Last Year: 29-10; third (14-6) in Conference USA, lost in the championship game of the NIT
Head Coach: Andy Kennedy (Fourth Year; 78-25 at UAB with one NCAA Tournament appearance
Projected Starting Lineup
| PG Eric Gaines – 6’2″, 170 – Junior |
| SG Daniel Ortiz – 6’0″, 180 – Junior |
| SF Alejandro Vasquez – 6’4″, 205 – Junior |
| PF Yaxel Lendeborg – 6’9″, 230 – Junior |
| C Javian Davis-Fleming – 6’9″, 250 – Senior (5th) |
Projected Starters’ 2022-23 Stats
Eric Gaines: 11.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.6 bpg
Daniel Ortiz: 14.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.0 spg – 40.9% 3FG @ North Alabama
Alejandro Vasquez: 18.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.4 spg – 40.6% 3FG @ Salt Lake Community College
Yaxel Lendeborg: 17.2 ppg, 13.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.4 bpg – 72.7% FG
Javian Davis: 6.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.2 bpg – 55.6% FG
Experienced Reserves
| G Efrem Johnson – 6’4″, 180 – Sophomore |
| G Toney Toney – 6’2″, 190 – Junior |
| C Will Shaver – 6’10”, 270 – Redshirt Sophomore |
| W Barry Dunning – 6’6″, 195 – Sophomore |
| W James White – 6’5″, 190 – Junior |
| G Marquis Hargrove – 6’3″, 180 – Junior |
| F Christian Coleman – 6’9″, 200 – Junior |
Experienced Reserves’ 2022-23 Stats
Efrem Johnson: 3.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.5 spg – 37.8% 3FG
Toney Toney: 3.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.5 spg – 45.0% FG
Will Shaver: Redshirt season at North Carolina last year
Barry Dunning: 0.3 ppg, 0.2 rpg, 0.1 apg, 0.1 spg @ Arkansas
James White: 4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.2 spg, 38.9% FG
Marquis Hargrove: 14.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.9 spg, 37.9% 3FG
Christian Coleman: 16.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 bpg, 51.9% FG @ South Plains College
Freshmen
| G KJ Satterfield – 6’4″, 180 – Freshman |
Things are sure going to look different when the Blazers take the court this year. That’s because six of UAB’s top eight players are gone from last year; some of them three-year contributors who brought the Blazers tremendous success over the course of their careers. As much fun as Alabama-Birmingham has had already under head coach Andy Kennedy, though, last season was a slight disappointment.
After winning 27 games, the Conference USA Tournament and making an NCAA Tournament appearance two years ago, it appeared that all of the pieces were in place for a legendary season. And yet, the Blazers saw conference rival Florida Atlantic instead realize their wildest dreams with a Final Four run, while UAB settled for the NIT. Where they advanced to the title game…only to fall to conference rival North Texas. As much as a 29-win season and five postseason games could leave a team and fans feeling sort of unfulfilled, last season was that season for UAB.
Gone are star scorer Jelly Walker and his 21.3-point scoring average in a Blazer uniform, defensive anchor Trey Jemison, do-it-all forward KJ Buffen and so much more. Replacing them will be an incredible task, but there are a heralded host of junior college standouts and a couple of transfers from Power 5 schools coming to Birmingham this fall, and they’re hungry for minutes and a chance to prove themselves.
Back to run the show and get all of the new guys organized is point guard Eric Gaines. And that has got to make everyone in Blazer green feel good. Gaines, a former LSU transfer, had a career-best season in his first year in Birmingham. He was second on the team in scoring average, handed out 174 assists, and Gaines pilfered the opposition 75 times while generally playing a ferocious spearhead to UAB’s perimeter defense. The past two seasons, Gaines has racked up enough steals to rank third in the SEC and then fifth in C-USA in thefts per contest. Gaines gets wild sometimes, but Kennedy loves the way that he can push the tempo and attack opponents. He put his name into the NBA Draft pool earlier this year to gauge his prospects, but decided to return to school. This year, he’ll need to lead the Blazers offense more efficiently than ever since he doesn’t have the same level of proven teammates to make plays after a turnover or poor shot. While he’s much more comfortable attacking the basket off of the bounce than launching jumpers, Gaines hit 34.3% of his threes last year – a career high for the third straight year – and he is becoming more confident as a perimeter threat. Still, he shot just 26.9% on 2FG attempts away from the rim, per Bart Torvik, and will need to make opponents respect his jump shot now that he’ll be seeing an increase in defensive attention from, well, everyone UAB faces.
