In the spring of 1979, fewer than eight weeks after UAB wrapped up its inaugural men’s basketball campaign, Gene Bartow added Robert Corn to his staff as a graduate assistant.
A native of the Midwest, Corn played for Bartow at Memphis State in the early 1970s but transferred to Division II Missouri Southern after Bartow took the job at Illinois; five years later, he received a phone call from his first college coach, who was looking for help jumpstarting a program with just a single season of history to its name. Unaware that Bartow’s offer would shape the next decade of his life, Corn packed his bags and moved to Birmingham.
It didn’t take long for both the Blazers and Corn to realize a great deal of success. By 1981, Bartow’s squad had secured its first of seven consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, knocking off Kentucky en route to the Sweet Sixteen; the following season, UAB pulled off a titanic upset of Ralph Sampson’s Virginia Cavaliers and reached the Elite Eight in just its fourth year of existence. At the same time, Corn was steadily working his way up the ladder, promoted to full-time assistant in 1981 and named Bartow’s top assistant by 1983.
The position came with significant responsibilities and lofty expectations — Lee Hunt, who left UAB for the head coaching job at Ole Miss, was described by Bartow as “one of the great basketball coaches in the country” — but Corn was up to the task. Over the next six years, he played an instrumental role in recruiting, among others, Steve Mitchell, Alan Ogg, Reginald Turner, Anthony Gordon, and Michael Charles, putting together a resume that vaulted him into consideration for head coaching jobs of his own. In 1989, Corn returned home to take the reins at his alma mater, where he remained for 25 seasons, ultimately earning induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
38 years later, Bartow’s protégé is losing a trusted assistant of his own. Over the last six seasons, UAB associate head coach Ryan Cross has helped import and develop some of the most impactful players in UAB history. Now, following in the footsteps of Hunt and Corn, he’s been handed the keys to his own program.
Great staffs win games, but great staffs also serve as talent incubators. An impressive, underdiscussed aspect of Bartow’s UAB tenure is how many of his assistants went on to become college head coaches:
Larry Finch, an assistant on the Blazers’ inaugural squad, later led Memphis from 1986-1997.
Decades after serving as a graduate assistant under Bartow, former UAB player Chris Giles became the head coach of DII Miles College in 2006.
Dan Monson, another of Bartow’s graduate assistants, has been a head coach at Gonzaga, Minnesota, Long Beach State, and Eastern Washington (where he remains today).
Mike Hanks, who joined the Blazers’ staff after head coaching stints at Samford and South Alabama, went on to take the reins at DII St. Leo in 1996.
Bill Walker, yet another former UAB graduate assistant, has been a head coach at DII Illinois-Springfield and is currently in charge at DII Missouri S&T.
Onetime Bartow graduate assistant Jim Harter spent 16 years as the head coach at DII Pace University.
The aforementioned Lee Hunt left Birmingham to take over Ole Miss’ program in 1982 and later became the winningest coach in UMKC history.
Following a four-year stint with the Blazers, John Prince was named Jackson State’s head coach in 1986.
The aforementioned Robert Corn was in contention for several HC jobs before landing at DII Missouri Southern.
Murry Bartow, of course, succeeded his father at UAB and enjoyed a fruitful stint at ETSU.
The last four of those names — Hunt, Prince, Corn, and the younger Bartow, if you’re counting him — were plucked into their new roles directly off the elder Bartow’s staff. Although plenty of coaching talent has graced Bartow Arena since its namesake retired, few others have managed to jump straight from UAB to a men’s college head coaching job: Mike Anderson assistant Giles was hired by Miles in 2006, Mike Davis assistant Kerry Rupp was hired by Louisiana Tech in 2007, Jerod Haase assistant Rob Ehsan (again, if you’re counting him) succeeded his boss at UAB in 2016, and that’s the list.
At least, that was the list until last Wednesday. Cross’ achievement puts him — and Kennedy, whose staff he came from — in rare company among UAB coaches, an indicator of the Blazers’ pronounced post-2020 success.
“I’ve learned so much working for [Kennedy], his approach … He is relentless every day in his pursuit of us being the best version of ourselves,” Cross said at his ULM introductory press conference. “ … So much respect, so much appreciation for Andy Kennedy and what he’s done for me in my career.”
What exactly, the uninitiated might ask, did Cross accomplish at UAB? Does his name really deserve to be mentioned in the pantheon of Blazer coaches? Without even factoring in the program’s accomplishments over the past six seasons — the .701 winning percentage, the conference titles, the NCAA Tournament appearances — the answer to that question is yes, based solely on Cross’ record of talent acquisition and development.
Take a look at UAB’s last six rosters and pick out your favorite players. Former ULM guard Michael Ertel, the Blazers’ leading scorer during Kennedy’s first year at UAB? He followed Cross, who served as a ULM assistant for nearly a decade before joining Kennedy’s staff, from Monroe to Birmingham in 2020. Quan Jackson, one of the great defenders in the history of Blazer basketball? He was recruited to UAB thanks in part to his existing relationship with Ertel. Jordan Walker, Eric Gaines, and Chance Westry? All signed with help from Cross.
That’s just the beginning. Perhaps’ Cross greatest contributions to UAB basketball came in the form of his connections to the junior college ranks, forged by stints as the head coach at Barton County CC (1998-1999) and Chipola College (1999-2003). When nationwide roster retention rates collapsed and the era of unrestricted player movement began in earnest around 2023, the Blazers found themselves leaning more and more on a robust JUCO pipeline, a strategy that allowed them to keep pace with far better-funded rivals. UAB’s 2023-2024 team featured three of the top 15 junior college players in the nation — Alejandro Vasquez, Christian Coleman, and Yaxel Lendeborg, the last of whom became arguably the single best player in school history — and its 2024-2025 roster was bolstered by the addition of point guard Ja’Borri McGhee, a South Plains College alumnus. Take a guess at which Blazer assistant led the charge on those recruitment efforts.
Very few coaches across UAB history have helped fill the Blazers’ coffers to the extent Cross has.
For all parties, what comes next is unclear. After over three decades in the business, Cross has at last obtained a Division I head coaching job; however, he now faces down the daunting task of making ULM — long regarded as one of the nation’s hardest places to win — competitive. The Warhawks posted a 4-28 record last season while finishing 352nd in KenPom and haven’t cracked .500 since before Cross and Ertel left for UAB. Cross has previously borne witness to a turnaround: when he arrived at ULM as an assistant in 2012, the program was crippled by APR sanctions and despondent, but the Warhawks soared to an all-time school record of 133rd in KenPom by 2016. Replicating that feat in today’s landscape, though, may prove more challenging.
As for UAB, there are obvious questions to be answered. Among others: who replaces Cross? What will the Blazers’ staff hierarchy look like next season? How does Cross’ departure affect efforts to retain players like Westry and Salim London? How does Cross’ departure affect UAB’s approach to JUCO recruiting?
The ULM job also opened last offseason, and Cross’ name came up then, too, so his departure doesn’t come as a shock; some sort of contingency plan is certainly in place. With the busiest recruiting weeks of the year quickly approaching, however, UAB must immediately put its preparation on display.
To bring us full circle, for what it’s worth: the season after Corn departed, Bartow’s Blazers didn’t miss a beat, winning 22 games, dominating the Sun Belt with a 12-2 record, and taking home a conference title. Let’s hope history repeats itself.