away and then replacing him with his longest-tenured assistant; on the other, Saturday was the program’s three-year high point. In the current climate, it is perhaps wise for a Group of 5 team to save on coaching hires — especially if it just paid a large buyout — and invest money into its roster. Mortensen would likely be among UAB’s cheaper options.

One thing is for certain. Although Mortensen, Burton, and Hooks spoke glowingly of Dilfer after the win, UAB looked like a different football team under Mortensen. The man who made a note of his inexperience in both of his press conferences — “I had to talk to the press on Monday, and I told you then it’s going to be a little off the cuff. Not used to this, so I’m kind of saying the same thing,” he said Saturday — out-coached perennial P5 candidate Ryan Silverfield, a fact Silverfield admitted.

It now seems plausible the 3-4 (1-3) Blazers could compete for bowl eligibility. Two of UAB’s next opponents — Rice, at 3-4 (1-3), and Tulsa, at 2-5 (0-4) — surround the Green and Gold in the conference standings, but the Blazers will have to sweep the Owls and the Golden Hurricane while picking up a win against No. 18 South Florida (6-1, 3-0 AAC, 40th in SP+), North Texas (6-1, 2-1 AAC, 43rd in SP+), or their next opponent, UConn (5-2, 56th in SP+). Mortensen’s squad has little room for error; if they reach .500, however, it will be hard to deny Mortensen the permanent job.

The Blazers will travel to East Hartford, Connecticut on November 1st, but before that, they have an open week. UAB will need to figure out whether Kitna or Burton will be under center on the other side of the break, as well as rest and rehabilitate their injured roster.

“We’re also at a point in the season where we’re pretty banged up,” Mortensen said. “The other thing that I can say that Coach Dilfer probably couldn’t say is that we’ve lost a lot of guys this year that have been hurt. I think the open week gives us an opportunity also to get some guys healthy. We have some guys that worked their way back this week, but I think the open week gives us an opportunity also to get some guys healthy. The guys that are currently healthy can get some good fundamental work in.”

Mortensen made clear that UAB won’t coast on its laurels, quickly putting the Memphis win behind it and making a plan for the rest of the season.

“I think too, we can kind of step back as a coaching staff and, and again, not overreact to one win and still acknowledge like, hey, we have some things that we really need to improve on. Let’s develop a strategy to go improve those things.”

There will be no Cinderella stories told this year.

Michigan edged past KenPom darling UC San Diego, which was doomed by a slow start and a hostile whistle. Yale couldn’t keep up with Texas A&M on the boards. Grand Canyon was blown out of the water by Maryland, while Utah State met a similar fate against UCLA. High Point looked out of its league against Purdue. McNeese, one of a precious few underdogs to advance to the round of 32, was walloped by the same Boilermakers squad on Saturday morning. Drake ran into JT Toppin and Texas Tech.

This season’s round of 64 was one of the chalkiest in recent history. The highest-seeded mid-major teams still standing are #10 New Mexico and #12 Colorado State, the latter of which was outright favored against its first-round opponent.

The Lobos and the Rams are each roughly seven-point underdogs entering Sunday night. If both were to lose, the remaining field would consist solely of single-digit seeds sans #10 Arkansas.

This fact has been quickly seized upon by our nation’s most reactionary sports critics. Outkick’s Clay Travis confidently tweeted that “NIL has destroyed mid-majors in college basketball because all their talent gets scooped up by big money teams.” In an arbitrarily-capitalized YouTube title, Fox Sports’ Aaron Torres asked: “Have the best players TRANSFERRING - KILLED MARCH MADNESS UPSETS?”

A cursory Twitter search of “NIL” and “March Madness” reveals a similar sentiment common among fans.

Is that true? Are Travis, Torres, and the general public correct?

First of all, the indisputable — the gap between the 2025 tournament’s haves and have-nots is the widest in history. Will Warren of Stats By Will recently wrote a piece analyzing how this year’s field stacks up against fields of the past. Comparing teams using KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin metric, his findings were stark:

The gap between 1 and 16 seeds is +42.86 AdjEM on average, the highest ever.

The gap between 2 and 15 seeds is +26.84 AdjEM on average, the second-highest ever.

The gap between 3 and 14 seeds is +20.96 AdjEM on average, the highest ever.

Lastly, the gap between 4 and 13 seeds is +16.48 AdjEM on average, which is not the highest ever. Just kidding: it’s the highest ever.

Long story short, the 2025 tournament’s elite teams are “superpowered,” in the words of Warren, while the 2025 tournament’s scrappy underdogs are about as weak as they’ve ever been. Who or what is to blame?

It’s hard to land on anything except NIL and the transfer portal. This season’s historically dominant batch of #1 seeds includes Auburn, which rosters Morehead State’s Johni Broome, Furman’s JP Pegues, and FIU’s Denver Jones, and Florida, which rosters Iona’s Walter Clayton, FAU’s Alijah Martin, Marshall’s Micah Handlogten, Belmont’s Will Richard, and Chattanooga’s Sam Alexis.

Duke has taken a different approach to team-building, using a titanic NIL budget to collect a mountain of blue-chip talent. Houston is unique in its bounty of veteran, home-grown contributors, but even the Cougars’ top two scorers are transfers.

Conversely, the top mid-major leagues suffered a collective down year after being stripped for parts last summer. The Mountain West, Atlantic 10, American, and Missouri Valley all saw significant drops in average AdjEM from 2024 to 2025. The former two had roughly a third of their players from last season transfer, while the latter two had roughly half of their players from last season transfer.

It’s safe to say that yes, this year’s NCAA Tournament field was dramatically imbalanced, and yes, NIL and the transfer portal played a significant role in that disparity. Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston (and Tennessee, and Alabama, and Texas Tech…) are among the strongest teams at their seedline in recent memory, while this year’s crop of mid-majors was simply not very deep. Outside of UCSD, McNeese, and Drake, there weren’t many underdogs with profiles that lent themselves to tournament success.

Is this what every year is going to look like? Does this mean the upset is dead?

To answer the second question first: of course not. This year’s tournament hasn’t been unprecedentedly chalky; it featured the fewest Round of 64 upsets since 2017, but commentators of the Travis/Torres ilk made similar complaints after that year’s tournament, and after 2015’s, and after 2019’s, and so on.

The upset will never be “dead” in a single-elimination tournament that consists of 40-minute games that can be swung by a couple three-pointers in either direction. Take last weekend: as Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney pointed out, the underdogs simply didn’t see their triples fall during the first round.

Despite going ice-cold from deep, Robert Morris, UCSD, and UNCW hung tight with their opponents. If all three of those teams made a few more shots, Torres would have posted a YouTube video entitled “Is this the GREATEST NCAA TOURNAMENT OF THE DECADE?”

Most of the cold-shooting 12-16 seeds that Sweeney references were capable from beyond the arc; nine of them ranked among the nation’s top-100 three-point shooting teams. However, only three of those nine made 30% or more of their triples during the first round. Instead of an existential crisis about the future of college basketball, could this year’s dearth of upsets be more appropriately attributed to unfavorable variance or the NCAA’s much-discussed overinflated Wilson ball?

The common and histrionic rebuttal to this point is that the athleticism gap between the haves and the have-nots has gotten so great that a team like UCSD, which made 36.1% of its triples on the year, shot 13 percentage points below its season average in its tournament game because it was overwhelmed by the size and length of Michigan.

I do not find this explanation particularly convincing. I will concede that Michigan’s three-point defense is better than that of, for example, Cal State Fullerton; however, the assertion that UCSD simply couldn’t get its shots off against the Wolverines isn’t supported by data. ShotQuality, a metric that takes into account the position of defenders, expected UCSD to score 16 more points against UM than it did based on the shots it took.

This holds true for multiple other underdogs, including Robert Morris. Although it is certainly possible that these teams were affected by the increased athleticism of their competition, they were also severely hampered by bad luck.

The point: yes, there were more bloodbaths than usual (Oregon-Liberty, Arizona-Akron, Maryland-Grand Canyon, Iowa State-Lipscomb, etc.). But even in a year where the gap between the haves and have-nots is the greatest it’s ever been, the tournament’s first round, though very chalky and generally unexciting, was a few favorable rolls away from being memorable. Drawing grand existential conclusions based on a weekend of miserable shooting luck is your prerogative, but I think it’s silly.

Now: will every year’s field look like this?

If someone were to propose the thesis that NIL and the transfer portal have permanently increased the talent differential between power conference teams and mid-major teams, I wouldn’t push back very hard. We are living in an era where the big dogs are as empowered as ever and the small fish are struggling to stay afloat. It could very well be the case that most tournament fields of the near future will be significantly less balanced than the fields we used to know.

However, there are many reasons to think that the 2025 tournament is imbalanced to a degree that won’t be replicated again. For one thing, the sheer number of elite teams included in this season’s field is unprecedented. With an AdjEM of +31.07, current KenPom #5 Tennessee would rank as KenPom’s top team of the 2022-2023 season. For another, the upcoming transfer class will be greatly diminished as college basketball’s COVID-year elders become all but extinct. The portal will never again be as bountiful as it was in years past.

There’s also the looming House settlement, which will rework NIL deals, allow schools to share media-rights revenue with athletes, and force schools with football programs to make potentially difficult decisions surrounding the allocation of money. Any currently relevant analysis of the effect NIL and the portal have had on March Madness will have to be reevaluated over the coming years.

