2017–18 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

2017–18 UAB Blazers men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	20–13 (10–8 C-USA)
Head coach	Robert Ehsan (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Turner Battle Dannton Jackson Kevin Devitt
Home arena	Bartow Arena

2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee	16	–	2		.889			25	–	8		.758
Old Dominion	15	–	3		.833			25	–	7		.781
Western Kentucky	14	–	4		.778			27	–	11		.711
Marshall †	12	–	6		.667			25	–	11		.694
UTSA	11	–	7		.611			20	–	15		.571
UAB	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
North Texas	8	–	10		.444			20	–	18		.526
FIU	8	–	10		.444			14	–	18		.438
Southern Miss	7	–	11		.389			16	–	18		.471
Louisiana Tech	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			12	–	19		.387
UTEP	6	–	12		.333			11	–	20		.355
Rice	4	–	14		.222			7	–	24		.226
Charlotte	2	–	16		.111			6	–	23		.207
† 2018 C-USA Tournament winner

The 2017–18 UAB Blazers basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by second-year head coach Robert Ehsan, played their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 20–13, 10–8 C-USA play to finish in sixth place. The defeated Florida Atlantic in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing to Western Kentucky. Despite winning 20 games, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2016–17 season 17–16, 9–9 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They defeated Charlotte in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing to Louisiana Tech.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Hakeem Baxter	0	G	6'2"	186	Senior	Philadelphia, PA	Graduated
Denzell Watts	1	G	6'2"	235	Senior	Flint, MI	Graduated
Javien Williams	10	G	6'4"	175	Freshman	Birmingham, AL	Transferred to Tallahassee CC
Dirk Williams	11	G	6'5"	178	Senior	Homewood, AL	Graduated
Tosin Mehinti	21	F	6'9"	244	Senior	Lagos, Nigeria	Graduated
Tyler Madison	22	G	6'4"	222	Senior	Columbiana, AL	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jalen Perry	21	G	6'3"	180	Junior	Louisville, KY	Junior college transferred from John A. Logan College.

Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Makhtar Gueye #64 PF	Lake Forest, IL	ASPIRE Basketball Academy	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	N/A	Oct 24, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 75
Luis Hurtado #83 SG	Weston, FL	The Sagemont School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Nov 17, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 68
Zack Bryant PG	Jacksonville, FL	Providence School of Jacksonville	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Aug 9, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Recruiting class of 2018

