'That era, it's over': Norton rebuilds UAB women's basketball from the glass up

Randy Norton spent the first decade of his tenure at UAB doing it the old way. Recruit high school players. Coach them through. Be part of their lives for four years.

Entering his 14th season, Norton doesn't pretend that world still exists.

"There's nothing I love more than bringing in a freshman group and coaching them all the way through and being a part of their lives," Norton said. "But that era, it's over. It really is. I think that you can still bring freshmen in, but I think your core's gotta be some veteran experienced kids to compete at this level."

Norton's 2026-27 roster reflects that shift. Nine of 12 players are new. Zero are seniors. Four came from junior colleges. Three transferred from Division I programs. Two are freshmen.

And the number is 12 — not the 15 the NCAA allows in women's basketball — because three scholarships now go toward paying players under UAB's first year of revenue sharing.

"We got a roster of 12 'cause we're using the other three scholarships to pay players," Norton said.

For years, Norton watched the portal drain his roster. Players loved UAB — the staff, the campus, the facilities — but then the question was always the same: what can you pay me?

"It came down to what can you pay me, and I'm just like, 'We'll give you a full ride,'" Norton said. "But this year we raised some money and we're able to pay some of our kids."

The money helped Norton fill his roster before April ended. Two years ago, he recruited through late May.

From the glass up

UAB went 11-19 and 4-14 in the American last season. The Blazers led the conference in three-point percentage (35.2%) and three-point field goals per game (8.0) — but couldn't rebound or score inside.

"Last year's team, we were really missing the rebounding piece," Norton said. "We really went after the kids that can go get the basketball, and we found those at the JUCO level."

The fix starts with Ashley Garner, a 6-2 junior forward from the College of Southern Idaho. Norton calls her the most physical post player of his UAB tenure.

"She's a rebounding machine. She's relentless on the glass," Norton said. "She's from Utah, played at a junior college in Idaho. We thought it might be kind of a long shot with the distance, but we connected, and she came on campus with her family, and they loved it here."

Alongside Garner, Norton added Emilia Dannebauer, a 6-4 junior forward who transferred from UTSA, and Serena Heeren, a 6-0 junior forward from Chipola College. The three give UAB a post rotation built on a different identity than recent years.

"Ashley, Millie, Serena — those three posts, they won't ever shoot a three," Norton said. "They're 15 foot on the block. Just way more physical."

Dannebauer — "Millie" to her teammates — is a 6-4 forward from Berlin who started multiple games at UTSA last season. Norton said she's extremely fundamental and skilled for her size, with a 15-foot touch around the basket and the length to change shots. Heeren, at 6-0, is undersized for the post but makes up for it with athleticism.

"Really bouncy around the basket, runs the floor extremely well," Norton said.

"Even our posts the last couple years, they wanted to shoot threes," Norton said. "This group is more physical. They're not three-point shooters."

The perimeter

Viktoria Ranisavljevic, a sophomore transfer from Penn State where Norton said she averaged 20 to 25 minutes per game as a freshman, handles the point. Freshman Nya Burns from Knoxville, Tenn., splits time at the one and two.

"She can play the one or the two, really shoots the heck out of the three," Norton said of Burns.

Peyton Bradley transferred from Louisville after nine games. Norton prizes her shooting and basketball IQ.

"She shoots lights out from the three," Norton said. "Really high IQ player, and she's really good playing off closeouts."

Terryauna Griffin, a junior college transfer from Walters State, fills the athletic wing role UAB lacked — explosive, aggressive on defense and able to get to the rim. Hailey Jackson, a junior forward from Hutchinson Community College who Norton said was a first-team All-American, and freshman Bella Harmon from Lakewood, Calif., compete for the four spot.

Jackson originally planned to come to UAB but had a baby first. She's back now.

"She can shoot three. She can put it on the floor and get to the rim," Norton said.

Three who stayed

Eleecia Carter, a redshirt junior guard in her third year with the program, provides the most continuity. Norton calls her "E."

"This is her third year with us, and she knows how we go about our business," Norton said. "She's definitely stepped up and been a strong leader for us."

Sophomores Ashlyn Howard and Mari Miller round out the returning group. Both were freshmen last season.

"They understand our culture, they understand our day-to-day business, they understand our standards," Norton said. "They've really been helpful with the nine new players."

With nine newcomers, Norton said the staff has been deliberate about chemistry — a team retreat, a weekly book study and what he calls extreme intentionality about building relationships in compressed time.

"It comes down to how much they wanna know, 'What can you pay me?'" Norton said. "The relationship, I still try to make that important, but when it comes down to bottom dollar, that's what we're up against."

UAB opens the season Nov. 4 against Fisk at Bartow Arena, then travels to South Alabama on Nov. 7. The Blazers play George Washington and Virginia in the Jacksonville Classic on Nov. 23-24. The conference schedule is set to be released Wednesday.

Norton's career record at UAB stands at 222-178. He is the second-winningest head coach in program history and led UAB to its first CUSA regular-season title in 2017-18 and three consecutive 20-win seasons from 2017 through 2020.

On the women's side, Norton said, the American typically ranks about sixth among all conferences. He expects parity.

"I think we're all pretty similar," Norton said. "So who can get their kids to buy in and play the style you wanna play and compete."