Taking all of the above into consideration — there are major challenges facing mid-major basketball programs, but it is senseless to declare the NCAA tournament upset dead based on two days of play.

THIS WEEKEND IN UAB ATHLETICS

• The women’s basketball team (10-6, 1-3) takes on Florida Atlantic (9-7, 1-2) in Boca Raton on Saturday.

• The track team hosts the Blazer Invitational at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Saturday.

• The rifle team comes back from the break at Wofford on Saturday.

• The men’s basketball team (9-7, 2-1) takes on Florida Atlantic (9-7, 2-1) in Boca Raton on Sunday.

FOOTBALL

The Blazers picked up five commitments yesterday: Southern (FCS) DT Jelani Davis, Alabama State (FCS) DB Dasheen Jackson, Rhode Island (FCS) LB Devin Hightower, East Tennessee State (FCS) WR AJ Johnson, and Pittsburgh CB Tamarion Crumpley.

Jelani Davis — DT, Southern

6’1”, 295 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Davis, who took an official visit to Birmingham from Tuesday-Wednesday, announced his commitment in a Twitter post.

In 2021, the St. Louis native began his career at Dodge City CC, the same school that produced recent UAB OL commit Deivi Martinez. Davis subsequently transferred to Deion Sanders’ Jackson State, where he failed to record any statistics. He spent the 2024 season at Southern. Davis accumulated 24 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks over 10 games.

A recent article in Baton Rouge’s The Advocate described Davis as a “pass-rush specialist,” an assertion backed up by his high sack total from the defensive tackle position.

“My season has been solid. I’ve had some ups and downs,” Davis said before a November game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. “I’m a pass rusher. My job is to get there. We have packages where I get in for certain things.”

Dasheen Jackson — DB, Alabama State

6’2”, 210 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Jackson, who took an official visit to Birmingham last Sunday, announced his commitment in a Twitter post.

The Columbus, Georgia native began his career at Hutchinson Community College, where he accumulated 74 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3 pass break ups, 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception over 21 career games. Considered one of the nation’s top JUCO safeties in 2022, Jackson signed with Troy, spurning offers from Appalachian State, East Carolina, FIU, Middle Tennessee State, and others. He only saw the field once for the Trojans and transferred to Alabama State before the 2024 season.

Under ASU defensive coordinator Ryan Lewis, now a UAB assistant, Jackson posted 29 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 1 INT, and 1 PBU during his sole season in Montgomery.

Lewis alluded to Jackson’s commitment on Tuesday night, tweeting: “🐝 🆗 🆒 🐉.”

Devin Hightower — LB, Rhode Island

6’1”, 230 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Hightower, who took an official visit to Birmingham on Tuesday, announced his commitment in a social media post.

The Twinsburg, Ohio native graduated from high school as a high three-star prospect in 2020. He began his career at Michigan State, where he only played special teams. Hightower transferred to Cincinnati in 2021, recording 5 tackles during his first year with the Bearcats. He went on to suffer a preseason injury that kept him on the sidelines for the entirety of the 2022 season.

Hightower dropped down to the FCS level in 2023. He contributed for URI during his redshirt sophomore season, putting up 8 tackles and a PBU over 10 games, but he absolutely broke out in 2024. Hightower racked up 92 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, 4 PBUs, and 1 fumble recovery last fall, earning him an All-CAA honorable mention.

AJ Johnson — WR, East Tennessee State

6'3”, 195 lbs — two years of eligibility remaining

Johnson announced his commitment in a social media post.

Johnson began his high school career as Arch Manning’s top target at New Orleans’ Isidore Newman, excelling to the point where he was named a four-star recruit by Rivals. He racked up a long list of offers that included several SEC and ACC teams and eventually committed to LSU. He later decommitted from LSU, moved to Florida, and ended up at FCS Gardner-Webb in 2022.

Johnson redshirted in 2022 and was not overwhelmingly productive in 2023, but he dominated last season after transferring to ETSU. In the words of 247, who named Johnson one of the top FCS players of 2024:

After spending the last two seasons at Gardner-Webb, AJ Johnson got off to a bit of a slow start in his first season at East Tennessee State with just nine catches for 107 yards and one touchdown over his first five games. But he has hit his stride over the back half of the schedule, catching 31 passes for 555 yards and five touchdowns over his last six outings, including three 100-yard performances. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder has hauled in 40 of 44 catchable targets, and he is averaging 3.04 yards per route run, which ranks sixth among FCS underclassmen with at least 100 targets. He also does not have a single dropped pass.

Tamarion Crumpley — CB, Pittsburgh

6'1”, 195 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Crumpley announced his commitment in a social media post.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native was rated one of the state’s top cornerback prospects when he graduated high school in 2021. He signed with Pitt after graduation, spurning offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, Wake Forest, Washington State, West Virginia, and others.

Crumpley failed to find the field during his first two years with the Panthers but slotted into a niche as a special teams gunner and backup cornerback in 2023. In 2024, Crumpley impressed in summer practices and placed himself “firmly in the mix for the starting cornerback rotation;” however, he ultimately wasn’t able to increase his playing time, finishing the year with 6 tackles and a pick-six that marked the highlight of his Pitt career.

Davis, Jackson, Hightower, Johnson, and Crumpley become the newest members of a UAB transfer class that includes WR Kaleb Brown, WR Evan McCray, TE Antonio Ferguson, DE Jamichael Rogers, QB Peyton Floyd, S Josh Baka, OL Deivi Martinez, RB Jevon Jackson, DB Jaylen Cheek, LB Calvin Pitcher, DB Pierre Royster, and (unofficially) DB Perry Fisher.

More commitments are expected to be announced in the coming days. Confirmed visitors who are yet uncommitted include:

• Stony Brook wide receiver Jayce Freeman and Old Dominion edge rusher Amorie Morrison, both of whom took official visits over the weekend.

• Western Kentucky linebacker Kylan Guidry, Washington State safety Jackson Lataimua, Copiah-Lincoln (JUCO) TE Elijah Lagg, and Iowa Western (JUCO) OL Omarion Davis, all of whom took official visits earlier this week.

• Syracuse DL Michael Nwokocha and Nicholls State (FCS) linebacker Eli Ennis, neither of whom have announced the dates of their visits.

In other UAB football news:

• Steve Irvine interviewed new UAB commit Calvin Pitcher for the Banner.

• Former UAB cornerback Mac McWilliams, who spent the 2024 season at UCF, will play in the Senior Bowl on Saturday, February 1st.

• 247 predicts former UAB tight end Jack Nickel will end up at Miami (FL), where his younger brother Luke is signed.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Wednesday evening: Beat Memphis 73-56 at Bartow

The women’s basketball team (10-6, 1-3) picked up its first conference win of the season yesterday, defeating the visiting Memphis Tigers (3-11, 1-2) by a 17-point margin. Although the game was competitive in its infancy, UAB used a second-quarter spurt to take a lead they would never relinquish. The Blazer backcourt duo of Maddie Walsh and Journey Armstead played perhaps its best game of the season — the guards combined for 40 points on 17-28 shooting — and the Green and Gold scored at a healthy rate of 1.04 points per possession while holding their opponents to just .80 PPP.

After losing its initial second-quarter lead, Memphis never again got within two possessions of the Blazers. UAB’s defense suffocated the Tigers, holding them to just nine points in the second quarter, ten points in the third, and 15 points in the fourth. The blowout only grew more and more pronounced as time went on. By the night’s waning moments, the Blazers had jumped out to a game-high 19-point lead.

Along with her scoring output, Armstead contributed six assists and five rebounds, bringing her season averages to 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. In her first year in Birmingham, the junior college transfer has quickly established herself as a star — Torvik ranks her far and away the best pure point guard in the American.

UAB forward Rayne Tucker posted 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists, while forward Molly Moffitt turned in 11 points and three assists.

Catalyzed in part by defensive improvement, UAB’s Torvik ranking jumped from 175th to 170th after this game. The Blazers gave up plenty of paint points in their previous losses to Temple and Wichita State, but they held Memphis — a team with the conference’s second-best offense by Torvik — to just 24. Although the Blazers still have one of the lowest analytical rankings in the AAC, they’re gaining on their next opponent, #168 FAU.

The FAU game will take place on Saturday and will mark the start of a brutal road trip that will see the Blazers play Torvik #52 USF on the road on Tuesday the 14th.

FOOTBALL

Yesterday, the Blazers picked up commitments from Idaho State (FCS) DB Calvin Pitcher and Saint Francis (FCS) DB Pierre Royster. According to On3, UAB also secured the services of Maryland DB Perry Fisher.

Calvin Pitcher — DB, Idaho State

6’1”, 195 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Pitcher announced his decision in a social media post. The Corona, California native has spent his entire career at FCS Idaho State, contributing from the moment he first stepped onto the field in 2021. Over four years, the two-time team captain racked up over 200 tackles while quarterbacking the Bengals’ defense, earning an All-Big Sky nod in 2023. With 34 career games under his belt, Pitcher is one of the most experienced players the Blazers have brought in.

Pitcher missed most of the 2024 season with an injury and subsequently entered the portal as a grad transfer. He has one year of eligibility remaining. More information about Pitcher’s time at Idaho State can be found here.

