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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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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AROUND THE SITE

Check out Sunday’s article about the Mars Bars game, one of the most bizarre incidents in UAB basketball history.

TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

1995: Blazers beat Alabama State but lose Carlos Williams

The men’s basketball team sports a flawless 69-0 record against the SWAC, but not all of those wins have come without strife. Take UAB’s January 3rd, 1995 pyrrhic victory at Alabama State, a game so damaging to the Blazers’ season that it might as well have been a loss.

A young UAB squad limped into ASU’s newly-constructed Joe Reed Acadome with a record of 7-6, having dropped non-conference games to College of Charleston, South Alabama, and — worst of all — American University-Puerto Rico. Entering the evening, Bartow was critical of his team’s recent performance, telling the Birmingham Post-Herald that the Blazers hadn’t played a good game in almost a month. They wouldn’t play a good game on this day, either.

Winless Alabama State put a pounding on the Green and Gold out of the gate. The Hornets ripped off an 11-0 run to take a 20-9 lead, but that wasn’t the worst of it. With 11:25 left in the first half, UAB forward Carlos Williams went up for a dunk and landed awkwardly on his left knee. As Cary Estes of the Post-Herald wrote: “After several minutes, Williams was helped to his feet, but he was unable to walk off the court even with assistance. He finally was placed in a wheelchair and taken directly to the locker room, then was sent to Birmingham before the second half began.”

The injury would later be diagnosed as a season-ending ACL tear.

Williams’ injury made national news, as he was one of the most statistically prolific players in the country; when he went down, Williams was averaging 17 points, 7 boards, 1.4 steals, and 1 block per game. The sophomore forward led the Blazers in both scoring and rebounding.

UAB cut its deficit to 2 by halftime and went on a late 12-3 run to wrest back control of the game. The Blazers proceeded to stagnate on offense, allowing ASU to take a three-point lead with fewer than 3 seconds left on the clock. Only a buzzer-beating banked three-pointer from guard Chad Jones saved UAB from humiliation.

More heroics were required in the first overtime, when three missed Blazer free throws handed the Hornets another last-second lead. This time, it was guard Leonard Bush who muscled in a driving layup to sent the Blazers into a second overtime, a period that would be marred by even more UAB miscues. The Green and Gold were penalized for calling a timeout they didn’t have and committed a five-second turnover, which occurs when a closely-guarded offensive player with the ball doesn't pass, shoot, or dribble for five seconds.

The latter violation gave ASU possession with 20 seconds left on the clock. Facing a one-point deficit, the Hornets’ Jimmy Lunsford went to the charity stripe with 2.1 seconds remaining — but only made one free throw. The game went into a third extra period, when three-pointers from Bush and forward De’Shanti Foreman would finally give UAB a 102-95 victory.

“That was one of the funniest, craziest games I’ve ever been in,” said Bush, who paced the Blazers with 25 points. “If we’d lost this game, it would have been really bad. But we got out with the ‘W.’”

However, the damage was done. Sans Williams, UAB would go on to lose 7 of its next 10 games, eventually finishing with its only losing record of the Gene Bartow era. Bartow would go on to retire at the conclusion of the following season.

Today also marks the 13-year anniversary of the death of Bartow.

FOOTBALL

The Blazers have been doling out offers to a host of mid-year transfers over the past several days. Starting today, UAB will welcome a significant number of these prospects to campus; their visits will continue en masse for the next week and a half.

Among this weekend’s few publicly confirmed visitors are Old Dominion edge rusher Amorie Morrison, who has 6 sacks and 81 tackles in his career, and Stony Brook wide receiver Jayce Freeman, who racked up 506 receiving yards in just 7 games this season.

In other UAB football news:

• Blazer Victory Podcast: UAB Football Recruiting Update (1/2/25)

• UAB officially named Brent Vieselmeyer its new linebackers coach yesterday.

  • Vieselmeyer replaces Kenwick Thompson, who was released at the end of the season.

  • Vieselmeyer joins Steve Russ, Ryan Lewis, Kevin Garver, and Sam Mills III on the Blazers’ new-look coaching staff.

  • Vieselmeyer has over a decade of experience at the high school level, having coached Christian McCaffrey at Valor Christian High School. He was also a Raiders assistant from 2015-2017 and a Commanders assistant from 2020-2022.

    • Vieselmeyer’s only college coaching experience came in 2013-2014, when he was the co-DC for FCS Houston Baptist, and in 2018, when he was an offensive analyst for Kansas.

  • “Brent has been a highly successful coach at all three levels of football and has developed elite talent during his time in the NFL,” Dilfer said in a release. “He is a great fit for what we are building on the defensive side of the ball and will maximize his players' potential on and off the field.”

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AROUND THE SITE

Check out Sunday’s article about the Mars Bars game, one of the most bizarre incidents in UAB basketball history.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Wednesday afternoon: Lost to UTSA 67-56 in San Antonio

The women’s basketball team suffered its second consecutive loss yesterday evening, falling on the road to AAC-leading UTSA. Although the Roadrunners’ final margin of victory was in the double-digits, the game was much closer than the score would indicate: UAB rallied from an early 13-point deficit, taking a fourth-quarter lead courtesy of a Molly Moffitt three-pointer. However, Randy Norton’s squad proceeded to score just two points during the stretch run, turning the ball over five times in the game’s final six minutes. The Blazers’ sudden stagnation cost them a shot at the upset.

Forward Rayne Tucker was magnificent, ripping down 6 rebounds and making 8 of her 11 field goal attempts; unfortunately, she was the Blazers’ only reliable source of offense for long stretches of the game. UAB players other than Tucker made 3 of their 12 three-point attempts and just 17 of their 48 two-point attempts, good for a 35.4% clip. The contest was kept close by similarly underwhelming Roadrunner shooting. This marks a reversal of the problem the Blazers faced during their Sunday loss to Temple, in which they scored at a respectable pace but couldn’t play defense.

Norton’s group drops to 9-5 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.

Despite their late-game struggles, UTSA coach Karen Aston complimented the Blazers in her postgame press conference, calling them the best offensive team the Roadrunners have faced since they played Stanford in December. According to Barttorvik, Stanford has the 11th-best offense in the country.

“I didn’t think this would be an easy game,” she said. “I think UAB is really good. They shoot the ball really well. They’re a tough guard, especially since we haven’t played a team like them since we played Stanford.”

Barttorvik ranks the Blazers the 167th-best team in the country and the third-worst team in the American, marking no change from earlier this week. The analytics repository still sees a massive imbalance between UAB’s offense, which it thinks highly of, and defense, which it thinks lowly of, despite the fact that those roles were somewhat reversed yesterday.

The women’s team now looks ahead to an easier week. They host Wichita State on Saturday and Memphis on Wednesday, both good teams but both below the caliber of Temple and UTSA.

