THE BOARD: UAB Basketball

The number

$15.4 million — That's the price tag on the Bartow Arena renovation breaking ground this month. New lobby, new lower bowl seating, new concourse, a C Spire-branded club — the whole works, scheduled to be done by October. But it's hardly the only rebuild taking place inside that building. Andy Kennedy is doing it again.

The Blazers went 20-12 in 2025-26 — their sixth straight 20-win season, the longest streak in program history — but went 11-7 in AAC play, lost to Charlotte in the conference tournament quarterfinals and missed the postseason for the first time since Kennedy's first season in 2020-21. Now he's rebuilt the roster from scratch, signing 13 players in roughly a month after starting April with two scholarship players.

The Portal King has been making big moves.

The fit

This is the new mid-major cycle: build, develop, reload — and rebuild again. Kennedy hasn't just survived it. He's won through it. Since arriving at UAB: two NCAA Tournament bids, two conference titles, four conference title games and two deep NIT runs. He's collected transfers and turned them into something. Consistently. Year after year.

For the second consecutive season, Kennedy has remade his roster almost completely. Last year he lost Yaxel Lendeborg to eventual national champion Michigan, Christian Coleman to Oklahoma State, Butta Johnson to Clemson and Ja'Borri McGhee to Mississippi State — eight portal departures in all. That rebuild got the Blazers to 20 wins but never quite fit together — they lacked depth and size, and their postseason miss was the first under Kennedy since 2020-21, his first season on the job.

This time, the overhaul is designed to fix the problems that sank last year's team. UAB was one of the smallest squads in the country in 2025-26. Kennedy lost Joao Das Chagas to injury early, and the Blazers spent the season getting outmuscled.

"Last year we were one of the smallest teams in college basketball going into the season," Kennedy told Steve Irvine of the Birmingham Banner in an outstanding, in-depth interview you can read in full here. "We were one of the smallest 15 or 20 teams in the whole country. This year, hopefully, we will not have that issue. We've been able to fortify our front line with real size, a real presence."

Matt Mbole (6-11, 275, 7-4 wingspan), Shah Hall (6-10, 245) and Aleks Alston (6-10, 204) give UAB three players over 6-10 for the first time in Kennedy's tenure. "Even without Kye on our roster sitting here right now, we've got three kids over 6-10, which is something that we haven't had in my time here," Kennedy told the Banner. The addition of Kaleb Davis — a 6-11 center from Houston High School in Memphis, Kennedy’s hometown — made it four. As Steve Irvine of the Birmingham Banner noted, the addition makes the 2026-27 Blazers the second tallest team in program history — an average height of 78.1 inches (6-6 per player) across 13 roster players. The tallest UAB team was the 1988-89 squad — Kennedy’s sophomore season — which averaged 78.2 inches. Add Jeremy Elyzee at 6-7 and a potential KyeRon Lindsay-Martin return at 6-8, and the frontcourt goes from program weakness to its deepest position group.

Mbole "immediately brings you a big presence," Kennedy told the Banner. "He's a guy that can anchor you at the basket." The numbers back it up — 12.2 RPG, 2.6 BPG, 60.5% shooting. He and Hall are "just at the beginning of their basketball development, but both have tremendous upsides and both give you presence at the basket with athleticism, with size, with the ability to block shots, rebound and again, just anchor you at the rim," Kennedy told the Banner. Elyzee is "a 6-7 kind of hybrid forward in the mold of a Ty Brewer" — athletic, plays the right way, two years of Division I experience.

Alston is the long-term swing. His Maryland stats were minimal, but Kennedy sees the upside. "He's a 6-10 kid with a seven-foot wingspan that really can dribble, pass and shoot," Kennedy told the Banner. "He's a guy that right now, depending upon who he can guard, could either play any of the front court positions and eventually I could see him turning into a big wing."