Pitcher is the fifth defensive back the Blazers have snagged in the past week, joining Kent State S Josh Baka, Boston College DB Jaylen Cheek, and the two players listed below.

Pierre Royster — DB, Saint Francis

6’2”, 200 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Royster announced his decision in a social media post. The Norfolk, Virginia native began his career at FCS Norfolk State in 2021. He would stay with the Spartans for two seasons, appearing in 17 games, making 36 total tackles, and recording one sack over that time period. Royster then spent two productive years with Saint Francis; he finished his FCS career boasting a statline of 145 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 5 PBUs, and 1 interception. He’s even more experienced than Pitcher, having appeared in 35 career games.

Perry Fisher — DB, Maryland

6’3”, 198 lbs — two years of eligibility remaining

Although Fisher’s commitment hasn’t been publicly announced as of this morning, On3 categorizes him as a UAB hard commit. Fisher, a Tallahassee, Florida native, played quarterback in high school but converted to defensive back when he signed with Maryland in 2022. He redshirted during his freshman year with the Terps but enjoyed a breakout 2023 that culminated in a fantastic performance in the Music City Bowl against Auburn. To the great satisfaction of Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, Fisher racked up three tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, and two PBUs against the Tigers.

“I saw the light go on for Perry,” Locksley told PressBoxOnline when describing Fisher’s practices leading up to the Music City Bowl. “… He’s a very versatile guy, and what I’m hoping to see is maturity, because the time he spent in our program translates to the consistency from him.”

Fisher was one of Maryland’s starting cornerbacks in 2024, seeing 11 games and 501 total snaps; however, according to TerrapinTimes, he struggled in increased playing time. His PFF grade hovered around an unimpressive 57.

Pitcher, Royster, and Fisher (if he truly is committed) become the 10th, 11th, and 12th publicly announced members of UAB’s incoming transfer class, joining WR Kaleb Brown, WR Evan McCray, TE Antonio Ferguson, DE Jamichael Rogers, QB Peyton Floyd, S Josh Baka, OL Deivi Martinez, RB Jevon Jackson, and DB Jaylen Cheek.

Judging by Trent Dilfer’s Twitter feed, UAB has picked up double-digit players over the past three days, but only Baka, Martinez, Jackson, Cheek, Pitcher, Fisher, and Royster have publicly committed.

“All of the names will be coming soon,” Dilfer tweeted yesterday afternoon. “Go Blazers!”

Among the confirmed visitors to UAB:

• Stony Brook wide receiver Jayce Freeman, Alabama State safety Dasheen Jackson, and Old Dominion edge rusher Amorie Morrison, all of whom took official visits over the weekend.

  • Jackson may have already signed — a Ryan Lewis tweet from Tuesday night implies that the Blazers reeled in an Alabama State Hornet. Lewis, a new UAB defensive assistant, spent last season coaching Jackson as ASU’s defensive coordinator.

• Western Kentucky linebacker Kylan Guidry, Rhode Island linebacker Devin Hightower, and Southern (FCS) defensive tackle Jelani Davis, all of whom took official visits earlier this week.

• Washington State safety Jackson Lataimua, who took his official visit yesterday.

• Syracuse DL Michael Nwokocha and Nicholls State (FCS) linebacker Eli Ennis, both of whom will take official visits at unannounced dates.

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

The men’s basketball team pulled out a home win over Tulane last night. Yaxel Lendeborg posted 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists, Tony Toney made five three-pointers, and the Blazers overcame a slow start to improve to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in league play. The Green and Gold also jumped from 124th to 120th in KenPom. Full recap to come.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The women’s basketball team (9-6, 0-3) takes on Memphis (3-10, 1-1) in Bartow Arena at 6:00 PM this evening. Randy Norton’s squad, coming off two frustratingly close losses to UTSA and Wichita State, is trying to post its first conference win of the season. Memphis is one of just two American teams that ranks below the Blazers in Barttorvik.

The game will stream on ESPN+.

FOOTBALL

The Blazers picked up two commitments yesterday: UTEP RB Jevon Jackson and Boston College DB Jaylen Cheek.

Jevon Jackson — RB, UTEP

5’8”, 205 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Jackson announced his decision in a social media post. The Decatur, Alabama native began his college football career at Austin Peay in 2021, rushing for 1,980 yards over three seasons and being named an FCS Football Central Second Team All-American in 2023. He transferred to UTEP last season, earning a team captaincy and leading the Miners in rushing with 754 yards.

“UAB was one of my best options,” Jackson told Steve Irvine in an interview published at The Banner. “You know, with the coaching staff and the culture here that is being built, especially with the NFL experience. I felt like it was the best place for me (and) for my goals, which is to play at the next level.”

Jackson will provide much-needed reinforcement to a UAB running back room losing all of its major contributors and its position coach.

Jaylen Cheek — DB, Boston College

6’2”, 200 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Cheek, a New Jersey native, announced his decision in a social media post. The graduate transfer spent the first four years of his college football career at Boston College. He saw little playing time in 2021 or 2022, but he became a contributor in 2023, starting four games while recording 23 tackles and 3 pass breakups. Cheek primarily appeared on special teams in 2024 but still intercepted 1 pass and made 6 tackles.

Jackson and Cheek become the eighth and ninth publicly announced members of UAB’s incoming transfer class, joining WR Kaleb Brown, WR Evan McCray, TE Antonio Ferguson, DE Jamichael Rogers, QB Peyton Floyd, S Josh Baka, and OL Deivi Martinez. Judging by Trent Dilfer’s Twitter feed, UAB has picked up at least eight players over the past three days, but only the identities of Baka, Martinez, Jackson, and Cheek have been officially revealed.

Among UAB’s confirmed visitors are:

• Stony Brook wide receiver Jayce Freeman, Alabama State safety Dasheen Jackson, and Old Dominion edge rusher Amorie Morrison, all of whom took official visits over the weekend.

  • Jackson may have already signed — a Ryan Lewis tweet from last night implies that the Blazers reeled in an Alabama State Hornet. Lewis, a new UAB defensive assistant, spent the last three seasons as ASU’s defensive coordinator.

• Western Kentucky linebacker Kylan Guidry, Rhode Island linebacker Devin Hightower, and Southern (FCS) defensive tackle Jelani Davis, all of whom took official visits yesterday.

• Washington State safety Jackson Lataimua, who will begin his official visit today.

• Nicholls State (FCS) linebacker Eli Ennis, who will take an official visit at an unannounced date this week.

In other UAB football news:

• UAB quarterbacks coach Nick Coleman was officially introduced as FIU’s new offensive coordinator yesterday.

  • Coleman spent two years as an offensive analyst at South Carolina before coming to UAB in 2022, where he helped lead Jacob Zeno to the most statistically impressive QB season in school history.

  • This development has been known for several weeks.

• Former UAB wide receiver Brandon Buckhaulter committed to Western Kentucky yesterday.

• Former UAB safety Adrian Maddox, formerly committed to Florida, switched his commitment to Georgia yesterday.

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TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

Today’s men’s basketball game marks the 1,500th in program history, a milestone you can read more about here.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

In the aforementioned game, the Blazers (8-7, 1-1) will host the Tulane Green Wave (8-7, 2-0). Read the full preview here.

LAST NIGHT IN AAC BASKETBALL

On the men’s side:

• South Florida demolished Wichita State on the road by a score of 91-72. Phenom point guard Jayden Reid shined, but Cincinnati transfer Jamille Reynolds stole the show, scoring a game-high 22 points. Having beaten East Carolina on New Year’s Eve, the Bulls are now 2-0 in conference play, tying them with Rice, Tulane, and Memphis at the top of the league. Wichita State is 0-2, having lost to USF and Temple.

There will be no AAC action on the women’s side until Wednesday.

FOOTBALL

UAB scored one new public commitment yesterday, picking up Dodge City CC (JUCO) offensive lineman Deivi Martinez.

6’5”, 315 lbs — two years of eligibility remaining

The Grand Rapids, Michigan native announced his decision in a social media post on Monday afternoon. It seems he graduated high school in 2020 before spending time at multiple community colleges, one being Ellsworth CC, the same institution UAB linebacker Michael Moore once attended. Martinez transferred to Dodge City prior to the 2024 season. He spent the year playing right tackle but played guard during his time at Ellsworth.

Martinez is the seventh publicly announced member of UAB’s incoming transfer class, joining Kaleb Brown, Evan McCray, Antonio Ferguson, Jamichael Rogers, Peyton Floyd, and Josh Baka. Judging by Trent Dilfer’s Twitter feed, UAB has picked up at least seven players over the past two days, but only the identities of Baka and Martinez have been officially revealed.

At the very least, the Blazers continue to pursue Stony Brook wide receiver Jayce Freeman, Alabama State safety Dasheen Jackson, and Old Dominion edge rusher Amorie Morrison, all of whom took official visits over the weekend.

In other UAB football news:

• Confirmed upcoming visitors include:

  • Western Kentucky linebacker Kylan Guidry (1/7-1/8)

  • Southern (FCS) defensive tackle Jelani Davis (1/7-1/8)

  • Washington State safety Jackson Lataimua (1/8)

  • Nicholls State (FCS) linebacker Eli Ennis (exact date unknown)

• Alabama State defensive lineman Jakeem Fletcher, a UAB target who took an official visit to Birmingham on Sunday, committed to Western Kentucky yesterday.