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Tamel Pearson #31 C	Chicago, IL	Morgan Park High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	N/A	Sep 4, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Ryan Boyce SF	Memphis, TN	East High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 13, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jude Akabueze C	Lagos, Nigeria	North Marion High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	Nov 19, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2017–18 UAB Blazers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Zack Bryant 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Providence School Hastings, Florida G 2 Nick Norton 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 166 lb (75 kg) Sr Central Catholic High School Bloomington, Illinois F 3 Chris Cokley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Sr Savannah High School Savannah, Georgia G 4 Anderson McCoy (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 166 lb (75 kg) Jr Ancilla College Indianapolis, Indiana G 5 Deion Lavender 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Southern Illinois Alton, Illinois G 10 Luis Hurtado 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Fr The Sagemont School Mérida, Venezuela F 11 Makhtar Gueye 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Aspire Academy Rufisque, Senegal G 12 Hunter Reynolds (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 161 lb (73 kg) Fr Christian Academy of Knoxville Knoxville, TN G 13 Nate Darling 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So DeMatha Catholic High School Halifax, Nova Scotia G 21 Jalen Perry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr John A. Logan College Louisville, Kentucky F 23 Lewis Sullivan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 223 lb (101 kg) RS Jr Hazel Green High School Hazel Green, Alabama F 33 Thomas Smallwood 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Jr Lycée Général Saint John Perse Bordeaux, France F 34 William Lee 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 206 lb (93 kg) Sr Dallas County High School Plantersville, Alabama	Head coach Robert Ehsan (UC Davis) Assistant coach(es) Turner Battle (Buffalo) Dannton Jackson (Xavier (LA)) Kevin Devitt (DePaul) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 2, 2017* 7:00 pm		Morehouse	W 84–69		Bartow Arena (3,203) Birmingham, AL
Non-conference regular season
November 10* 7:00 pm		Jacksonville	W 96–67	1–0	Bartow Arena (3,106) Birmingham, AL
November 13* 7:00 pm		Chattanooga Cayman Islands Classic campus site game	W 89–47	2–0	Bartow Arena (2,985) Birmingham, AL
November 16* 7:00 pm		LeMoyne–Owen	W 81–57	3–0	Bartow Arena (2,828) Birmingham, AL
November 20* 4:00 pm		vs. Richmond Cayman Islands Classic quarterfinals	L 50–63	3–1	John Gray Gymnasium (650) George Town, Cayman Islands
November 21* 4:00 pm		vs. Buffalo Cayman Islands Classic consolation round	L 91–96 OT	3–2	John Gray Gymnasium (404) George Town, Cayman Islands
November 22* 11:00 am		vs. Iowa Cayman Islands Classic 7th place game	L 85–95	3–3	John Gray Gymnasium (1,020) George Town, Cayman Islands
November 26* 3:00 pm		Mississippi College	W 90–53	4–3	Bartow Arena (3,222) Birmingham, AL
November 30* 7:00 pm, Stadium		Memphis Bartow Classic	W 71–56	5–3	Bartow Arena (4,920) Birmingham, AL
December 5* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Troy	W 90–78	6–3	Trojan Arena (3,213) Troy, AL
December 9* 3:30 pm, SECN		at Auburn Rivalry	L 80–85	6–4	Auburn Arena (7,965) Auburn, AL
December 16* 2:15 pm		vs. Alabama A&M BHM JAM	W 90–58	7–4	Legacy Arena (7,209) Birmingham, AL
December 20* 7:00 pm		New Orleans	W 74–67	8–4	Bartow Arena (3,229) Birmingham, AL
December 23* 2:00 pm		Mississippi Valley State	W 74–57	9–4	Bartow Arena (2,783) Birmingham, AL
Conference USA regular season
December 30 4:00 pm, Stadium		Middle Tennessee	L 60–63	9–5 (0–1)	Bartow Arena (4,143) Birmingham, AL
January 4, 2018 6:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic	W 75–44	10–5 (1–1)	FAU Arena (1,091) Boca Raton, FL
January 6 6:00 pm		at FIU	W 75–64	11–5 (2–1)	FIU Arena (515) Miami, FL
January 11 7:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 86–75	12–5 (3–1)	Bartow Arena (3,351) Birmingham, AL
January 13 4:00 pm, Stadium		Louisiana Tech	W 74–62	13–5 (4–1)	Bartow Arena (3,743) Birmingham, AL
January 18 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at WKU	L 69–77	13–6 (4–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,643) Bowling Green, KY
January 20 6:00 pm		at Marshall	L 78–86 OT	13–7 (4–3)	Cam Henderson Center (6,740) Huntington, WV
January 25 7:00 pm, beIN		UTEP	W 85–78	14–7 (5–3)	Bartow Arena (3,013) Birmingham, AL
January 27 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UTSA	L 70–82	14–8 (5–4)	Bartow Arena (4,259) Birmingham, AL
February 1 6:00 pm		at Charlotte	W 76–64	15–8 (6–4)	Halton Arena (3,266) Charlotte, NC
February 3 6:00 pm		at Old Dominion	L 60–65	15–9 (6–5)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,481) Norfolk, VA
February 8 7:00 pm		North Texas	L 60–67	15–10 (6–6)	Bartow Arena (3,383) Birmingham, AL
February 10 7:00 pm		Rice	W 61–56	16–10 (7–6)	Bartow Arena (3,703) Birmingham, AL
February 15 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at Louisiana Tech	L 60–73	16–11 (7–7)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,562) Ruston, LA
February 17 4:00 pm		at Southern Miss	W 87–69	17–11 (8–7)	Reed Green Coliseum (2,405) Hattiesburg, MS
February 24 6:00 pm, Stadium		at No. 24 Middle Tennessee	L 54–79	17–12 (8–8)	Murphy Center (9,717) Murfreesboro, TN
March 1 7:00 pm, beIN		Marshall	W 91–77	18–12 (9–8)	Bartow Arena (3,156) Birmingham, AL
March 4 7:00 pm		WKU	W 101–73	19–12 (10–8)	Bartow Arena (4,363) Birmingham, AL
Conference USA tournament
March 7 9:00 pm, Stadium	(6)	vs. (11) Florida Atlantic First round	W 83–72	20–12	The Ford Center at The Star (5,198) Frisco, TX
March 7 9:00 pm, Stadium	(6)	vs. (3) WKU Quarterfinals	L 70–98	20–13	The Ford Center at The Star (2,531) Frisco, TX
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source