The backcourt is loaded with proven scoring punch at the Division I level. Justyn Fernandez, Elijah Duval and Deuce Jones were all lead scorers at their previous programs. Kennedy broke them down: Jones is a "dynamic playmaker, three-level scorer, a guy that just puts constant pressure on the paint." Duval is "powerfully built, really explosively athletic and also puts a lot of pressure on that painted area." Fernandez is "a knockdown shooter that's capable of doing things off the bounce." Fernandez's 40.3% from three and 87.8% from the line make him the most efficient perimeter scorer Kennedy has recruited at UAB. TJ Caldwell adds size and SEC experience at 6-4. Tim Holliday brings scoring punch from junior college. The smallest guard on the roster is 6-2.

"I think we've really checked most every box," Kennedy told the Banner. "We've brought experience to our backcourt. We've got versatility. We've got playmaking, shot making, size."

The portal and JUCO pipeline is where Kennedy has built his reputation — and maybe he gets the transfer game better than most because he was one. Kennedy started his playing career under Jim Valvano at NC State before transferring to UAB, where he became a program legend. Now he's on the other side of it, building rosters the same way he built his own career.

The receipts are real. Lendeborg went from JUCO to UAB to Michigan to Big Ten Player of the Year, first-team All-American and projected lottery pick. "I couldn't be happier for him," Kennedy told the Banner. "But obviously, that's been a storyline." Jelly Walker, Trey Jemison, Eric Gaines, KJ Buffen, Michael Ertel, Javian Davis, Chris Coleman, AJ Vasquez and McGhee all made the jump to Division I impact in green and gold. These weren't just good college players. Jemison is in the NBA. Others are playing professionally worldwide. Kennedy doesn't just find talent — he launches careers.

Mbole and Holliday are the latest bets from that system. There may not be a Walker or Lendeborg in this bunch — those are rarities — but when they arrived in Birmingham, they weren't at that level either. Kennedy's proven he can elevate the players he recruits and launch them to bigger things. He's embraced that reality, and it's paying off. And an empty roster means one thing for the next wave: opportunity. Roles. Minutes. March reps.

The risk is cohesion. This is the second consecutive offseason where the roster turned over almost entirely. Thirteen new players, two new assistants and a program coming off a postseason miss. The game has changed, too — playing time, tradition and a great coach used to be enough to close a recruit. Now it's playing time, tradition and NIL. Recruiting hasn't stopped. It's just gotten more expensive, even for proven winners like Kennedy. "I'm afraid this may be more the norm that I would like to accept, but it's just the reality of where we are right now in this industry," Kennedy told the Banner. The pace of modern roster-building is relentless. "You meet a guy and then 24 hours later he's on your campus and 36 hours later he's on your team," Kennedy told the Banner. "It's not for the weaker spirit, that's for sure."

UAB has won 20 games six years running. Kennedy built this roster to make sure the streak survives — bigger, deeper and with more proven experience than any group he's assembled. Whether 12 new pieces can come together by November is the question.

The departures

A year ago, Kennedy lost Lendeborg to Michigan, Coleman to Oklahoma State, Johnson to Clemson and McGhee to Mississippi State — and still won 20 games. This time the production drain is just as deep. UAB lost its top scorer, its top rebounder and its top assist man.

Graduated / Out of eligibility:

Daniel Rivera — 12.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG. Shot 54.4% from the field.

Ahmad Robinson — 9.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.8 APG.

Transfer portal:

Chance Westry (Xavier) — 15.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.3 SPG. Led the team in scoring and assists. Shot 48.7% from the field.

Evan Chatman (Baylor) — 8.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG. Led the team in rebounding with 281 boards. 26 blocks. Started 29 of 32 games.

Jacob Meyer (Georgia State) — 12.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG. Started 25 games.

Justin Holloway (Auburn-Montgomery) — Entered portal in late April.

Dayjaun Anderson (ULM) — 5.4 PPG, 1.7 RPG. Committed to Louisiana Monroe to follow Ryan Cross.

Quaran McPherson (ULM) — 4.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG. Committed to Louisiana Monroe to follow Ryan Cross.

Lance Carr (ULM) — 0.7 PPG in 7 games as a freshman. Signed with Louisiana Monroe to follow Ryan Cross.

Ari Gooch (Southern Indiana) — 2.2 PPG, 1.3 RPG in 17 games. Committed to USI.

Injured/Limited:

Joao Das Chagas (Sacramento State) — Played only two games before a season-ending injury. His absence left UAB undersized all season.