• Footballscoop’s Doug Samuels is reporting that longtime UAB running backs coach Hindley Brigham is expected to take the same position under Bryant Vincent at ULM.

  • Brigham, a Birmingham native and Mountain Brook High School alumnus, played running back at Baylor and Furman from 1999-2003. He rushed for 2,034 yards over two seasons at the latter school.

  • Brigham joined Bill Clark’s staff as an analyst in 2016 and was promoted to running backs coach before the following season.

  • Brigham coached Spencer Brown, Jermaine Brown, Jr., and Dewayne McBride, the three most prolific running backs in program history.

  • Brigham will become one of 15 ULM staffers with UAB connections.

• On the subject of McBride: the former Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year was signed by the UFL’s Memphis Showboats yesterday.

  • McBride was drafted by the Vikings during the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft, but he never appeared in a regular season game for Minnesota and was released in August 2024.

• UAB kickoff specialist Noah Grant has followed former UAB special teams coordinator/secondary coach Kenneth Gilstrap to FIU.

  • In his sole season with the Blazers, Grant, a former Memphis/Arkansas State transfer, recorded 33 touchbacks and 69 kickoffs for 4,135 yards, averaging 59.9 yards per kickoff.

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Game Information

UAB (8-7, KenPom #124) vs. Tulane (8-7, KenPom #168)

📅 Tuesday, January 7th, 2025

🕒 6:30 PM CST

🏟️ Birmingham, Alabama — Bartow Arena

📺 ESPN+ — Will Kollmeyer and Mo Finley

📻 WJQX 100.5 FM — David Crane and Steve Mitchell

Tonight marks the 1,500th game in UAB men’s basketball history, a milestone you can read more about here.

Trends and Odds

UAB enters the afternoon at 8-7 (1-1). The Blazers absolutely dominated Tulsa on Saturday to claim their first conference win of the season, holding the Golden Hurricane to a grotesque 0.71 points per possession. Andy Kennedy described the effort as “by far our best defensive performance of the year.”

The UAB coach had high praise for Alejandro Vasquez, who led all scorers with an efficient 27. The senior wing has now scored 15 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2024.

The Blazers have moved up 14 KenPom spots since the beginning of conference play; their #124 ranking places them sixth among American teams, and they’re gaining on #120 Temple.

Tulane enters the afternoon at 8-7 (2-0). In a late-December post that wasn’t published, I wrote:

Barring a miraculous turnaround, the Ron Hunter era is on its last legs in New Orleans. During his six-season tenure, Hunter has traditionally made up for mediocre-to-poor records with respectable KenPom rankings; unfortunately for him, Tulane is currently lacking both wins and analytic clout for the first time since the pandemic. The Green Wave have a thoroughly unimpressive resume, having beaten two non-D1 teams and having lost to a terrible New Orleans squad. They are almost unanimously a bottom-four team in the conference.

Through their first two games of league play, Tulane has smashed Charlotte and UTSA by a combined margin of 44, looking like an entirely new team in the process. Although their non-conference resume remains concerningly bad, it’s impossible to dismiss the Green Wave after the events of the last week — they’ve climbed from 205th in KenPom to 168th.

Neither UAB nor Tulane has beaten a KenPom top 200 team this season. Something has to give.

Barttorvik and KenPom each give the Blazers a 72% probability of beating Tulane and predict a final score of UAB 81, TU 75.

Series History

UAB holds a 26-13 all-time record against Tulane and has dominated the series in recent decades. The Wave has only beaten the Blazers twice since 2005.

The first meeting between UAB and Tulane remains one of the teams’ most compelling. The date was December 15th, 1992, and the Blazers were discontented. Now on the wrong side of Bartow’s halcyon days, it had been years since the program received significant national exposure.

“I haven’t beaten a ranked team since DePaul my freshman year,” UAB guard Stanley Jackson told the Birmingham Post-Herald.

18th-ranked Tulane, coming off its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, offered UAB water in the midst of the Blazers’ relevance drought. The Green Wave played an exciting, up-tempo style of basketball, hockey-style substituting its entire bench unit — a group known as “the Posse” — into the game with the intent to overwhelm the opponent. An ESPN crew descended on Birmingham to watch the Blazers take on coach Perry Clark’s squad.

In front of a raucous UAB Arena crowd of over 6,500, UAB and Tulane battled back and forth. Neither team claimed a significant advantage for the game’s first 30 minutes. It seemed as though the Blazers had seized control when they took a five-point lead with fewer than nine minutes on the clock, but the Green Wave’s pressure defense subsequently forced six consecutive UAB turnovers. Tulane soon roared back into the lead.

Led by guards Stanley Jackson and Carter Long, the Green and Gold responded with a game-ending 17-9 run, turning their opponents’ aggression against them.

“With the way they’re running and jumping on defense, there’s got to be a gap somewhere,” said Long. “They left open some three-pointers and we took advantage.”

Long nailed several long triples, the Blazers made 17 of their 21 second-half free throws, and the home team escaped by a score of 75-69, finally claiming its long-awaited ranked victory.

The two programs would see much more of each other after they became founding members of Conference USA in 1995. For the rest of the decade, UAB and Tulane waged a highly-competitive rivalry — at the turn of the millennium, the series score was 7-6 in favor of the Blazers. The balance of power would subsequently shift in the Green Wave’s favor, as they won 7 of the teams’ first 11 meetings of the 2000s. In 2005, UAB suffered a heartbreaking road overtime loss in which New Orleans native Squeaky Johnson missed two potential buzzer-beaters.

But the Blazers went on to crush Tulane in Birmingham just over a month later, a victory that catalyzed a still-active streak of comical dominance. Since February 26th, 2005, UAB has beaten the Green Wave 15 times in 17 tries; Tulane’s lone victories came against the 15-16 2007 team and the 18-13 2014 team.

Although Ron Hunter’s squad let one get away from them in Bartow last season, they made an concerted effort to score their first home win against UAB since the Squeaky game. However, excellent late-game free throw shooting by the Green and Gold repulsed an attempted Green Wave comeback and locked down a 78-67 Blazer victory.

Tulane Scouting Report

Ron Hunter has made a career out of revitalizing traditionally downtrodden programs. He got his first head coaching job at IUPUI, where he would oversee the team’s 1998 transition from Division II to Division 1. By 2004, Hunter had led the Jaguars to their first and only NCAA Tournament appearance. By 2008, he had snuck IUPUI — IUPUI! — into the KenPom top 70.

In 2011, Hunter headed south for Georgia State, historically one of the least successful D1 programs of all time. Nevertheless, he worked his magic and inspired another team to rise above its station: GSU won six conference titles, appeared in three NCAA Tournaments, scored a legendary March Madness upset over Baylor, and produced a first-round NBA Draft pick during Hunter’s eight-year tenure.

Following a murky 2019 contract dispute, the coach left Atlanta behind for Tulane, yet another success-deprived afterthought. In the 16 seasons leading up to Hunter’s arrival, the Green Wave posted a total of four winning records. Needless to say, they hadn’t sniffed the NCAA Tournament since Perry Clark’s aforementioned tenure.

In the vein of Tulsa’s 2022 hiring of Eric Konkol, which we discussed over the weekend, Tulane’s 2019 hiring of Hunter was considered a coup by many, but both coaches have since seen their shares of highs and lows.

Hunter hasn’t found the same success in New Orleans as he did at IUPUI or Georgia State, as he’s finished above the .500 mark just once. His saving grace has been the respect afforded to him by various algorithms. As I previously wrote: “During his six-season tenure, Hunter has traditionally made up for mediocre-to-poor records with respectable KenPom rankings.” The analytics would have you believe that the 14-15 2022 squad was the best team Tulane has fielded since Clark roamed the sidelines.

With last year’s roster decimated by graduation and the transfer portal, the Green Wave have ridden a cast of new characters to yet another uninspiring record; this time, they don’t have the KenPom rating to back it up. Although Tulane has surged since the start of conference play and will certainly present the Blazers with a challenge, Hunter is likely coaching for his job.

Almost any player you remember from last year’s Green Wave squad is gone. Kevin Cross? Jaylen Forbes? Collin Holloway? Sion James? Kolby King? One way or another, they all departed New Orleans over the summer.

Georgetown transfer Rowan Brumbaugh is Tulane’s new point guard. The former Texas Longhorn was a top-100 recruit coming out of high school in 2022, but he never saw the court in Austin. He spent last season playing a contributing role in the Hoya backcourt, averaging 8.3 points per game on 22.1 minutes per game while displaying flashes of excellence. Now in New Orleans, Brumbaugh has become Ron Hunter’s single most-used player, on the floor almost 80% of the time.

Brumbaugh is a capable distributor, initiating many of Tulane’s actions and sporting a top-90 assist rate in the country. Although not a particularly intimidating three-point shooter, he possesses the range to keep the defense honest — Hunter isn’t afraid to let him take a mid-range jumper — and is a good attacker and finisher, currently making dunks and layups at a 66.7% clip. All of these traits combined with his passable defense makes Brumbaugh a staple of the Green Wave’s rotation.

