The UAB men’s basketball team has secured their first frontcourt addition of the offseason. On Monday afternoon, Saint Louis transfer Bradley Ezewiro, a forward with two years of eligibility remaining, announced his arrival on the Southside.
The California native joins an impressive incoming class that includes Iona transfer Greg Gordon, Georgia Southern transfer Tyren Moore, and highly-touted JUCO guard Jaborri McGhee. His arrival is a welcome development for a frontcourt suffering the loss of starting center Javian Davis.
Ezewiro is a 6’9″, 265-pound forward that was rated a three-star recruit coming out of high school. He started his college career at LSU, where he struggled to find playing time, before spending the 2022-2023 campaign as a role player at Georgetown.
Ezewiro transferred to Saint Louis last offseason, where he promptly enjoyed the best season of his career, averaging 12 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks a game. Sidelined until December because of issues obtaining a two-time transfer waiver, the forward was one of the Billikens’ most consistent players once he managed to get on the court.
Ezewiro is clearly highly-regarded by Andy Kennedy and his staff, as the Blazers have been recruiting him for several years now. UAB reached out to Ezewiro after each of his previous transfers, finally landing him on their third attempt.
Although Ezewiro is listed as a forward, KenPom profiles him as a center. On paper, he projects striking similarities to Javian Davis; in fact, both their height and their weight are exactly the same. This past season, Ezewiro was a less efficient scorer than Davis but boasted far higher defensive rebounding and block rates.
Offensively, Ezewiro is probably a little more mobile than Davis was. The vast majority of his shots come from inside the paint, but he receives plenty of touches at the dunker spot and near the top of the key. Per Synergy, Ezewiro excels as a cutter and as a PnR roll man, and is more efficient when he gets the ball in space than when he posts up.
Ezewiro is not expected to face any eligibility troubles this upcoming season, as the two-time transfer rule has been eliminated.
With Ezewiro’s addition, UAB has now filled 11 of their 13 scholarships. The Blazers are confirmed to be pursuing at least three more players: Louisville forward Kaleb Glenn, Delaware State guard Deywilk Tavarez (Yaxel Lendeborg’s cousin), and South Plains center Malique Ewin, the top JUCO prospect in the country.
Glenn has already completed his visit. He was on campus last weekend at the same time as Ezewiro. Tavarez has scheduled a visit for next weekend, while Ewin has scheduled a visit at an unknown upcoming time.