FOOTBALL

Football recruiting news has been near-nonexistent over the last three days because of the NCAA dead period, which prohibits in-person recruiting contact and campus visits. Thankfully, news is about to pick up again: the “quiet period” began yesterday, allowing coaches to make in-person contact with potential mid-year transfer enrollees, while the dead period officially ends on January 5th. Starting tomorrow, UAB will host a significant number of prospects on campus over the next two weeks.

In other UAB football news:

• Former UAB TE Dallas Payne, who had been in the transfer portal since December 3rd, committed to FIU on Tuesday.

  • Payne transferred to UAB from Northeast Mississippi CC in 2022. He appeared in 28 games during his three seasons in Birmingham, catching a total of 38 passes for 402 yards and a touchdown.

  • Payne’s departure, along with the departures of Bryce Damous and Terrell McDonald and the decommitment of Var’Keyes Gumms, leaves the UAB tight end room extremely shallow.

    • FIU transfer Antonio Ferguson looks to be the early favorite to start.

    • Jack Nickel, a former Michigan State transfer who caught one pass last season, remains in the transfer portal and still has the option to return to UAB.

  • Payne joins UAB quarterbacks coach Nick Coleman and UAB secondary coach Kenneth Gilstrap in heading to FIU (although the coaches’ departures have not yet been officially announced).

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AROUND THE SITE

Check out Sunday’s article about the Mars Bars game, one of the most bizarre incidents in UAB basketball history.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

As you surely know, UAB blew a 18-point lead at North Texas yesterday, losing by a final score of 78-75. The Blazers drop to 7-7, 0-1. Full recap to come.

The Blazers next play on Saturday at home against Tulsa (6-7, 0-0, #256 KenPom).

FOOTBALL

Football recruiting news has been near-nonexistent over the last two days because of the NCAA dead period, which prohibits in-person recruiting contact and campus visits. Thankfully, news is about to pick up again: the “quiet period” begins today, allowing coaches to make in-person contact with potential mid-year transfer enrollees, while the dead period officially ends on January 5th. UAB will host a significant number of prospects on campus over the next two weeks.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Looking to recover from Sunday’s blowout loss to Temple, the women’s basketball team (9-4, 0-1) heads to San Antonio today to face off against Torvik #67 UTSA. The game tips off at 6:30 PM CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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AROUND THE SITE

Check out the EFEL UAB/North Texas preview.

Check out Sunday’s article about the Mars Bars game, one of the most bizarre incidents in UAB basketball history.

TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

1993: UAB throttles visiting South Florida

The 1993-1994 Blazers enjoyed one of the greatest starts in school history, claiming true road victories over Auburn and Mississippi State en route to a sparkling 13-1 record. The most dominant performance UAB put on during this stretch came not against Mississippi Valley State or Alabama State but instead South Florida.

USF was not a team of slouches: entering New Year’s Eve 1993, the Bulls sported a 7-2 record that included wins over Florida State, Old Dominion, and USC. Sophomore guard Chucky Atkins would go on to spend over a decade in the NBA, while forwards Jesse Salters and Jerome Robinson made up one of the most productive frontcourt duos in the Southeast. It seemed as though the Bulls were going to provide the Blazers their first real home test of the season.

That illusion wore off in fewer than 20 minutes. UAB didn’t immediately assert its authority, leading by just three at the first period’s final media timeout, but once the Blazers starting rolling, “the rest of the game was merely a formality,” as Birmingham Post-Herald reporter Cary Estes later wrote.

Led by guard Carter Long, Gene Bartow’s squad ripped off a 17-0 run in the closing minutes of the first half, raining down a torrent of threes on the overmatched Bulls. In the blink of an eye, UAB had built a 40-20 lead, one that they took into the locker room. Long’s efforts continued to power the Blazers after halftime; the senior would finish the night with a career-high 27 points as his team came away with a 78-41 victory.

The final stats were startling. Although UAB’s offensive performance was more than respectable, it was on the defensive end that the Blazers truly shined, holding USF to a measly 26.9% shooting percentage.

“We really can’t play much better than we did tonight,” said Bartow. “I sure wish we could find a way to bottle it.”

“We had a total lack of mental concentration, which started us having breakdowns in every area,” said USF coach Bobby Paschal. “We just didn’t make UAB play. They really didn’t have to give any effort.”

In his postgame article, Estes speculated that UAB could be in the midst of their best season since the mid-1980s. Although the Blazers’ campaign wouldn’t quite live up to Estes’ expectations, ending in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the New Year’s Eve win remains one of the greatest displays of dominance the Green and Gold have ever put on.

FOOTBALL

Although UAB did get some recruiting news over the weekend, yesterday was a slow day. One can expect today to be similarly boring.

That will change tomorrow when the NCAA “quiet period” officially begins, allowing coaches to make in-person contact with potential mid-year transfer enrollees. UAB is expected to host a significant number of prospects on campus once the calendar changes. Recruiting news will sharply pick up over the next 7-14 days.

In other UAB football news:

• Steve Irvine wrote a short summary about the hirings of new UAB coaches Brent Vieselmeyer and Sam Mills III at The Banner yesterday.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

• The men’s basketball team travels to Denton this afternoon to open conference play against KenPom #73 North Texas. The Mean Green boast a record of 9-3.

  • In case you missed it, EFEL’s North Texas preview.

  • Steve Irvine also wrote an AAC basketball preview at The Banner yesterday.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

• Looking to recover from Sunday’s blowout loss to Temple, the women’s basketball team (9-4, 0-1) heads to San Antonio tomorrow to face off against Torvik #67 UTSA.

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AROUND THE SITE

Check out yesterday’s article about the Mars Bars game, one of the most bizarre incidents in UAB basketball history.

TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

1986: UAB wins a thriller against MTSU in inaugural meeting

Middle Tennessee was one of UAB’s preeminent basketball rivals of the 2010s, but it’s easy to forget that the programs had met just six times before becoming conference-mates in 2013, with most of those games occurring in the 21st century. The teams’ first matchup, which took place 38 years ago today, remains one of the most exciting chapters in the Blazer-Raider series.

Throughout the 1980s, the BJCC hosted the four-team UAB Classic tournament, which pitted the Blazers against a variety of opponents ranging in quality from year to year. The 1986 edition of the tourney was intended to produce one of its highest-profile championship games ever: the bracket matched up UAB against DII Alaska-Anchorage and Michigan against Middle Tennessee. Although they were unranked, the Wolverines were coming off a spectacular 28-5 season, and the Dick Vitale-led ESPN telecast was clearly sent to Birmingham to cover a UAB-UM final.

Things did not go according to plan. Although the Blazers easily dispatched the Seawolves, the Wolverines couldn’t overcome a veteran MTSU squad, coming out on the wrong side of a frantic finish that thrilled the BJCC crowd. Thus, a rivalry was born; knowing next to nothing about one another, UAB and Middle Tennessee were thrust into the championship game.