Returner Asher Woods, who averaged just 6.3 minutes per game last season, has enjoyed a campaign filled with playing time. He typically shares the backcourt with Brumbaugh, playing a complimentary role on offense. Although his assist rate is respectable, Woods is not much of a shot creator and is a below-average shooter at all three levels. Currently hitting three-pointers at a 28% clip and two-pointers at a 46% clip, Woods is the team’s least efficient player by eFG%.

Freshman wing Kam Williams is the only Tulane player to see the court more than Brumbaugh, and for good reason — last month, ESPN rated him among the ten best mid-major freshman in the country. The 6’8” former four-star prospect is obscenely efficient on the offensive end, attempting almost exclusively dunks and triples while making both shot types at an 80th percentile rate. He hasn’t created many of his own shots, but he hasn’t needed to: Tulane’s drive-and-kick offense generates Williams plenty of looks from above the break, most of which are assisted by Brumbaugh.

Williams also sports steal and block percentages north of 3.7% and turns the ball over at just an 8.5% rate. Yesterday, he was named the AAC’s Freshman of the Week after averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds in the Green Wave’s demolitions of Charlotte and UTSA.

Although he saw more consistent playing time earlier in the year, freshman guard Mari Jordan primarily serves as the backup to Woods and Williams. Jordan, a four-star recruit coming out of high school in 2023, spent last season with the Georgia Bulldogs but redshirted to preserve his eligibility, never appearing in a game. Jordan has struggled to find an offensive niche other than low-volume three-point shooter; he also comes in as Tulane’s third-least productive defender by EvanMiya’s BPM.

The Green Wave frontcourt is manned by forward Kaleb Banks and center Gregg Glenn, arguably Tulane’s best players. Banks has been a weapon on offense this season, averaging 18.1 points per game and grading out as the conference's top player by hoop-math’s offensive RAPM. The former Indiana transfer, who was horrid over two years under Mike Woodson, has revitalized himself in New Orleans, making his two-pointers at a 64% rate and nailing triples at a 36% rate — on decent volume! Banks also gets to the line with ease, almost never turns the ball over, and boasts one of the highest block rates in the conference.

Hunter recently described Glenn as a “Kevin Cross 2.0” who “we can run our offense through,” an assertion back up by his sky-high assist rate. The 6’7” junior doesn’t possess the frame of a typical center — Tulane doesn’t field a “typical center” — and is a dangerous passer, although he’s not that adept at creating offense for himself. Glenn is also as productive a per-minute rebounder as Banks and stands as one of the conference’s better defenders.

The lineup of Brumbaugh, Woods, Williams, Banks, and Glenn is what we’ll see a lot of today, as that group has been on the floor for nearly 30% of the Green Wave’s last five games.

Outlook

Ron Hunter has played a version of the same matchup zone defense since he was hired at IUPUI in 1994. Also known as an “amoeba zone,” Hunter’s complex system combines elements of man-to-man and zone defenses, adding a wrinkle to opponents’ game preparation. Andy Kennedy referenced the matchup zone in Saturday’s postgame interview, saying:

But very seldom do you get Saturday games, and Saturday-Tuesday is a quick turn against a team in Tulane that plays later this afternoon at home against UTSA. They play an unorthodox style with that matchup zone for 40 minutes that Ron Hunter's famous for.

On short rest against a team notoriously tough to prepare for, how effectively will UAB be able to score? They averaged 1.10 points per possession against the Green Wave in 2024, but that was against a TU frontline much less capable of rebounding than it is today. One thing is for certain: the Blazers will have to make open looks, something they’ve struggled with all season. Owing to the nature of Hunter’s defense, Tulane allows its opponents to take more three-pointers than any other team in the American.

When the ball is tipped on Tuesday night in Bartow Arena, the UAB men’s basketball team will have officially begun its 1,500th game. Gene Bartow’s upstart Blazers aren’t such upstarts anymore. They celebrated their 500th game in 1994; their 1,000th in 2010. Now older than 55% of Division 1 programs, UAB is used to occasions like these.

Still, 1,500 is a milestone among milestones. It will be the first time the Green and Gold have played a game of such historical significance in Birmingham; it will be the third such game played against Tulane; if all goes according to plan, it will boost the Blazers’ record in cornerstone games to 4-2.

As Andy Kennedy and company prepare for tomorrow night’s showdown, let’s examine some of the steps along the path that led us to this moment, moving along by increments of 250. The games will provide looks into five distinct eras of Blazer history — the early Gene Bartow years, the late Gene Bartow years, the Murry Bartow years, the Mike Davis years, and the Rob Ehsan years.

Game 250 — 70-54 win at Charlotte, 2/17/86

UAB was the Sun Belt’s unquestioned top dog during the first half of the 1980s. The Blazers appeared in five consecutive conference title games, won three consecutive conference championships, and enjoyed deep runs into the NCAA Tournament’s Rounds of 16 and 8. Although the Green and Gold struggled through a frustrating 1985-1986 season marred by incidents of bad fan behavior at Western Kentucky and Old Dominion, the program was still seen as the class of the SBC at the time of the its 250th game. Just weeks earlier, WKU had taken down UAB in a program-defining victory, a game which you can read more about here.

A abysmal Charlotte team (7-17, 1-11) was hoping to revitalize its season by pulling off a similar upset over the visiting Blazers. The invigorated 49ers put on one of their best performances of the year, holding close to their superior opponents until the three-minute mark of the second half; it was then UNCC coach Jeff Mullins decided to go into a 2-3 zone, allowing UAB guard Michael Charles to fire at will.

Charles, pictured above, swished three consecutive baseline jumpers to propel his team to a 70-54 win.

“We didn’t think he could hit three in a row, to be honest,” a disheartened Mullins said after the game.

Charles finished with 12 points. Jerome Mincy put up 17 points and 11 rebounds, James Ponder contributed 14 points, and Steve Mitchell contributed 10.

Game 500 — 78-73 win at DePaul, 2/9/94

In 1991, UAB left the Sun Belt in favor of the Great Midwest Conference, a league comprised of Cincinnati, Memphis, Marquette, DePaul, and Saint Louis. The Blazers were no longer the biggest fish in the pond: as the 1993 season began, Gene Bartow and crew had yet to post a GMWC winning percentage above .500. The Green and Gold made just one NCAA Tournament from 1987 to 1993, setting an ignominious school record.

The ‘93-’94 campaign brought change. UAB coasted to one of the best starts in program history, winning 17 of its first 20 games and eventually sliding into the March Madness field. Further frustrations were on the horizon — Bartow would retire in 1996, one year after he put up the only losing record of his UAB career — but at the time of the Blazers’ 500th game, all of the pressure was on their opponents.

While the Green and Gold were essentially guaranteed an NCAA bid at 17-3, DePaul entered the evening of February 9th, 1994 in desperate need of a victory. The Blue Demons were 2-5 in conference play, prompting head coach Joey Meyer to resort to begging.

“I would like to get a win in this league — will someone give us a win?” Meyer was quoted as saying in the Northwest Herald.

UAB used a massive first-half run to grab a 37-29 halftime lead, which the Blazers didn’t relinquish until DePaul forward Tom Kleinschmidt tied the game with 1:15 left. Robert Shannon immediately responded with a baseline jumper, and Clarence Thrash swatted Kleinschmidt’s last-second layup attempt, denying Meyer’s plea. Shannon scored 22, Carter Long scored 17, and Reginald Allen scored 14.

The victory came in spite of the efforts of Kleinschmidt, who finished the night with a career-high 37 points.

“We had five people try to guard him. I thought Murry was going to get in there and try to guard him after a while,” Bartow joked. “He had a phenomenal game.”

Game 750 — 83-72 loss at Tulane, 2/16/02

Murry Bartow took over for his father in 1996, leading the Blazers to one NCAA Tournament and two 20-win seasons over six years. By the waning days of the 2002 campaign, the younger Bartow’s tenure had all but run its course, with his squad mired at 13-17 — to this day the worst record in program history. The Blazers performed so poorly during a three-game losing streak in February that Bartow sealed off the players’ dressing room with tape.

One of the losses came in the program’s 750th game, when the Green and Gold went on the road to take on equally-struggling Tulane. UAB stars Mo Finley and Will Campbell had both suffered injuries the previous week; the former hurt himself diving after a loose ball and the latter sprained his ankle. Finley managed to perform admirably against the Green Wave, but the big man Campbell was limited — Bartow described him as moving at “60 percent speed.” UAB lost 83-72 after giving up an 18-1 run midway through the game.

Bartow resigned fewer than four weeks later.

Game 1,000 — 58-49 win at Tulane, 1/9/10

The program’s 1,000th game came under much brighter circumstances. Now led by fourth-year head coach Mike Davis, the Blazers were off to their best start since the aforementioned 1993-1994 season, entering the new year with a sparkling 11-2 record. After further padding their already-impressive resume with wins over Arkansas and East Carolina, UAB headed to New Orleans as significant favorites.

Once again facing off against Tulane, the Blazers put on a grotesque offensive display, making 41.2% of their field goals while turning the ball over 18 times. UAB recorded just 9 assists on the night, a statistic that infuriated Davis.

“We’re not sharing the ball at all,” Davis said. “We got guys open and they don’t get the ball. Everybody just wants to take a turn shooting the ball. We’ve just got to clean that up.”

