2015–16 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

2015–16 UAB Blazers men's basketball
C-USA regular season champions
NIT, First round
ConferenceConference USA
Record26–7 (16–2 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBartow Arena
Seasons
2015–16 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UAB 16 2   .889 26 7   .788
Middle Tennessee 13 5   .722 25 10   .714
Marshall 12 6   .667 17 16   .515
Louisiana Tech 12 6   .667 23 10   .697
Old Dominion 12 6   .667 25 13   .658
UTEP 10 8   .556 19 14   .576
Charlotte 9 9   .500 14 19   .424
Western Kentucky 8 10   .444 18 16   .529
North Texas 7 11   .389 12 20   .375
Rice 7 11   .389 12 20   .375
FIU 7 11   .389 13 19   .406
Florida Atlantic 5 13   .278 8 25   .242
Southern Miss* 5 13   .278 8 21   .276
UTSA 3 15   .167 5 27   .156
*Ineligible for postseason play due to self-imposed postseason ban.
2016 C-USA Tournament winner

The 2015–16 UAB Blazers basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by fourth year head coach Jerod Haase, played their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 26–7, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the C-USA regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament to WKU. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to BYU.

Following the season, head coach Jerod Haase left UAB to accept the head coaching position at Stanford.[1] On April 4, 2016, the school hired Robert Ehsan, who had been an assistant under Haase at UAB, as head coach .[2]

Previous season

[edit]

The Blazers finished the 2014–15 season 20–16, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They defeated WKU, Louisiana Tech, and Middle Tennessee to become champions of the C-USA tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 14 seed where they upset No. 3-seeded and No. 9-ranked Iowa State in the Second round before losing in the Third round to No. 11-seeded UCLA.

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Jarvis Calhoun 5 G 6'0" 165 Freshman Trussville, AL Transferred to John A. Logan College
C. J. Washington 25 F 6'8" 219 Senior Augusta, GA Graduated
Denzel Collins 40 G 6'2" 200 Senior Savannah, GA Graduated

Incoming transfers

[edit]
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Deion Lavender 5 G 6'3" 180 Sophomore Alton, IL Transferred from Southern Illinois. Under NCAA transfer rules, Lavender will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

Incoming recruits

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College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Dirk Williams
SG
Homewood, AL Tallahassee Community College 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) N/A 
Star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: JR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 27, 2014.

Roster

[edit]
2015–16 UAB Blazers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 0 Hakeem Baxter 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Philadelphia, PA
G 1 Denzell Watts 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 207 lb (94 kg) Jr Flint, MI
G 2 Nick Norton 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Bloomington, IN
F 3 Chris Cokley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 216 lb (98 kg) So Savannah, GA
G 4 Robert Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Clermont, FL
G 5 Deion Lavender Current redshirt 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Alton, IL
G 11 Dirk Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Homewood, AL
F 21 Tosin Mehinti 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Jr Lithonia, GA
G 22 Tyler Madison 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Columbiana, AL
F 33 Thomas Smallwood 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Fr Bordeaux, France
F 34 William Lee 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Plantersville, AL
F 35 Lewis Sullivan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Hazen Green, AL
G 45 Lionel Love (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Huntsville, AL
Head coach

Jerod Haase

Assistant coach(es)