And what a game it was. Behind a monster performance from center Eddie Collins, who would finish the night with a career-high 27 points, the Blazers jumped out to an early lead over the Blue Raiders. Predictably, MTSU fought back, but a scoring spurt from guard James Ponder gave the Green and Gold a 41-33 halftime advantage. UAB would maintain that lead for the next 18 minutes; however, the visitors made crafty use of the newly-introduced three-point shot to mount a furious comeback and force overtime.

It was then Ponder took over. He hit free throws; he drew charges; he nailed spinning baseline jumpers. In the blink of an eye, the senior had scored 12 of UAB’s first 14 overtime points — and it still wasn’t enough to escape the Blue Raiders’ three-point onslaught. Despite struggling with turnovers and fouls all night long, MTSU hung with the Blazers by virtue of their long-range prowess.

The game came down to the last moment. UAB held a 93-91 lead with three seconds left on the game clock, and the visitors were forced to send freshman Barry Bearden to the free-throw line. Surrounded by none of his teammates, who had been sent down to the other end by Bartow to avoid fouling, the guard went to the charity stripe for two shots — and missed both. Luckily, the second miss bounced right off the front of the rim and back into the arms of Bearden, who ran out the clock as the Blazers celebrated their tournament championship.

FOOTBALL

The Blazers snagged their fourth and fifth transfer commitments of the cycle on Friday, picking up Miles College DL Jamichael Rogers and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College quarterback Peyton Floyd.

Jamichael Rogers - Miles (DII) defensive lineman

Former Miles College DL Jamichael Rogers became UAB’s first defensive transfer commit of the cycle on Wednesday afternoon, announcing his decision in a social media post. The Birmingham metro native, who graduated from Bessemer City High School in 2020, has one year of eligibility remaining.

Miles cancelled its 2020 season, and Rogers didn’t see the field in 2021, but he proceeded to enjoy three productive years for the Golden Bears. His finest season came in 2024, when he recorded 53 tackles, 8 sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hurries, and 1 forced fumble, ranking among the top ten players in Division II in several categories. For this effort, Rogers was named a Don Hansen NCAA DII All-American.

Rogers’ highlight reel suggests he’s a player with significant speed off the edge. Steve Irvine compared Rogers to former UAB DE Larry McSwain, who transferred in from Jackson State before the 2004 season and proceeded to establish himself as one of the nation’s most productive defenders.

Peyton Floyd - MGCCC (JUCO) quarterback

UAB also picked up a commitment from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College quarterback Peyton Floyd on Friday, who announced his decision in a social media post. The Birmingham metro native, a 2023 Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate, has three years of eligibility remaining.

Floyd was a decorated high school quarterback, setting several class 7A records while racking up 8,263 career yards and 100 career touchdowns. He earned several accolades during his senior season, including Alabama Class 7A Back of the Year and Alabama Sports Writers Association First-Team Class 7A. According to his father, Hewitt head coach Josh Floyd, Peyton fielded several DII and preferred walk-on offers at the time of his 2024 high school graduation but opted to begin his college career at MGCCC.

Floyd completed 21 passes for 372 yards and 3 touchdowns during his only season at MGCCC.

Floyd will seek to make noise in a UAB quarterback room that currently includes Jalen Kitna, Adrian Posse, and Harrison Barker, among others.

In other UAB football news:

• In the wake of last Monday’s NCAA waiver that gave him an extra year of eligibility, UAB LB Michael Moore has entered the transfer portal.

  • He follows in the footsteps of TE Bryce Damous and OL Quez Yates, who both used their extra years of eligibility to enter the portal.

  • Moore transferred to UAB from Ellsworth Community College in 2022, redshirting in his first year. He broke out in 2023, leading the team in tackles before suffering a late-season injury.

  • He was picked to represent UAB at AAC Media Days in the leadup to the 2024 campaign and was named to the 2024 All-Conference Team after racking up a team-leading 92 tackles this fall.

  • It seems as though RB Isaiah Jacobs, QB Carter Putt, and LB Joker Gill will also be given extra eligibility by the waiver. It is yet unclear what any of them intend to do with it.

• UAB S Sirad Bryant, who entered the transfer portal on December 14th, has announced his withdrawal from the transfer portal.

  • Bryant transferred to UAB from Georgia Tech before the 2024 season.

  • Bryant ranked third on the Blazers in tackles this fall, posting 60 while recording one interception. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

  • With Moore’s entry and Bryant’s withdrawal, UAB’s number of portal players remains at 31. A full list can be found at The Banner.

    • The list is missing Yates, Damous, Moore, DT Miquon Merriweather, and OL Baron Franks II.

    • The list also includes Bryant and DB AJ Brown, who withdrew from the portal last Monday.

• UAB transfer portal commit Var’Keyes Gumms, a tight end formerly of Arkansas, has “decided to decommit and explore [his] options with other universities.”

  • Gumms started his career at North Texas, where he was named first-team All-Conference USA by the league’s coaches and second-team Freshman All-American by The Athletic and College Football News.

  • He committed to UAB on December 18th and was UAB’s likely 2024 starter at TE.

  • With Gumms’ decommitment and the commitments of Rogers and Floyd, the size of UAB’s incoming transfer class is now five: Kaleb Brown, Evan McCray, Antonio Ferguson, Rogers, and Floyd.

• Football is in the midst of the NCAA dead period, which prohibits in-person recruiting contact and campus visits.

  • Coaches can still contact recruits over the phone and over social media, but the dead period markedly slows down commitments.

  • The “quiet period,” which permits coaches to make recruiting contact with mid-year transfers, begins on January 1st, while the dead period officially ends on January 5th.

  • Per Steve Irvine, UAB is expected to be “incredibly busy” once the calendar changes and will host “a huge number of recruits” in the opening weeks of January, many of whom will be portal/JUCO targets.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Sunday afternoon: Lost to Temple 97-74 at Bartow

The women’s basketball team saw its four-game winning streak emphatically snapped on Sunday. Randy Norton’s squad was blown out by Temple in a game that was never particularly close. Guard Eleecia Carter paced the Blazers with 15 points and five assists, and sharpshooter Maddie Walsh finished the afternoon with an efficient 13 points. However, guard Journey Armstead was held scoreless in limited minutes; more concerningly, UAB allowed the Owls to make 62% of their two-point field goal attempts. The Blazers are now 9-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

Reminiscent of their last visit to Bartow, a game that also resulted in a blowout, Temple took a lead and never looked back — the Owls went on a 17-2 run late in the first quarter that essentially sealed their victory. Although UAB turned in a more-than-respectable offensive performance, scoring an average of .94 points per possession, the Blazers simply couldn’t stop TU from getting to the basket. Temple outrebounded the home team by a 41-27 margin and put up 42 points in the paint to UAB’s 24.