The Green and Gold’s only saving grace was Tulane’s equally eye-watering statline: 36.2% shooting, 17 turnovers, and 3 assists. A scowling Davis walked off the Fogelman Arena court in clear disgust, but UAB improved to 14-2. Howard Crawford and Elijah Millsap were the lone Blazers to score double-digit points.

Although the 2009-2010 campaign would ultimately fall short of expectations — two heartbreaking late-season losses to Memphis and UTEP denied UAB an NCAA Tournament bid — the program’s 1,000th game coincided with perhaps the highest point of the Davis era.

Game 1,250 — 63-50 loss, Richmond, 11/20/17

UAB’s most recent milestone game was played just a year after Rob Ehsan became the sixth coach in program history. The Blazers were coming off a vastly disappointing 2016-2017 campaign that saw the team drop from 89th in KenPom to 196th; Nick Norton’s season-opening ACL tear doomed them from the start.

Although the Green and Gold scored two promising blowouts to begin the 2017 season, the opening game of the Cayman Island Classic brought them back to earth. A bad Richmond team that would only post two other non-conference wins jumped on UAB early and never relinquished their lead. The Blazers clawed within six in the second half, but a late Spider run buried Ehsan’s squad. It was a coming-out party for UR freshman Grant Golden, who racked up 26 points on the afternoon.

Only Zack Bryant and William Lee scored double-digit points for the Blazers, who shot 17.3% from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 16 times.

“Offensively, we just really struggled tonight… I thought [holding Richmond to] 63 points, we should have had a different result," Ehsan said. "If you would have told me they would have scored 63, I thought we'd be in good shape."

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TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

1990: UAB storms back against conference favorite Old Dominion

The 1989-1990 UAB men’s basketball team is notable for a number of reasons. It was one of Gene Bartow’s last great squads; it took down Auburn, Oregon, and Penn State; most notably, it brought home the program’s second and final Sun Belt regular season title. The team’s 12-2 conference record far outstripped all of its peers and secured the Green and Gold an NCAA Tournament bid.

However, the Blazers weren’t the presumptive league favorites at the beginning of the season — that honor belonged to the Old Dominion Monarchs. ODU boasted NBA prospect Chris Gatling, a 6’9” junior center who had scored 36 in a game against UAB the year prior. By early 1990, the soon-to-be-named Sun Belt Player of the Year was averaging 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, and over 1 block per game.

To insert themselves into conference contender discussions, the Blazers had to take down the top dogs, an opportunity they were afforded in January. Riding a five-game winning streak, Bartow led his troops into Norfolk with the hope that hulking senior big man Alan Ogg would slow down Gatling.

That strategy did not pan out. UAB opened the night with an abhorrent display of shooting, starting out 4 of 18 from the floor and going a whopping 9.5 minutes without a field goal. ODU’s indomitable star, whose final statline would read 27 points and 14 rebounds, was undeterred by Ogg. Gatling’s performance propelled the Monarchs to a massive first half lead — by the 3:40 mark, the home team had built a 32-15 advantage.

But everything changed in the blink of an eye. UAB guard Barry Bearden nailed a three-pointer, then another, then another; his backcourt partner George Wilkerson began to snatch steal after steal. ODU’s stable of capable scorers had unraveled. In fewer than three minutes, the Blazers had roared back into the game, turning a 32-15 deficit into a 32-30 deficit.

The matchup remained hotly-contested deep into the second half, when a three-pointer from the Monarchs’ Darrin McDonald tied the score at 60. UAB’s Jack Kramer responded by setting up his teammate Larry Rembert for a wide-open layup — ODU coach Tom Young would later express immense frustration at the ease with which UAB scored this bucket — and it was up to Gatling to keep his team in the game.

With 24 seconds remaining, the forward was fouled in the paint but missed the back end of a one-and-one. Kramer was subsequently hacked; unlike his counterpart, he sunk both free throws. Defended by Andy Kennedy, ODU’s Keith Johnson couldn’t hit a last-second triple, and the Blazers took home a statement 64-61 victory.

As previously mentioned, UAB would go on to win the Sun Belt with a record of 12-2, losing only to Jacksonville and Charlotte. They’d beat Old Dominion again in February, although the now-.500 Monarchs were no longer among the conference’s elite. In Bartow’s first and only reunion with his former employer, the Blazers lost their opening-round NCAA Tournament game to UCLA.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Saturday afternoon: Beat Tulsa 83-51 at Bartow

The men’s basketball team (8-7, 1-1) dominated Tulsa over the weekend to improve to 123rd in KenPom — check out the game recap. They return to Bartow on Tuesday to take on the KenPom #169 Tulane Green Wave (8-7, 2-0).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Saturday afternoon: Lost to Wichita State 82-70 at Bartow

The women’s basketball team (9-6, 0-3) continued its frustrating start to conference play on Saturday, letting a winnable game against Wichita State slip through its hands down the stretch. The Blazers jumped on the Shockers in the first quarter, leading by as much as 12, but the visitors ever-so-slowly clawed back.

Randy Norton’s squad would allow the Shockers to score 46 of their 82 points after the break, with WSU guard Salese Blow putting up 19 alone. Wichita cut its deficit to 4 by halftime and catapulted ahead at the halfway mark of third quarter; the Blazers would never again get within 3 points of their opponents.

Only three Blazers scored more than 6 points: guard Maddie Walsh, who made 3 of her 11 three-point attempts, guard Journey Armstead, who made up for a rough night from the field with a stellar performance at the charity stripe, and forward Sara Bershers, who went 5-14 from beyond the arc. Forward Molly Moffitt finished with a career-high 13 rebounds, while forward Rayne Tucker poured in 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

UAB is now 9-6 overall but 0-3 in conference play, having been blown out by Temple at home and having dropped a close one to UTSA on the road. The Blazers are tied for last in the American with East Carolina and Charlotte.

UAB’s analytical ranking has slowly decreased since the end of December — by Barttorvik’s metrics, they entered league play as the nation’s 158th-best team and now stand as the nation’s 172nd-best team. The Blazers sport one of the conference’s best offenses, but they continue to be hampered by their defense, particularly on the interior.

The Green and Gold now look ahead to perhaps the most winnable game on their schedule: a home clash with Memphis on Wednesday. The Tigers, plagued by an even more extreme gap between offense and defense, are one of just two AAC teams ranked lower in Torvik than the Blazers.

FOOTBALL

It was a busy recruiting weekend for the Blazers, who doled out offers to a host of mid-year transfers last week. UAB welcomed a significant number of these prospects to campus over the past several days, and their visits will continue en masse until Sunday the 12th.

Although no complete list of confirmed visitors exists, several announced their intentions to be in Birmingham over the weekend, including:

• Alabama State defensive lineman Jakeem Fletcher

• Stony Brook wide receiver Jayce Freeman

• Alabama State safety Dasheen Jackson

• Old Dominion edge rusher Amorie Morrison

According to Trent Dilfer’s Twitter feed, the Blazers have secured at least five commitments in the last several days; at the time of writing, the only one that’s been made public is safety Josh Baka.

6’1”, 195 lbs — two years of eligibility remaining

Baka, a former Kent State Golden Flash, announced his decision to transfer to UAB in a Sunday afternoon social media post. The Ontario, Canada native, who graduated from Connecticut’s St. Thomas More School in 2022, has two years of eligibility remaining.

The safety spent three years at Kent, playing under now-UAB safeties coach C.J. Cox in 2022 and 2023. His breakout season came in 2024, when he racked up a team-leading 90 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 5 pass breakups, and 1 fumble recovery. For this effort, he was named to College Football Network's Third-Team All-MAC.

Baka signed with Arkansas State earlier in the offseason but recently reopened his recruitment.

Baka is the sixth publicly announced member of UAB’s incoming transfer class, joining Kaleb Brown, Evan McCray, Antonio Ferguson, Jamichael Rogers, and Peyton Floyd. Along with Rogers, he’s one of just two defenders on that list.

In other UAB football news:

• Confirmed upcoming visits include:

  • Western Kentucky linebacker Kylan Guidry (1/7-1/8)

  • Washington State safety Jackson Lataimua (1/8)

  • Nicholls State linebacker Eli Ennis (exact date unknown)

• Former West Alabama tackle and UAB target Allen Jones, who at one point seemingly attempted to recruit Jayce Freeman to Birmingham, committed to Akron after taking an official visit there on Sunday.

• Brief Blazer Var’Keyes Gumms committed to UNLV on Saturday.

• Former UAB safety Adrian Maddox committed to Florida last night.

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The UAB men’s basketball team smothered Tulsa on Saturday afternoon, turning in its best all-around effort of the season en route to a dominant 83-51 victory. Ja’Borri McGhee scored 8 points in the game’s first 5 minutes, Christian Coleman racked up 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Alejandro Vasquez paced all scorers with a season-high 27 points, connecting on 4 of his 9 three-point attempts. UAB improved to 8-7 (1-1) and moved from 134th in KenPom to 123rd.

Eric Konkol and crew couldn’t buy a bucket. After sticking with the Blazers until the U16 media timeout, the Golden Hurricane went stone-cold from the field; UAB used separate 14-2 and 13-0 runs to blow the game open by the 10-minute mark. Tulsa didn’t make a field goal for the final 6 minutes of the opening period, only scoring when a last-second Bradley Ezewiro foul gifted TU’s Dwon Odom three free throws. The halftime score was 44-22 in favor of the Blazers.