Robert Ehsan

Richie Riley

Turner Battle


Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 6*
7:00 pm
Cal State East Bay W 99–59 
Bartow Arena (3,553)
Birmingham, AL
Non-conference regular season
November 13*
8:30 pm, SECN+
at Auburn L 74–75  0–1
Auburn Arena (9,121)
Auburn, AL
November 16*
8:00 pm, ASN
Alabama State
Emerald Coast Classic
W 72–70  1–1
Bartow Arena (4,833)
Birmingham, AL
November 19*
7:00 pm
at Troy W 79–63  2–1
Trojan Arena (2,887)
Troy, AL
November 22*
4:00 pm, ASN
Jacksonville State
Emerald Coast Classic
W 61–55  3–1
Bartow Arena (3,939)
Birmingham, AL
November 27*
8:30 pm, CBSSN
vs. Illinois
Emerald Coast Classic semifinals
L 58–72  3–2
The Arena at NWFSC (2,222)
Niceville, FL
November 28*
2:30 pm, CBSSN
vs. Virginia Tech
Emerald Coast Classic 3rd place game
L 77–82 OT 3–3
The Arena at NWFSC (2,222)
Niceville, FL
December 1*
8:00 pm, ASN
Georgia State W 64–57  4–3
Bartow Arena (3,709)
Birmingham, AL
December 5*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Illinois State W 74–61  5–3
Redbird Arena (5,093)
Normal, IL
December 13*
7:00 pm
Seattle W 79–73  6–3
Bartow Arena (3,587)
Birmingham, AL
December 16*
7:00 pm
USC Upstate W 96–54  7–3
Bartow Arena (3,395)
Birmingham, AL
December 19*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at South Florida W 79–68  8–3
USF Sun Dome (2,671)
Tampa, FL
December 22*
7:00 pm
Hiwassee W 116–43  9–3
Bartow Arena (3,455)
Birmingham, AL
December 29*
2:30 pm, ASN
Stephen F. Austin W 76–66  10–3
Bartow Arena (3,956)
Birmingham, AL
Conference USA regular season
January 3
2:00 pm, ASN
Middle Tennessee W 78–67  11–3
(1–0)
Bartow Arena (4,279)
Birmingham, AL
January 7
7:00 pm
UTSA W 104–82  12–3
(2–0)
Bartow Arena (3,747)
Birmingham, AL
January 9
1:00 pm, CBSSN
UTEP W 87–80  13–3
(3–0)
Bartow Arena (4,287)
Birmingham, AL
January 14
6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Old Dominion W 72–71 OT 14–3
(4–0)
Ted Constant Convocation Center (7,162)
Norfolk, VA
January 16
6:00 pm
at Charlotte W 74–72  15–3
(5–0)
Dale F. Halton Arena (4,477)
Charlotte, NC
January 21
8:00 pm, CBSSN
Rice W 82–70  16–3
(6–0)
Bartow Arena (5,535)
Birmingham, AL
January 23
7:00 pm
North Texas W 78–57  17–3
(7–0)
Bartow Arena (6,835)
Birmingham, AL
January 28
6:30 pm, FS1
at WKU L 62–69  17–4
(7–1)
E.A. Diddle Arena (3,892)
Bowling Green, KY
January 30
11:00 am, CBSSN
at Marshall W 81–78  18–4
(8–1)
Cam Henderson Center (7,085)
Huntington, WV
February 4
7:00 pm, ASN
FIU W 74–69  19–4
(9–1)
Bartow Arena (6,664)
Birmingham, AL
February 6
7:00 pm
Florida Atlantic W 104–67  20–4
(10–1)
Bartow Arena (6,211)
Birmingham, AL
February 11
7:00 pm
at Southern Miss W 80–77 2OT 21–4
(11–1)
Reed Green Coliseum (2,895)
Hattiesburg, MS
February 13
1:00 pm, FSN
at Louisiana Tech L 76–85  21–5
(11–2)
Thomas Assembly Center (5,213)
Ruston, LA
February 21
5:00 pm, CBSSN
at Middle Tennessee W 77–67  22–5
(12–2)
Murphy Center (7,822)
Murfreesboro, TN
February 25
7:00 pm
Marshall W 95–91  23–5
(13–2)
Bartow Arena (7,190)
Birmingham, AL
February 27
11:00 am, FSN
WKU W 71–67  24–5
(14–2)
Bartow Arena (7,510)
Birmingham, AL
March 3
6:00 pm
at FIU W 77–60  25–5
(15–2)
FIU Arena (1,166)
Miami, FL
March 5
11:00 am, ASN
at Florida Atlantic W 73–70  26–5
(16–2)
FAU Arena (729)
Boca Raton, FL
Conference USA tournament
March 10
12:00 pm, ASN
(1) vs. (8) WKU
Quarterfinals
L 77–88  26–6
Legacy Arena (9,797)
Birmingham, AL
NIT
March 19*
10:00 pm, ESPNU
(7) at (2) BYU
First round – St. Bonaventure Bracket
L 79–97  26–7
Marriott Center (8,420)
Provo, UT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Jerod Haase leaves UAB after four seasons, heading to Stanford". AL.com. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  2. ^ "UAB promotes assistant Ehsan to head coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2017.