Staff losses:

Assistant Ryan Cross took the head coaching job at ULM. Noah Dartmann followed him. Kennedy replaced them with Jesse Bopp and former UAB player Jon Coleman.

The arrivals

Kennedy added six portal transfers, three JUCO signings and three high school recruits — a 12-player haul built around backcourt experience and frontcourt size, with a 13th — Kaleb Davis — added May 20.

Transfer portal:

Justyn Fernandez (Delaware) — G, 6-5, 215 lbs. 16.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.1 APG. Shot 40.3% from three and 87.8% from the line. Started all 28 games. Former four-star recruit (No. 74 ESPN, class of 2022) who played at George Mason and Providence before his breakout at Delaware. Ten games of 20-plus points.

Elijah Duval (Southern Utah) — G, 6-3. 15.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.6 APG. WAC Freshman of the Year. All-WAC Second Team. Scored 20-plus points eight times, including a 30-point game in the regular season finale. Shot 47.2% from the field.

Deuce Jones (St. Joseph's, previously La Salle) — G, 6-2, 165 lbs. A-10 Freshman of the Year at La Salle in 2024-25 (12.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.8 APG). Averaged 15.8 PPG in 10 games at St. Joseph's before leaving the program in December. Career-high 27 points.

TJ Caldwell (Arkansas State, previously Ole Miss) — G, 6-4. 9.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG at Arkansas State. Shot 33.8% from three. Former four-star recruit ranked No. 97 nationally in the 2022 class. Spent two seasons at Ole Miss before transferring.

Aleks Alston (Maryland) — F, 6-10, 204 lbs. Averaged 1.4 PPG in limited minutes as a freshman. Was the No. 1 player in Illinois out of high school and a four-star recruit with a seven-foot wingspan. The upside play in this class.

Jeremy Elyzee (Southeastern Louisiana) — F, 6-7. 11.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.8 APG as a sophomore. Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2024-25. Shot 47.0% from the field over two seasons.

Junior college:

Matt Mbole (South Georgia Tech) — C, 6-11, 275 lbs. 7-4 wingspan. 10.0 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 2.6 BPG. Led his conference in rebounding. Shot 60.5% from the field. 14 double-doubles.

Tim Holliday (Itawamba CC) — G, 6-3. 14.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG. Shot 38.7% from three and 82.0% from the line. Scored a season-high 44 points against Community Christian — 9-of-16 from deep.

High school:

Korie Corbett (Oak Hill Academy) — G, 6-5. Three-star recruit. South Carolina 5A Player of the Year as a junior at Ridge View HS. Won back-to-back state championships before transferring to Oak Hill for his senior year.

Jakobi Sharp (Gadsden City HS, Alabama) — G, 6-3. Averaged 22.7 PPG and 6.7 RPG as a senior. North-South All-Star Game MVP. Signed during the early period in November 2025.

Kaleb Davis (Houston HS, Memphis, Tenn.) — C, 6-11. Averaged 10-plus points, 7.6 rebounds and shot 61% from the field over his high school career. All-State, All-Region and Regional Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. Drew interest from NC State, Villanova, Seton Hall and Texas A&M. “Excited to have Kaleb join our program,” Kennedy said. “He is an impressive rim protector who adds additional size and athleticism to our front court. Kaleb plays with a high motor which allows him to impact the game on both sides of the ball.”

Returners:

Salim London — G, 6-4. 4.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.6 APG as a freshman. Shot 84.4% from the line. The only holdover from last year's rotation.

The targets

Kennedy said publicly he wanted one more frontcourt piece. On May 20, he got it — Davis, the 6-11 rim protector from Memphis who gives UAB its fourth player at 6-10 or taller.

The biggest variable is KyeRon Lindsay-Martin. The 6-8 forward averaged 10.8 PPG and 6.4 RPG last season, shot 53.6% from the field and is the most productive option Kennedy has. But his eligibility is tied to an NCAA appeal. Kennedy is holding a roster spot. Upcoming five-year eligibility legislation could resolve the issue, but nothing is final. If Lindsay-Martin returns, this frontcourt is the deepest Kennedy has ever had at UAB.