Despite UAB’s 9-4 record, analytics repository Barttorvik ranks the Blazers the 167th-best team in the nation — marking a nine-spot drop from their ranking last week — and the third-worst team in the American. Although Torvik pegs the Blazer offense as one of the AAC’s most potent, it sees their defense as the conference’s second-worst; this hypothesis is supported by UAB’s performance against Temple, a team not known for its firepower.

The Blazers have no time to rest, as they go on the road to face Torvik #67 UTSA on Wednesday.

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TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

1985: Gene Bartow gets revenge on an old nemesis

Even before postseason play began, the 1976-1977 UCLA men’s basketball team didn’t live up to the standard of dominance John Wooden had established during his 27-year tenure at the school. Yes, the Bruins posted a 23-4 record during their second season under Gene Bartow, and yes, they won the Pac-8 by an impressive margin. However, the UCLA faithful, spoiled rotten by the Wizard of Westwood, weren’t satisfied with anything but perfection. Bartow’s inaugural season, in which UCLA merely finished third place in the nation, had already been bad enough in the eyes of Bruins fans — four more regular-season losses were absolutely unacceptable. By the end of the 1976-1977 campaign, Bartow had begun to receive boos during introductions at Pauley Pavilion.

Nevertheless, UCLA entered the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s second-ranked team. A potential Elite Eight meeting between the Bruins and #5 UNLV sent waves of excitement through the tournament’s observers, as Rebels coach Jerry Tarkanian, who lost three tournament games to UCLA during his tenure at Long Beach State, would finally get his shot at revenge.

Dreams of a made-for-TV matchup were quickly crushed, however, when Bartow’s squad was shocked by coach Jim Killingsworth’s Idaho State Bengals in the Sweet Sixteen. The cataclysmic loss marked the first time in over a decade UCLA failed to reach the Final Four. Faced with rumors that alumni were trying to raise money to buy out his contract, an exhausted, stressed-out Bartow decided to leave Southern California to start the athletic department at UAB.

Eight years later, Bartow and Killingsworth found themselves in far different circumstances: the former was now the well-appreciated head coach of a nationally ranked Blazer team, while the latter had departed Idaho State to take over at TCU. On December 27th, 1985, the two programs met in the first round of the UNLV Holiday Classic in Las Vegas. Again the underdog, Killingsworth couldn’t replicate the magic of the ‘77 tournament, as UAB leaned on impressive performances from guard James Ponder and forward Anthony “Big Jack” Gordon to defeat the Horned Frogs by a score of 69-62.

“It was like Jack would just jump up there and say, ‘Hey, why are you guys jumping? This belongs to me,” guard Steve Mitchell said of Gordon, who finished the night with 16 rebounds.

As a team, UAB made a miserable 15 of its 33 free throw attempts, but Ponder saved the day, going 5/5 from the charity stripe in the game’s last minute to secure a Blazer victory.

“I wanted the ball because I thought I could make free throws when everybody else was missing them,” said Ponder, who scored a game-high 22 points. “At the end, Coach [Bartow] told them to get the ball to me.”

FOOTBALL

• Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports is reporting that Trent Dilfer intends to hire Brent Vieselmeyer as UAB’s linebackers coach and Sam Mills III as UAB’s defensive line coach.

  • Vieselmeyer has over a decade of experience at the high school level, having coached Christian McCaffrey at Valor Christian High School. He was also a Raiders assistant from 2015-2017 and a Commanders assistant from 2020-2022.

    • Vieselmeyer’s only college coaching experience came in 2013-2014, when he was the co-DC for FCS Houston Baptist, and in 2018, when he was an offensive analyst for Kansas.

  • Mills III’s 19-year coaching career has taken place entirely within the NFL. The son of Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Mills, Mills III spent 2005-2019 as a Carolina Panthers assistant before spending 2020-2021 as the Commanders’ defensive line coach.

  • If hired, Mills and Vieselmeyer will join new defensive coordinator Steve Russ and new defensive assistant Ryan Lewis on Dilfer’s revamped defensive staff.

• UAB WR Corri Milliner, who entered the transfer portal last Saturday, announced his withdrawal from the transfer portal yesterday.

  • Milliner, who signed with UAB as a freshman out of Alexander City in 2023, recorded 455 receiving yards in the last six games of the 2024 season. He becomes the Blazers’ most productive returning WR.

  • Milliner joins Xavier Daisy, Iverson Hooks, Joshua Jackson, and incoming Iowa transfer Kaleb Brown as the top options in the receiver room.

• In the wake of Monday’s NCAA waiver that gave him an extra year of eligibility, UAB OL Quez Yates entered the transfer portal yesterday.

  • Yates came to UAB from Jones College (JUCO) in 2022. Yates was one of UAB’s more productive linemen during his time in Birmingham, appearing in 28 games.

  • Yates joins UAB TE Bryce Damous in using his extra eligibility to enter the portal.

  • With Milliner’s withdrawal and Yates’ entry, UAB’s number of portal players remains at 31. A full list can be found at The Banner.

    • The list is missing Yates, Damous, DT Miquon Merriweather, and OL Baron Franks II.

    • The list also includes DB AJ Brown, who withdrew from the portal on Monday.

  • It seems as though RB Isaiah Jacobs, LB Michael Moore, QB Carter Putt, and LB Joker Gill will also be given extra eligibility by the waiver. It is yet unclear what any of them intend to do with it.

    • Gill declared for the NFL Draft before the NCAA waiver was granted, but he is not bound by that decision — Yates also declared for the draft before the NCAA waiver was granted.

TODAY IN UAB HISTORY

1988: Blazers ride Turner and Kennedy to a dominant victory

The Long Beach State 49ers visited UAB Arena on December 26th, 1988, marking the only basketball game UAB has ever played on this date. It was the first season in which the Blazers were free from the expansive confines of the BJCC; Gene Bartow, Andy Kennedy, and crew hadn’t yet lost in their new home and were determined to protect their perfect record.

Although LBSU wasn’t the toughest opponent the Blazers faced all season, entering the game as 14-point underdogs, they were one of the wiliest. The smaller 49ers made up for their athleticism disadvantage by deploying an aggressive press that rattled the Green and Gold. UAB quickly fell into a double-digit hole, prompting a furious Bartow to begin yanking starters — including Kennedy — in droves.

“I knew they were going to press us, but I thought we could attack it with a big lineup,” Bartow said after the game. “Obviously, it didn’t work.”

The Blazers finally composed themselves near the end of the half, getting to the basket at will and heading into the locker room having evened the score at 43 a piece.

“Once we realized we had to work extra hard against that press, we did it and took control,” said center Alan Ogg. “I just think they caught us a little sluggish because we’d taken three days off for Christmas.”

