Blazer Nation,
It’s a honor to be in Birmingham and to suit up for UAB. Before the season starts, I figured Blazer Nation would like to more about me and how I landed at UAB.
At the age of four, I began playing basketball. It may be hard to believe but basketball wasn’t the only sport I played growing up. I played football and soccer. It wasn’t until middle school when I took basketball serious. I noticed that my skills were on another level than the kids I was playing with. I knew that playing basketball was something that I wanted to do for a long time.
Andy Colville, my high school basketball coach, told me that I was going to have to leave the other sports alone if I wanted to play basketball in college. So, I started playing basketball exclusively in which led me to get scholarship offers from Florida International, Western Kentucky, ETSU, Chattanooga and Troy just to name a few.
The recruiting process started to get overwhelming and stressful. I had to think about the whole process in another light. I was blessed to have multiple Division-I offers to even choose from when some people do not have that opportunity. I ended up committing to Georgia Southern. It was something different about the school. It was a plus that Jason Burnell, someone I knew from the basketball world, was already there.
Everything was going well at Georgia Southern, but at the start of my junior year I knew there was a chance that my coach was going to leave. I was going to graduate on time so either way, it was a good time to test the waters. I wanted to see if I could find a different role with another team whether my coach came back or not. So, I decided to enter the transfer portal.
When most athletes make that decision, they actually enter the portal immediately. I did not. I relaxed for a while before officially entering the portal. When my name finally hit the portal, I had calls from Wake Forest, Arkansas, Minnesota, Iowa State and of course Coach Kennedy.
This recruitment decision was probably more stressful than the one in high school. I knew I only had one year so I knew I had no room for error. I had a friend – Stefan Moody – that played for Coach Kennedy and he told me that he is the ultimate coach that you want to play for.
Coach Charlton Young of Florida State told me that UAB is where I needed to be. I knew that Michael Ertel was already coming to UAB so it was easy to make up my mind at that point. I was headed to Birmingham to become a UAB Blazer!
I love the city, there are a lot of things to do here. But most of all, I’m ready to play against somebody that isn’t wearing Green and Gold. We play for each other, but most of all, we play for the fans and it will be very exciting to get out there and win games.
UAB Athletics is currently re-allocating fans who have completed their purchase of UAB men’s basketball season tickets for the 2020-21 season to adhere to a socially distanced seating model. Original season ticket locations from the men’s basketball priority seat allocation will be utilized for 2021-22 renewals or if capacity restrictions change during the 2020-21 season. For those interested in season tickets, please fill out the season ticket request form or contact the UAB Ticket Office at 205-975-8221. Once social distancing seating adjustments are completed, a member of the UAB Athletics Ticket Sales and Service team will follow up with you regarding available seating options.
For more information on the UAB men’s basketball program, follow @UAB_MBB on Twitter and Instagram. Also be sure to follow @CoachAK13 on Twitter.