Whatever Konkol told his squad in the locker room didn’t work. UAB opened the second half with another 14-2 spurt, as the combined efforts of the three-headed monster of Vasquez, Coleman, and McGhee ballooned the Blazers’ lead to over 30 points by the U16 media timeout.

Although Tulsa tried everything to claw back in the game, giving reserves Jesaiah McWright and Jaye Nash significant minutes in the faint hope of finding a spark, the Green and Gold did not budge, marking a welcome departure from Tuesday’s loss to North Texas. Makhi Myles, Will Shaver, Marquis Hargrove, and Ryan Donohoo comfortably entered the game with 2 minutes remaining.

Yaxel Lendeborg failed to score double-digit points for only the third time this season, while Butta Johnson, Tony Toney, and Tyren Moore had quiet statistical days.

Alejandro Vasquez Breaks Out

It’s been a bit of a frustrating season for Alejandro Vasquez, whom multiple prognosticators selected to their preseason all-conference teams last offseason. Although AJ has been among the Blazers’ most productive players by Evan Miyakawa’s BPR, he simply hasn’t seen his three-pointer fall — a rough late-November to mid-December stretch saw him miss 19 of 24 triples.

That wasn’t the case on Saturday. Vasquez turned in a performance reminiscent of his dominant AAC title game against Temple, making 4 of 9 threes, getting to the rim at will, and almost single-handedly carrying UAB’s scoring burden during some stretches. The senior wing has now scored 15 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2024.

Andy Kennedy was thrilled by Vasquez’s display of form, saying:

I thought we were really engaged defensively in the first half, and then AJ got going. Man, is it good to see him make some shots? Because I think it just relieves some pressure. I thought Ja'Borri did a good job of setting the tone of us driving the basketball early. And then AJ settled in. I think he had 14 in the first half, 13 in the second half for 27…

It's just now about consistency. The mind is a powerful thing. He played good against North Texas. He played good tonight. Hopefully, that's the catalyst that he needs to exhale and really, really give us some leadership from that wing position on the perimeter.

Vasquez himself was equally satisfied with his performance:

It felt great, man. Seeing that thing go in felt good… It just fires me up. I just want to shoot more and more as I see it go in… I feel like I was in a slump. I kind of got out of my slump. Took me a little while, but I definitely feel confident now that I'm playing [well].

Defensive Excellence

Entering Saturday afternoon, UAB sat at nearly 300th in KenPom’s defensive rankings, a number that would be far and away the worst in program history if it held. Perhaps the most egregious example of the Blazers’ porousness came on Tuesday in Denton: the Green and Gold allowed UNT to post an offensive rating of 168.7 in the second half, blowing what was once an 18-point lead.

Although Tulsa is by no means an offensive juggernaut, it was encouraging to see the Blazers hold the visitors to a measly 0.71 points per possession and move up nearly 40 spots in KenPom’s defensive rankings. Most notably, UAB harassed Tulsa’s Keaston Willis for 40 minutes, barely allowing the Golden Hurricane sniper to get a shot off. Averaging 13.1 points and 7.1 3PA per game, Willis finished the afternoon with 4 points on 0-3 three-point shooting.

Kennedy was deeply pleased with his team’s defensive performance, saying:

Keaston Willis is a really good player. I think if we all had to pick somebody from our league that you would want to represent you in a game of HORSE, he might be my number one pick. I think he is a dead-eye shooter. So we just tried to make sure that we didn't let him get comfortable with his touches, and our guys did a great job. I thought we lost him one time, and he just didn't have any rhythm, and he missed it. So we were fortunate that it wasn't his night, and I thought our guys did a really good job…

[This was] by far our best defensive performance of the year. Now that ceiling was pretty low, obviously, but [it was] by far our best 40 minutes.

Kennedy specifically praised Tony Toney when discussing the team’s overall defensive effort — the guard racked up 7 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal, and a breakaway dunk.

“I thought Tony was tremendous defensively,” he said. “[He] made some real plays in the open floor.”

The Blazers also:

• Held Tyshawn Archie, Tulsa’s lead guard, to 0 points on 9 shots.

• Held guard Dwon Odom, by far Tulsa’s most efficient offensive player, to 9 points and 5 turnovers.

• Held guard Jaye Nash, last week’s AAC Freshman of the Week, to 5 points on 1-9 shooting.

• Held forward Justin Amadi, Tulsa’s most efficient foul-drawer, to 0 free-throw attempts.

• Held Tulsa’s reserves to 6-23 combined shooting.

Almost nothing the Golden Hurricane tried on offense was effective. The below chart from hoop-explorer breaks down TU’s play type efficiency, with green corresponding to success and red corresponding to failure.

Odom and Archie, who typically score 0.86 points per play on rim attacks, were held to just 0.39 points per play on rim attacks; although both guards are more than capable of getting downhill, neither found any success on the interior, a testament to the Blazer defense. Nash was also an offensive non-factor, missing all 7 of his two-point attempts. The Golden Hurricane were forced to get out of their comfort zone and lean on their frontcourt. Freshman center Ian Smikle put up 17 points on 80% shooting, but the remainder of Tulsa’s big men — whose limitations I mentioned in the preview — scored a total of 6 points.

Greg Gordon’s Departure

Early yesterday afternoon, Steve Irvine reported that UAB wing Greg Gordon, who hadn’t seen the court since December 5th, has left the team for personal reasons. Gordon was spotted watching a basketball game at Iona College — his former school — on Friday night. Although Gordon was a highly-touted offseason transfer acquisition, he never gelled into UAB’s rotation, averaging just 13 minutes and 3.1 points per game in 7 appearances. He missed UAB’s Virgin Islands trip with visa issues; his December absences were chalked up to the flu.

“Ultimately, he made a decision that he wanted to leave the team for an extended period of time,” Kennedy said. “We wish him nothing but the best.”

Following James White’s December 2023 departure, this is the second consecutive year in which a UAB player has left the team in the middle of the season.

What’s Next?

The Blazers return to Bartow on Tuesday, January 7th, to take on the Tulane Green Wave. As Kennedy said:

Very seldom in this league do you play Saturday games. And I don't know if we've ever played a Saturday-Tuesday turn...

But very seldom do you get Saturday games, and Saturday-Tuesday is a quick turn against a team in Tulane that plays later this afternoon at home against UTSA. They play an unorthodox style with that matchup zone for 40 minutes that Ron Hunter's famous for. So we'll take this. We'll get back to work tomorrow.

Tulane ended up beating UTSA by nearly 30 points; it marked their second consecutive dominant conference win, as they beat Charlotte by 15 on the road last week. Ron Hunter’s squad struggled mightily during non-conference play, at one point losing five games in a row and dropping to 232nd in KenPom, but the Green Wave are undefeated since December 14th and are 2-0 in the league.

Tulane is now 169th in KenPom. They will present a challenging puzzle for the Blazers to solve on short rest.

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UAB (7-7, KenPom #134) vs. Tulsa (6-8, KenPom #264)

📅: Saturday, January 4th, 2025

🕒: 1:00 PM CST

🏟️: Birmingham, Alabama — Bartow Arena

📺: ESPN+

📻: WJQX 100.5 FM

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Trends and Odds

UAB enters the afternoon at 7-7 (0-1) overall, having suffered one of its most improbable losses of the Kennedy era on Tuesday. The Blazers allowed a North Texas team that plays at the seventh-slowest pace in the country to erase an 18-point deficit in fewer than 14 minutes. UNT’s Atin Wright missed what would’ve been a game-winning runner against the Blazers when he was at Drake last season; this time, he drained an improbable buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the Green and Gold home empty-handed.

The Blazers have now blown four leads of 18 or more points over the last calendar year: Tuesday at North Texas, December 15th vs. Arkansas State, March 3rd at Memphis, and January 23rd at Charlotte. UAB’s current run of bad fortune stands alone among D1 basketball teams.

Only 11 men’s teams have blown multiple leads of 18+ points since January 1st, 2024, and none have done it more times than the Blazers.

Despite losing to UNT, the Blazers have moved up six KenPom spots from the beginning of the week; however, their #134 ranking still places them sixth among American teams.

Tulsa enters the afternoon at 6-8 overall, with all of their wins having come against either non-D1 teams or teams sub-300 in KenPom. Eric Konkol’s squad dropped its conference opener to Rice on Wednesday and has lost eight of its last 11. The Golden Hurricane rank 264th in KenPom, good for the worst mark in the AAC by a long shot.

UAB is 6-1 against teams 200th or worse in KenPom; in fact, all of the Blazers’ D1 wins have come against such opponents. Tulsa, on the other hand, is 0-3 against teams in the KenPom top 150. They’ve suffered blowout losses to Oklahoma State, Loyola Chicago, and UCF.

FanDuel gives the Blazers a 90.48% implied probability of beating Tulsa and has set the spread at UAB -12.5, while KenPom gives the Blazers an 84% probability of beating Tulsa and predicts a final score of UAB 85, TU 74.

Series History

UAB holds a 10-7 all-time record against Tulsa, although the Blazers have dominated the series since 2012. Tulsa has never won in Birmingham.