Now accustomed to their inferior opponents’ trickery, UAB returned to the court with a vengeance, using outbursts from Kennedy and forward Reggie Turner to take a double-digit lead. Once pesky and defiant, the 49ers suddenly looked rudderless on offense, making less than 33% of their field goal attempts in the second half. Turner was particularly dominant, posting 21 points and 11 rebounds and drawing effusive praise from Bartow.

“Reggie Turner has played so phenomenal,” Bartow said. “He’s really carrying us right now… You can see basketball means an awful lot to Reggie right now. That’s why he’s playing so well.”

“Man, I hope this never ends,” said Turner, who had recorded his seventh consecutive double-double. “I want this to continue all the way to the Final Four.”

Turner would go on to earn All-Conference honors, boosting his draft stock so much that the Denver Nuggets selected him in 1989; unfortunately, the team’s success did not continue all the way to the Final Four. The Blazers would finish the season with a 17-10 record and fail to make the NCAA Tournament. However, UAB would shine in the NIT, defeating Richmond, UConn, and Michigan State to secure a third-place finish.

FOOTBALL

• In the wake of Monday’s NCAA waiver that gave him an extra year of eligibility, UAB tight end Bryce Damous entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.

  • Damous transferred from Garden City Community College to UAB in 2021, only appearing in one game during his first year in Birmingham.

  • Over the next three seasons, Damous would become one of UAB’s most consistent tight ends, recording a total of 57 receptions for 614 yards and five touchdowns.

  • It seems as though RB Isaiah Jacobs, OL Quez Yates, LB Michael Moore, QB Carter Putt, and LB Joker Gill will also be given extra eligibility by the waiver. It is yet unclear what any of them intend to do with it.

    • Yates and Gill declared for the NFL Draft before the NCAA waiver was granted.

• UAB OL Baron Franks II entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.

  • Franks, formerly of Norfolk State, signed with UAB last offseason. He appeared in five games in 2024.

  • With Damous and Franks transferring, 31 UAB players are now in the portal. A full list can be found at The Banner.

    • The list is missing DT Miquon Merriweather, WR Corri Milliner, Damous, and Franks.

    • DB AJ Brown also withdrew from the portal on Monday.

• Former UAB CB Ricky Lee III committed to FCS Sacramento State on Tuesday.

• Former UAB S Chris Bracy committed to Memphis on Thursday.

  • He joins former UAB LB Everett Roussaw, who committed to Memphis on Friday, December 20th.

Programming note: no roundup tomorrow.

NCAA

The NCAA has:

“granted a waiver to permit student-athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years to remain eligible and compete in 2025-26 if those student-athletes would have otherwise used their final season of competition during the 2024-25 academic year, and meet all other eligibility requirements.”

In simpler terms, athletes scheduled to exhaust their eligibility during the 2024-2025 academic year who spent time at a non-NCAA school — e.g. JUCO or NAIA — will be allowed to continue competing next year.

At the moment, this decision only applies to athletes scheduled to exhaust their eligibility this year. As Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports posted: “For now, other junior college or NAIA athletes would continue on their normal eligibility course. Emphasis on *for now.*”

The decision comes as a response to the recent injunction a Tennessee federal court granted in favor of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia that prevents the NCAA from counting Pavia’s two junior college seasons against his eligibility. In the interest of competitive balance, the NCAA allowed every athlete in Pavia’s position to retain their eligibility next season.

This most notably affects UAB basketball, as F Yaxel Lendeborg, F Christian Coleman, G Alejandro Vasquez, G Tyren Moore, and G Greg Gordon are now eligible to return next year. On the football side of things, it seems as though RB Isaiah Jacobs, OL Quez Yates, LB Michael Moore, QB Carter Putt, LB Joker Gill, and TE Bryce Damous will have the option to come back.

FOOTBALL

The Blazers snagged their fourth transfer commitment of the cycle yesterday, picking up former FIU tight end Antonio Ferguson.

6’3”, 225 lbs — two years of eligibility remaining

Ferguson, an Apopka, Florida native, started his career at East Carolina in 2023, where he appeared in six games but caught no passes. He transferred to FIU last season, playing in all 12 of the Panthers’ games and catching seven passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Ferguson received an offer from UAB on December 10th, took an official visit to Birmingham the next week, and chose the Blazers over South Alabama, UTEP, and others.

Ferguson joins former Iowa WR Kaleb Brown, former Wingate (DII) WR Evan McCray, and former Arkansas TE Var’Keyes Gumms as the inaugural members of UAB’s 2024 transfer class. In a wide-open tight end room losing its top three contributors, Ferguson will compete with likely starter Gumms for playing time.

In other UAB football news:

• Former Alabama State defensive coordinator Ryan Lewis has officially been added to Trent Dilfer’s staff.

  • Lewis was a standout linebacker at Bethune-Cookman in the early 2010s and enjoyed a brief NFL career.

  • Before his 2022 arrival at Alabama State, Lewis spent time as a defensive coordinator at DII Edward Waters College and as a quality control coach and linebackers/special teams coach at Bethune-Cookman.

  • According to Footballscoop’s Zach Barnett, “Lewis is regarded as one of the rising stars in the profession after a 3-year stint at ASU that saw the Hornets post numerous top-10 rankings in FCS. Alabama State has ranked among the top 10 nationally in scoring defense each of the past three seasons.”

• UAB DB AJ Brown announced his withdrawal from the transfer portal yesterday.

  • Brown had been in the portal since December 14th.

  • A redshirt sophomore, Brown signed with the Blazers out of Marietta, Georgia’s Walton High School in 2022.

  • He enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, finishing the year with 31 total tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, one interception, and one pass breakup.

  • Brown’s return brings the number of UAB players in the portal down to 29 from 30. A full list can be found at The Banner.

    • The list is missing DT Miquon Merriweather, who entered the portal a day after it was published.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Sunday afternoon: Defeated Alcorn State 91-74 in Bartow

• Our Alcorn State recap here.

• The Banner’s Alcorn State recap here.

• The men’s team is off until Tuesday, December 31st, when they travel to Denton to take on KenPom #71 North Texas.

• The Purdue men’s team, which played at the BJCC on Saturday, used UAB’s gym to practice on Friday.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Friday night: Defeated Illinois State 71-68 on the road

Sunday afternoon: Defeated Southern Illinois 75-57 on the road

The women’s basketball team swept through the state of Illinois and claimed its third and fourth consecutive victories this weekend, improving its record to 9-3, good for second-best in the AAC behind UTSA. The crown jewel of the road trip was the Quad II win over Illinois State; the Redbirds were ranked 146th in Bart Torvik’s algorithm, making them the strongest opponent UAB has defeated this season. In fact, the ISU game stands as the Blazers’ highest-ranked road non-conference win of the Torvik era, which dates back to 2021.