Gaines pilfered the opposition 75 times while generally playing a ferocious spearhead to UAB’s perimeter defense
Alejandro Vazquez and Daniel Ortiz are new to Birmingham, but Gaines is getting to know them well right away as great options to find when open on the wing. Both of them have played D1 collegiate seasons, elsewhere, and bring tremendous outside shooting to Kennedy’s roster. Vazquez previously had made eight starts and swished 45 three’s at a 36% clip over 52 games at St. Bonaventure. He spent last season at Salt Lake Community College, though, where he was named a JuCo All-American. Last season Vazquez showed that not only is he a dangerous shooter but that he can handle being a go-to scorer for his team. Kennedy is going to need all the points that Vazquez can throw in, and he offers a contrast to UAB’s other guards with his size and strength. Vazquez showed more playmaking ability last year, also, which will help Gaines to keep the ball moving after having had the play-making Walker to help run offense last year.
Ortiz is comfortable handling the ball as well, and despite his diminutive size, has already proven to be quite a sharpshooter. Ortiz is the proud owner of 166 triples and a 38.2% clip from the land of trey through two college seasons. He generally played off the ball in order to make best the use of his scoring talents while at North Alabama, and projects as an excellent instant-offense guy as the first player off of Kennedy’s bench. “He is a legit shooter who can make plays with the ball, which will allow him the opportunity to make an immediate impact in our backcourt,” Kennedy said when Ortiz committed. He will have to prove that he can handle tougher defensive assignments in the American Athletic Conference, but if Ortiz can guard his man and stretch the defense when his team has the ball, he is going to play a lot. Kennedy gets all of the guys in his rotation involved, but it’s likely that Gaines, Vazquez and Ortiz will be the backbone of UAB’s perimeter offense.
Two former SEC players are also joining the lineup, and will fight it out for minutes on the wing. James White, formerly of Ole Miss, looked like he was heading for a major breakout season at this time a year ago. His team had finished a summer tour of the Bahamas, where White had posted averages of better than 23 points, six boards and four assists per game. Once the regular season began, though, White scored in double figures just three times and Mississippi limped to a 12-win, 13th-place finish in the SEC. Time for a fresh start, and both Kennedy and White are hoping that his career will ignite as a Blazer. White has some wiggle with the ball in his hands, and is capable of getting to the rim and finishing with either hand. He’s got a ways to go as a shooter, though, and will have to improve upon his 38% career free throw mark if he’s to take full advantage of his ability to drive the ball. White has good length and some explosiveness as a defender, too. With other players expected to do most of the outside damage, White needs only to smooth the edges of his game in order to become a key contributor for the Blazers.
| Five Stats Which Tell The Tale |
| +9.3 – Average Score Margin (18th) |
| 50.3% Effective FG% (193th) |
| 53.4% Rebounding Rate (24th) |
| 48.8% – 2FG% (243rd) |
| 7.9 – Steals Per Game (44th) |
Barry Dunning Jr, the other SEC addition, was an Arkansas Razorback for exactly 50 official minutes and five points scored. He joined a churning, changing Hogs roster last season and immediately got lost in the crunch for minutes. He was rated as a Top 150 prospect out of high school and the #1 player in Alabama just a year ago, however, and is looking to deliver on a whole lot of potential. Dunning is a strong and athletic wing who does some of his best work on defense, off of rebounds, and by getting out in transition. With Efrem Johnson the only returning Blazer who has played and defended on the wing, both Dunning and White are going to have wide-open opportunities to show that they deserve minutes on this team.
Chris Coleman has joined up as another junior college veteran, and is more of a combo forward. He can move well, though, and if he proves capable of playing serious minutes, Kennedy could go with a bigger lineup and use Coleman at the three spot to cause matchup problems. Coleman can score on quick paint touches and has some range to his jumper, but isn’t a finished product offensively. He’s got a seven foot wingspan, though, and should prove a versatile defender who, paired with another of Kennedy’s junior college signees, may provide the Blazers the opportunity to play two forwards who can really get from one end of the court to another.
Replacing Jemison is, pun intended, a tall order. So Kennedy is going to throw three talented guys, each of whom offers a different set of skills, into the paint and see how the minutes shake out. The most highly-publicized of the three is Will Shaver, who starred for Birmingham Oak Mountain during his prep career and nearly attended UAB out of high school before being wooed away to North Carolina. He was a part of the Tar Heels team which nearly captured the National Championship two years ago, but never saw the court and took a redshirt. As a freshman, Shaver saw action in three games before breaking his foot and missing the rest of the year. This spring, he entered the Transfer Portal. Once there, he again confounded Blazers fans by first committing to Belmont before at last coming home to sign with the Blazers. Shaver is expected to be a big piece of the rotation for years to come, and Kennedy is excited to finally have him. “We are excited to welcome Will back home to Birmingham! At 6’10, Will brings a unique skill set to our front court. His versatility puts him in a position to make an immediate impact next season.” Shaver is a talented scoring big man who can get points in the post, operating with his back to the basket. He’s shed upwards of 50 pounds since the mid-point of high school, and Blazer fans who remember his starring performances in the state championship tournament are eager to see what two years’ worth of added strength and conditioning against top college players have done to his repertoire. Shaver can also face up and hit jump shots – and his range extends out to the three point arc. The biggest question coming out of high school was how effectively Shaver would get up and down the court to defend and get on the glass. He’s in the best shape of his career so far, now, and knowing how Kennedy likes to have his guys get out and go in transition, Shaver is ready to bust it from end to end in his debut season.
| Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on |
| N – Maryland or Davidson – November 12 |
| N – Clemson – November 10 |
| vs Drake – December 22 |
| vs Furman – November 25 |
| vs Bradley – November 6 |
Javian Davis was a key part of the rotation last year, and returns as by far UAB’s most seasoned post player. Davis has made his own tour of the South in his four previous seasons, with stops at Mississippi State and Alabama before settling on UAB. Prior to last season, he had been strictly a reserve. And while he was also the backup to Jemison last year, Davis posted the best numbers of his career and provided 15 or so quality minutes at the pivot each game. While he’s not necessarily an athletic freak, Davis knows how to create space for himself and allows very little to his opponents. He was the highest per-minute scorer on the team, and shot an excellent 74% on attempts near the rim, per Bart Torvik. One thing that has long been a struggle for Davis has been avoiding foul trouble. He’s worked hard to become more nimble and stay in better position, and reports indicate that he’s gotten into terrific shape this summer in hopes of putting it all together in his final season.
New to the scene is Yaxel Lendeborg, who like Vazquez is a former JuCo All-American, and who will bring tremendous athleticism to the Blazers. A one time St. John’s commit, Lendeborg was born in Puerto Rico before moving to New Jersey and eventually starring for Arizona Western College. Now that he’s arrived in Birmingham, Kennedy is excited to utilize him in a variety of ways. Lendeborg can play the 5 in a small lineup, or as a mismatch against most players at the 4. He’s long and lean and continues to get stronger, which will only serve to make him more of a defensive menace than he already is. Lendeborg is a terrific shot blocker who can play above the rim, and figures to be on the receiving end of more than a few lobs from the Blazers’ talented guards. He’s more than just a dunker and transition scorer, though. Lendeborg can get points off of the bounce, with his back to the basket, and he’s proven that his shooting range extends out beyond the three point arc. He’s a talented passer, too. “He’s very unique, kind of a hybrid point forward,” said his coach at Arizona Western, Kyle Isaacs. “He was our backup point guard, but we played him all over the floor. He’s just got such a great feel.” With his ability to get up and down the floor and score in a variety of ways, Lendeborg should be on the floor often from the very start of his Blazers career.
Efrem ‘Butta’ Johnson and Tony Toney return to push for larger roles in the backcourt, but they will be challenged by two more junior college additions. Johnson is a natural scorer and good shooter with the quickness and length to create his own shots. If he can consistently stretch defenses, he’ll always have a role on this team that must replace 218 of the 281 triples made by last year’s group. Toney has worked hard to grow his role with the Blazers each of the past three years, and is hoping to continue that trend as one of the elder statesmen on this roster. Toney is a terrific and energetic defender who will guard just about anybody and make their night difficult. He prefers to drive rather than shoot, knows how to finish through contact, and can turn defense into transition opportunities. Lendeborg’s former teammate at Arizona Western, Marquis Hargrove can score the ball, and while not the most efficient shooter ever, could earn some backup minutes at the point. He’ll have to beat out Jaborri McGhee, though, to do it. McGhee, who was an all-state wide receiver as well as a star on the court in high school, was named Alabama’s 2021-22 Athlete of the Year. He put up some gaudy numbers in junior college a year ago, and is a guy who has the size and skills to play both on and off the ball. With all of the new guards on the Blazers roster, it will be interesting to see how Kennedy doles out minutes during the early portion of the season.
The path to a title in the Blazers’ new league won’t be easy this year. After all, both North Texas and Florida Atlantic have joined UAB in jumping to the American Athletic Conference – in addition to strong teams like Memphis who have already been around the AAC block. And, of course, it will take at least some time for this new Blazers roster to gel. Last season’s group was extremely experienced, yet still struggled at times with turnovers and to stop opponents from getting easy buckets. The weight of expectations was real, as well, and the Blazers suffered through a stretch early in the new year when they lost five of six games.
This team has the chance for a fresh start. With new faces all over the place, the Blazers are hoping to play a bit more loose this time around. While the experience level isn’t the same, this is still a very talented group. They may not be there on the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but they can surely be a major player in the new-look American Athletic Conference. And if the talent on paper can shine through on the court, this UAB team could be making a return trip to the Madness after just a year away.
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