UAB first met Tulsa in 1990 in the first round of the All-College Basketball Classic, an annual holiday tournament hosted in Oklahoma City. At the time, the Golden Hurricane were led by J.D. Barnett, with whom the Blazers were intimately familiar from his six-year stint at VCU. Barnett was legendary for his intensity, throwing up before games and punching holes in blackboards at halftime; he would prove as fiery as ever on this day. A technical foul received by the wildly gesticulating Tulsa coach propelled UAB to a 10-point second half lead.

To Gene Bartow’s fury, the Green and Gold proceeded to waste the game away, missing 11 crucial free throws attempts down the stretch. UAB finished the night just 26 of 41 from the charity stripe. Despite a 27-point effort from Andy Kennedy, the Blazers suffered a 92-86 loss.

“This team has got some incredible, incredible problems trying to win games at the end,” said Bartow. “Missing free throws in key spots, turning the ball over… This team is going to be tough to deal with.”

UAB and Tulsa would meet a few more times throughout the decade, with the Golden Hurricane taking three of five games from the Blazers. The juggernaut Bill Self-coached 1999 TU squad handed UAB an 88-73 loss.

The parity would continue when the programs became conference rivals in 2006. The Blazers won the teams’ first three Conference USA matchups; the Golden Hurricane took the next three. All of Tulsa’s wins during this stretch were soul-crushers, as TU eliminated UAB from the 2008 and 2009 C-USA tournaments and won the teams’ January 2009 meeting on a buzzer-beater.

The tide finally began to turn in 2010, when a 16-3 Tulsa team crowned by some as the successor to Calipari’s Memphis visited Birmingham. In front of a rowdy Bartow Arena crowd, the 25th-ranked Blazers took home a thriller over the Golden Hurricane, holding TU star Justin Hurtt to just two points.

Tulsa beat UAB a year later, but that game marks their most recent victory over the Blazers — since 2012, the Green and Gold are 4-0 against TU. Bizarrely, each of the teams’ three most recent meetings has been decided by a final score of 70-63.

PJ Haggerty and company gave UAB a scare last season, staying within striking distance as late as the U4 media timeout, but sloppy Golden Hurricane offense and superb Blazer free throw shooting down the stretch secured Andy Kennedy’s squad the victory.

Tulsa Scouting Report

Three years ago, Eric Konkol left behind the Louisiana Tech winning machine and headed west, returning to the program at which he began his coaching career in 2000. The rationale for the move is still not entirely clear — over seven seasons in Ruston, Konkol led his team to five top-three conference finishes while never posting a losing record — but his hiring was widely seen as a coup for Tulsa, a once-proud program that had fallen dormant under then-head coach Frank Haith.

Things didn’t quite go as planned in Konkol’s inaugural 2022-2023 campaign. The Golden Hurricane were an absolute disaster, finishing the year with an abysmal record of 5-25 and winning just a single American game. It was undoubtedly Tulsa’s worst team of the KenPom era (1996-present) and perhaps the worst team in program history.

During the following season, Tulsa jumped from 316th in KenPom to 184th thanks to an influx of new players. Former Louisiana Tech Bulldog Cobe Williams, former Charlotte 49er Jared Garcia, former Michigan Wolverine Isaiah Barnes, JUCO transfer Carlous Williams, freshman Tyshawn Archie, and freshman Matt Reed all contributed to the Golden Hurricane’s renaissance, but TCU import PJ Haggerty took the cake. He was unanimously named the AAC’s Freshman of the Year after averaging 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.

Many of those players are gone — Haggerty and both Williamses moved on over the offseason. Nevertheless, many prognosticators thought Eric Konkol’s 2024-2025 squad had the potential to build on the promise of last year and finally finish in the upper half of the AAC.

That breakthrough is nowhere to be found. Tulsa’s campaign has been nothing short of disastrous: after a 3-0 start, they’ve won two of their last seven games. The Golden Hurricane has dropped 103 spots in KenPom since the season began, the fifth-most of any Division 1 team. Despite facing one of the nation’s weakest non-conference schedules — one that rivals even UAB’s in softness — Tulsa has strung together just four D1 wins, losing to a SWAC team and a moribund Georgia State in the process.

The Golden Hurricane’s backcourt is primarily manned by guards Tyshawn Archie and Dwon Odom. The returner Archie, a 2024 AAC All-Freshman Team selection, honed his craft while playing backup to Cobe Williams last season. The newcomer Odom spent the 2023-2024 campaign at Georgia State.

Archie is a quick, twitchy distributor who is also capable of applying disruptive ball pressure and pushing the pace in transition, but according to hoop-math, he’s been among the least efficient scoring ballhandlers in the AAC this season. Archie attempts nearly as many field goals per game as Haggerty did last year, with 75% of his shots coming either at the rim or from beyond the three-point line, but he makes a middling 59.4% of his dunks/layups and hits triples at an underwhelming 27.8% clip.

A consensus top-60 recruit in 2020, Odom was a member of a highly-touted class of Atlanta-area high school guards that included Eric Gaines; like Gaines, Odom originally signed with a high-major program, spending the opening stanza of his career at Xavier. He transferred back home to Georgia State in 2022, where he averaged 12.4 points and 4.3 assists per game over two years. After graduating from GSU, Odom decided to use his final season of eligibility at Tulsa.

Despite being coached by three different staffs, the veteran Odom has remained much the same player over the course of his career. He’s an excellent distributor: this year, his assist rate is over 30, a mark which places him among the top 70 players in the country. He’s a capable downhill scorer: this year, nearly 35% of his total shot diet has consisted of layups and dunks, of which he’s made an impressive 72.7%. He’s a productive on-ball defender: this year, he sports a respectable steal rate of 2.0%.

Odom’s fatal flaw is his complete inability to shoot three-pointers — he’s harmless as a catch-and-shoot threat. If you’re beginning to notice a pattern, you’re right to do so. Although Tulsa is one of 50 most three-point oriented teams in the country, they field almost no consistent long-range shooters.

The exception to this rule is wing Keaston Willis, who many of you might remember from his time at Louisiana Tech. Willis transferred to Tulsa in 2023 but missed almost the entirely of last season with a foot injury; now healthy, he’s back to being essentially the same player he was at Tech. Willis is a volume three-point shooter currently making 36.8% of his triples, right in line with his career mark of 37.6%. Konkol utilizes him as the team’s primary catch-and-shoot threat and little else: Willis attempts fewer than two two-pointers per game.

Forwards Braeden Carrington and Justin Amadi man the frontcourt alongside centers Ian Smikle and Matt Reed — capable interior defender Jared Garcia is out for the year and productive forward Isaiah Barnes has been out for several weeks with a hand injury.

Carrington, a Minnesota transfer, is a good, disruptive defender who boasts the team’s highest steal rate — his problem? You guessed it: he’s 19-75 from beyond the arc, good for a rate of 25.3%. The single worst volume shooter in the AAC per hoop-math, Carrington also isn’t an interior scoring threat, having attempted just 19 two-pointers this year (even fewer than Willis!).

Amadi, a James Madison transfer, is another good defender and a solid rebounder; however, he’s perhaps the least versatile scorer on the team. Amadi is completely confined to the rim and the paint on offense, where he’s been a below-average finisher. He’s also saddled with the lowest assist rate of any Golden Hurricane player. Amadi’s penchant for drawing fouls has kept him relevant in the rotation, but the injuries to Garcia and Barnes have really restricted Tulsa’s options.

Smikle is Konkol’s go-to option at center; 2024 AAC All-Freshman Team selection Reed serves as his backup. Both men are 6’10” and roughly 235 pounds. Smikle is an excellent rebounder who only attempts shots at the rim, while Reed is another good rebounder capable of knocking down a three-pointer. Smikle is the better defender, and Reed is the better scorer, although neither is a particularly dynamic offensive threat.

The combined offensive limitations of Carrington, Amadi, Smikle, and Reed force almost all of the Golden Hurricane’s offense to route through the backcourt.

To round out Tulsa’s rotation:

• G Jaye Nash and G Jesaiah McWright

  • Nash was recently named the American Freshman of the Week for his 10-assist performance against Southwestern Christian, while McWright made 4/5 three-pointers in the same game. Backups to Archie, Odom, and Willis, it would be surprising if either man sees more than 10 minutes today.

The lineup we’re going to see most often is Archie, Odom, Willis, Carrington, and Smikle — Konkol has put that group on the floor for over 25% of possible minutes during the last five games.

Outlook

If UAB falls today, it would mark almost indisputably the worst loss of the Kennedy era. UAB hasn’t been defeated by a team ranked 264th or lower in KenPom since January 23rd, 2020, when 5-14 Southern Miss beat the Blazers in Bartow Arena.

On paper, the Green and Gold should take this one. Although the downhill attacking tandem of Odom and Archie could give the Blazers trouble, and Willis has tended to shoot well in his five career games against UAB, it’s hard to see the path through which the Golden Hurricane could stop UAB from scoring.

The Green and Gold will enjoy a pronounced frontcourt advantage and likely a pronounced shot volume advantage: Tulsa gives up offensive rebounds at a bottom-100 rate in the country, while UAB grabs them at the 11th-highest rate in the country. Tulsa also rarely forces turnovers, while UAB rarely commits them. Even if the Blazers suffer a cold shooting night, they’ll have ample offensive opportunities. Sans a three-point explosion, the Golden Hurricane will struggle to keep pace with their hosts.

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