UAB jumped out to an early advantage, going up by as much as 12 in the second quarter, but four consecutive ISU layups shrunk the home team’s deficit to just one point at halftime. By the middle of the third quarter, the Blazers had built another lead that would be fortified by impressive shooting performances by forwards Sara and Tracey Bershers, who combined to make six of their nine three-point attempts on the day. A huge fourth quarter from forward Jade Weathersby put Illinois State away for good and secured UAB’s first win of the weekend.

UAB head coach Randy Norton and associate head coach Taren Martin, both of whom were on the staff at ISU from 2003-2010, reunited with several former players after the game.

Norton’s squad then headed four hours south to Carbondale, where they handily defeated Southern Illinois.

The 2-7 Salukis are one of the worst teams in Division 1; the Blazers treated them as such. Although UAB didn’t get off to the hottest start, their win probability never dropped below 67%, even when they entered halftime at a small deficit. A hyper-efficient outing from guard Maddie Walsh, another three-point onslaught from Sara Bershers, and a sparkling performance from point guard Journey Armstead propelled the Blazers to a massive second half and a comfortable victory.

Despite their pristine record, Torvik stills ranks UAB 158th nationally, good for just ninth place in the AAC. The Blazers will soon have a chance to prove the analytics wrong, as they start conference play with a home test against a good Temple team and a brutal road game against an elite UTSA team.

FOOTBALL

• Steve Russ was officially introduced as UAB’s defensive coordinator on Friday.

  • The 52-year old Russ replaces former DC Sione Ta'ufo'ou, who was relieved of his duties at the conclusion of the season.

  • Russ played linebacker at Air Force in the early 1990s and enjoyed a five-year NFL career with the Broncos that ended in 2000.

    • He also spent a year playing for the XFL’s Los Angeles Extreme.

  • Russ’ resume includes nearly a decade of defensive coordinator experience.

    • He has stopped at both the G5 and P4 levels and spent 2018-2023 as an NFL linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Commanders.

  • Russ was hired away from Air Force, where he was a special assistant to the head coach.

  • Russ is UAB’s first new coaching hire to be announced this offseason.

    • Senior offensive analyst Kevin Garver is expected to become the new WRs coach and Alabama State DC Ryan Lewis is expected to join UAB’s defensive staff, although those moves have not been made official as of this morning — that will soon change.

• CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports that UAB QB coach Nick Coleman, who was named an FIU target on Tuesday, is leaving UAB to become FIU’s offensive coordinator.

  • 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.

• Former UAB LB Everett Roussaw committed to Memphis on Friday.

• UAB OL Quez Yates and UAB CB Troy Jakubec both declared for the NFL Draft on Friday.

• UAB WR Corri Milliner entered the transfer portal on Saturday.

  • Milliner, who signed with UAB as a freshman out of Alexander City in 2023, recorded 455 receiving yards in the last six games of the 2024 season. He would have been the Blazers’ most productive returning WR.

  • The top options in the receiver room are now Xavier Daisy, Iverson Hooks, Joshua Jackson, and incoming Iowa transfer Kaleb Brown.

  • Milliner is the 30th UAB player to enter the portal this offseason, a full list of which can be found at The Banner.

    • The list is missing DT Miquon Merriweather, who entered the portal a day after it was published.

• Former UAB WR Samario “Flip” Rudolph, now at Jacksonville State, declared for the NFL Draft on Saturday.

• Not directly UAB-related, but Jacksonville State hired Auburn co-DC Charles Kelly as its next head coach, officially killing the already-dead candidacies of Bryant Vincent and Bill Clark.

MEN’S SOCCER

• As expected, UAB sophomore forward Tony Kim was not selected in Friday’s MLS SuperDraft.

ON THIS DAY IN UAB HISTORY

1994 — Andy Kennedy coaches his first game against UAB

After graduating from UAB in 1991, Andy Kennedy bounced around the professional basketball ranks for three years, spending time in Spain, the Netherlands, and Puerto Rico before retiring due to knee problems. By September of 1994, he had been named a “restricted-earnings” coach at South Alabama, meaning he was entitled to just $12,000 in compensation per academic year.

“I have always aspired to be a coach, and this is a little sooner than I anticipated,” Kennedy said at the time of his hiring, referencing his injury-shortened professional career.

Kennedy’s first coaching season was marred by turmoil less than a month into its infancy. After the Jaguars suffered two humiliating December losses to Southern Utah and Evansville, falling to the former by 68 points and to the latter by 46 points, USA head coach Ronnie Arrow was forced to resign on December 16th. With UAB looming in what was then a meaningful rivalry game, assistant Judas T. Prada was promoted to interim head coach, and the reshuffled Jaguar staff was tasked with preparing its 1-4 squad for the 6-4 Blazers.

In only his sixth career game on the sidelines, Kennedy went head-to-head against his mentor Gene Bartow and emerged victorious; it would be the first of four times Kennedy would coach against UAB, going 2-2 in those games. The Jaguars throttled the Green and Gold 105-86, holding the visitors to what remains one of the worst shooting performances in school history. The Blazers attempted an unfathomable 103 field goals, connecting on just 33 of them. After the loss, a frustrated Bartow told the media: “We’re just not a very good team. We don’t shoot very well. We’re not very physical. We don’t draw charges. We don’t dive on the floor for loose balls. We’re just soft,” a postgame speech eerily similar to the ones Kennedy delivers after losses today.

Prada and company were not retained at season’s end. Kennedy would spend the next year in commercial real estate before joining Murry Bartow’s inaugural UAB staff in 1996.

FOOTBALL

• Footballscoop is reporting that Trent Dilfer is adding Alabama State defensive coordinator Ryan Lewis to his staff.

  • Lewis was a standout linebacker at Bethune-Cookman in the early 2010s and enjoyed a brief NFL career.

  • Before his 2022 arrival at Alabama State, Lewis spent time as a defensive coordinator at DII Edward Waters College and as a quality control coach and linebackers/special teams coach at Bethune-Cookman.

  • According to Footballscoop’s Zach Barnett, “Lewis is regarded as one of the rising stars in the profession after a 3-year stint at ASU that saw the Hornets post numerous top-10 rankings in FCS. Alabama State has ranked among the top 10 nationally in scoring defense each of the past three seasons.”

  • Steve Irvine expects Lewis to coach cornerbacks under new UAB DC Steve Russ after the departure of Kenneth Gilstrap to FIU.

• According to Irvine, UAB will be “working the portal hard until the dead period begins Monday” and will be “incredibly busy once the calendar changes,” expecting to host a significant number of recruits in the opening weeks of January.

• Former UAB C Brady Wilson has committed to Virginia.

• Former UAB S Adrian Maddox will visit Nebraska today and Florida tomorrow. He visited Arkansas and Louisville earlier this week and has also been linked to Miami and Missouri. On3 expects him to commit to Nebraska.

• Sophomore DT Miquon Merriweather announced his intention to enter the transfer portal yesterday.

  • Merriweather signed with UAB in 2023 as a freshman out of Columbus, Georgia.

    • He appeared in ten games in 2023, recording 11 total tackles.

    • He was considered a potential breakout player before the 2024 season began but only appeared in one game, recording no statistics.

  • Merriweather is the 29th UAB player to enter the portal this offseason, a full list of whom can be found at The Banner.

• Former UAB head coach Bryant Vincent interviewed for the open Jacksonville State job but has decided to remain at ULM after the school “agreed to increase support for the coach and program,” per Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.

• Former UAB head coach Bill Clark also spoke to Jacksonville State officials about the job but withdrew himself from consideration. The Anniston Star speculates that Clark’s decision could be tied to his pension plan.

MEN’S SOCCER

Although unlikely to be selected this year, sophomore forward Tony Kim is eligible for today’s MLS SuperDraft, which begins at 1 PM CT. The draft is not available to watch live, but picks can be followed on the MLS website.

College players who are sophomores and above are eligible for the SuperDraft. It is the MLS equivalent to the NBA or NFL drafts, although it is greatly diminished in importance due to of the prevalence of youth academies and international signings.

In my conversation with him before the 2024 season, UAB men’s soccer coach David Lilly praised Kim, saying: “Tony Kim is one who didn't get a ton of playing time last year, but since we've been working together this spring, he's been one of the best players. He's been very good, he scored a hat-trick in the first spring game of the season. He's really worked very, very hard and he's got some good ability. He’s going to be one who will be keeping an eye on in the fall for sure.”

Kim proved Lilly correct, appearing in 13 matches, leading the Blazers in shots on goal, and anchoring the most prolific UAB offense of the last five seasons. The sophomore was rewarded for his efforts with an All-Conference Second Team selection.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Last night: defeated Alabama A&M in Bartow, 96-67

Coming off one of the most frustrating losses in program history, a home game against Arkansas State in which they blew a 27-point lead, UAB got back on track by drubbing Alabama A&M 96-67. The Blazers move to 16-0 all-time against the Bulldogs, their best mark against any opponent, and 68-0 against the SWAC. Only nine of those games have been within single digits.

The Blazers grabbed an early lead and never looked back — KenPom graded the blowout one of the 150 most dominant games of the 2024-2025 season so far. Forward Christian Coleman turned in a career effort, scoring 12 of UAB’s first 17 points and finishing the night with a career-high 25. In the preview, I wrote: “The Bulldogs can swat shots at the rim, but their lack of skill makes their overall interior defense weak.” This was proven to be the case, as the Bulldogs recorded eight blocks (three more than UAB) but couldn’t contain the more skilled Coleman, who also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Kennedy referenced this dynamic in his postgame interview: “We felt like felt like we had an advantage with [Coleman’s] athleticism. They're big, but they're a little more lumbersome, so we were just trying to put him in space. I think seven big offensive rebounds is what really got him going. In the first half he had five offensive rebounds that led to at least eight, maybe ten points for him.”

This skill advantage was further evidenced by the effectiveness of the Blazers’ zone. As demonstrated at the beginning of the Southern Miss game, the 1-3-1 is a weapon that can overwhelm less athletic teams, and it was deployed to great success last night.

“I felt the 1-3-1 was effective early,” Kennedy said. “We turned them over six times in that in the first half, [they] end up with 18 turnovers.”

The Blazers’ dominance allowed Makhi Myles, Will Shaver, Marquis Hargrove, and Ryan Donohoo to see playing time. None scored save Hargrove, who made the only three-pointer he attempted, but Myles had an otherwise productive outing, logging 12 minutes, four rebounds, and a block.

UAB moves to 6-6 on the season with the win. They will take on Alcorn State — another SWAC opponent — on Sunday afternoon in Bartow. The Blazers moved from 147th in KenPom to 142nd, a number that ranks sixth in the AAC.

Notes:

• A nice angle of Jaborri McGhee’s backboard alley-oop to Tony Toney.

• The Banner’s recap of the game.

• Yaxel Lendeborg played a season-low 18 minutes, nursing a bruised foot.

• Greg Gordon missed the game with sickness.

• Class of 2027 prospect TJ Byrd, a small forward out of Paul W. Bryant High School in Tuscaloosa, attended the game last night on an “unofficial visit.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Last night: defeated New Orleans in Bartow, 66-60

The women’s team strung together its second consecutive win last night, pulling out a hotly-contested victory 66-60 over the New Orleans Privateers of the Southland Conference. Super-senior Maddie Walsh posted 21 points on nearly 60% shooting, newcomer Journey Armstead turned in one of the finest games of her young career, finishing with 13 points and six assists, and forward Sara Bershers scored 11. Forward Jade Weathersby put up a workmanlike statline of zero points and nine rebounds.

The outcome was in question until the final moments of the game. The Privateers jumped on the Blazers early and led for most of the first half. A Rayne Tucker layup gave UAB a 34-33 advantage going into the locker room, an advantage Walsh would help extend in the third quarter, but New Orleans erased its deficit in the final period. Courtesy of center Nora Francois, the visitors stormed ahead with less than 90 seconds left on the game clock, taking a 60-59 lead.

It was then Walsh took over. Moments after Francois put New Orleans in front, the UAB guard caught the defense sleeping, reclaiming the lead with a cutting layup. The Privateers went back to Francois in the post, but Walsh stripped her, leading to an Armstead layup on the other end. Another defensive stop allowed UAB to run out the clock and escape with a win.

With the victory, the Blazers improve to 7-3, giving them the second-best record in the AAC. Analytics repository Barttorvik remains unimpressed, ranking UAB the 158th-best team in the nation and the fourth-worst team in the conference. Part of that is strength of schedule — although two of the Blazers’s losses came against Auburn and Clemson, they also dropped an ugly game to Jacksonville State and have no wins against Torvik top-200 teams. The women’s team also has a similar problem to the men’s team in that they’re offense-dominant, ranking just 238th in defense and forcing turnovers at a bottom-60 rate.

UAB will take on one of their hardest tests of the season tomorrow when they go on the road to face Torvik #137 Illinois State.

BASEBALL

The AAC baseball preseason poll and preseason All-Conference team, as voted on by the league’s coaches, were released yesterday. UAB received 27 votes and was picked to finish 8th/10.

The only UAB player selected to the preseason All-Conference team was junior pitcher Colin Daniel, who was named AAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. According to UAB’s release, Daniel “is the first Blazer to be named to the Preseason All-Conference team since Christian Hall in 2023 and the first Blazer pitcher with Preseason All-Conference honors since Alex Luna in 2015.”

Daniel, a Corner native, has seen massive development since arriving in Birmingham in 2022. During his freshman season, Daniel posted a 9.26 ERA in 11.2 innings; just one year later, he cut his ERA to 3.13 while increasing his workload by 720%, becoming the Blazers’ most reliable starting pitcher.

FOOTBALL

• Steve Irvine released a list of every UAB signee and transfer portal target.

• Former UAB WR/PR Kam Shanks, now an Arkansas Razorback, was named a Sporting News First Team All-American punt returner yesterday.

• Former UAB OL Delano Townsend has committed to Ole Miss.

• Former UAB S Adrian Maddox visited Louisville yesterday and is visiting Nebraska tomorrow. On3 predicts Maddox will commit to Nebraska.

• Former UAB LB Everett Roussaw is visiting Memphis today.

• North Louisiana sports talk radio host Sean Fox reports that former UAB head coach Bryant Vincent is a “main target” for the open Jacksonville State job.

YESTERDAY’S NEWS:

UAB football snagged its first three transfer commitments of the cycle on Tuesday. Looking to replenish their skill positions, which were heavily depleted by portal exits, the Blazers reeled in two former P4 players and a DII wide receiver.

Kaleb Brown - Iowa wide receiver

5’10”, 197 lbs — two years of eligibility remaining

Former Iowa wide receiver Kaleb Brown became UAB’s first transfer commitment of the cycle on Wednesday afternoon, announcing his decision in a social media post.

Brown was a highly-touted recruit coming out of Chicago’s St. Rita High School in 2022, unanimously considered a four-star recruit and a top-70 player in the class. Brown committed to Ohio State over Michigan, but would only appear in four games for the Buckeyes, catching one pass for five yards. He transferred to Iowa after the conclusion of the 2022 season.

Brown spent two years at Iowa. In 2023, he appeared in 11 games and caught 22 passes for 215 yards. Entering the 2024 season, Brown was Iowa’s top returning receiver, but his playing time plummeted after a June OWI arrest led to a one-game suspension; he caught just one pass in three games before announcing his departure from the program in October.

Brown is a versatile player who was sometimes used as a running back during his time at Iowa, receiving nine handoffs during the 2023 season. As 247Sports analyst Allen Trieu wrote at the time of Brown’s high school graduation:

“[Brown] has played a lot of tailback in high school but projects as a slot receiver or sometimes outside receiver in college. Has done that in 7-on-7 and shown excellent feel for getting open, hands and twitch. Good straight-line speed, maybe not quite elite in that area, but can break away and make big plays in the open field. Quickness and short-area burst allow him to create separation and shows strength after the catch as well. Does not have the catch radius of other top receivers. Competitive player who can be used in a variety of ways and that versatility helps him project as a future draft pick.”

Brown immediately projects as a potential starter in a wide receiver room that currently includes Corri Milliner, Xavier Daisy, Iverson Hooks, and Joshua Jackson.

Evan McCray - Wingate (DII) wide receiver

6’1”, 190 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

Former Wingate (DII) wide receiver Evan McCray became UAB’s second transfer commitment of the cycle on Wednesday afternoon, announcing his decision in a social media post.

McCray, a Raleigh, NC native, spent four years at Wingate, a program located 35 minutes southeast of Charlotte. He didn’t see any playing time in 2021 or 2022, but he broke out in 2023, racking up 520 receiving yards on 43 catches. McCray built on that performance in 2024, catching 42 passes for 634 yards and seven touchdowns and finishing the year as the team’s leading receiver.

McCray, who also received interest from Maine and Gardner-Webb, was offered by the Blazers last week.

Var'keyes Gumms - Arkansas tight end

6’3”, 230 lbs — one year of eligibility remaining

On3’s Pete Nakos reported on Wednesday afternoon that former Arkansas tight end Var'keyes Gumms will be UAB’s third transfer commitment of the cycle.

Gumms, a Houston, Texas native, graduated high school in 2021 with a three-star rating. He originally signed with North Texas, where he redshirted in his first year and broke out in his second, catching 34 passes for 458 yards and five touchdowns. For this effort, Gumms was endowed with several accolades, being named first-team All-Conference USA by the league’s coaches and second-team Freshman All-American by The Athletic and College Football News.

Prior to the 2023 season, Gumms transferred to Arkansas, where he didn’t have quite the same impact. Gumms described the transition into his first season in Fayetteville as “rough,” a fact that was reflected in his 2023 statline of three receptions for 26 yards. Arkansas fans were hopeful that Gumms would breakout in 2024 after a productive performance in the team’s spring game, but he caught just one pass in the fall before being removed from the program in late October for reasons that don’t seem quite clear.

Gumms is a proven contributor at the G5 level and the immediate favorite to start in a tight end room that is losing its top three contributors.

In other UAB football news:

• Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports is reporting that UAB intends to make senior offensive analyst Kevin Garver the program’s next wide receivers coach.

  • The move comes after Trent Dilfer released former WRs coach Austin Appleby at the conclusion of the season.

  • Garver, a 37-year old Birmingham native, joined UAB’s staff at the beginning of the 2024 season. Garver has a decade of NFL coaching experience, won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2022, and was named to The Athletic's “NFL 40 Under 40” in 2020.

  • Steve Irvine wrote a profile on Garver at the time of his hiring.

  • The move was endorsed by former UAB great JJ Nelson, who posted: “Let’s gooooo!!!! Congratulations to Coach Kev one of the best in the business for sure love this without a doubt. 🔥”

    • Nelson was coached by Garver as a member of the Arizona Cardinals from 2015-2018.

• Footballscoop.com is reporting that new FIU head coach Willie Simmons is targeting UAB quarterbacks coach Nick Coleman to become FIU’s offensive coordinator and UAB cornerbacks coach Kenneth Gilstrap to become FIU’s safeties and special teams coach.

  • 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.

  • Gilstrap spent four years as the cornerbacks coach at Middle Tennessee State before coming to UAB in 2023.

  • All parties involved share an MTSU connection:

    • Coleman was an MTSU QB from 2006-2009 and spent the 2010 season as a GA at his alma mater.

    • Gilstrap was an MTSU CB from 2009-2013 and spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as a GA at his alma mater.

    • Simmons was an MTSU assistant from 2007-2011, coaching both Coleman and Gilstrap.

  • Simmons also intends on making longtime MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill FIU’s new tight ends coach.

• Former UAB OL Trey Bedosky committed to Liberty on Tuesday.

• Former UAB WR/KR Kam Shanks committed to Arkansas on Tuesday.

• Former UAB LB Everett Roussaw Jr. has completed visits to UConn and Kansas and will visit Memphis on Thursday.

• Former UAB S Adrian Maddox visited Arkansas on Tuesday and will visit Louisville on Wednesday. He will finish the week with a Friday visit to Nebraska.

  • On3 predicts Maddox will commit to Nebraska.

• Former UAB RB Lee Beebe, who was rumored to have reopened his recruitment, reaffirmed his commitment to Indiana on Tuesday.