UAB basketball returns most of last year’s tournament team as Andy Kennedy reloads.
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: UAB basketball.
Despite a 4th-place finish in their first season in the AAC, (the Blazers spent the past 28 years in Conference-USA) UAB won three straight in the AAC tournament, the requisite for earning a tournament bid from the conference. It was Eric Gaines, one of the best athletes in college basketball, who teamed up with JUCO transfer Yaxel Lendeborg to make the Blazers’ transition into the AAC quite seamless.
After losing to Memphis in early March, giving up 106 points, something clicked. The Blazers, then at 18-11 overall (10-6), would turn a corner. They won their next six games, beating Temple, SMU, Wichita State, South Florida, and Temple once more to earn a spot in the Round of 64.
While UAB drew a tough opponent, 2023 runner-up San Diego State, they held their own before ultimately falling by a four-point margin despite 19 points from Efrem Johnson. Entering the 2024-25 season, four starters from that first round loss will return, possibly Kennedy’s squad up for a repeat as AAC champions.
Eric Gaines is gone to professional waters, but Lendeborg, Johnson, Alejandro Vasquez, and Christian Coleman all will reprise their respective roles for UAB this season. Glue guy and All-Name Team candidate Tony Toney also returns, while Kennedy reached into the portal to grab a quartet of contributors.
Former Georgia Southern guard Tyren Moore is likely to handle lead guard duties, while guards Greg Gordon (Iona) and Ja’Borri McGhee (South Plains CC) provide additional backcourt depth. Forward Bradley Ezewiro also joins the team after averaging 12.0 PPG at Saint Louis.
For now, UAB has never lost an AAC tournament game. With key contributors returning and added depth, this roster could keep that statement true once more.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Andy Kennedy (5th season at UAB and 18th overall)
2023-24 record: 23-12 (12-6)
2024 postseason finish: Lost to San Diego State (69-65) in the Round of 64
Notable departures:
- Eric Gaines (12.3 PPG, 5.5 APG, 3.9 RPG)
- Javian Davis (9.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.1 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- N/A (Schedule yet to be released.)
Projected Rotation
PG: Tyren Moore (5-11, 180, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 17.0 PPG, 3.1 APG, 2.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 40.6 3P% (Georgia Southern)
SG: Efrem Johnson (6-4, 180, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, 35.9 3P%
SF: Alejandro Vasquez (6-4, 205, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.1 APG , 39.4 3P%
PF: Christian Coleman (6-8, 205, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 7.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 0.5 APG, 54.6 FG%
C: Yaxel Lendeborg (6-11, 235, So.)
2023-24 stats: 13.8 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 BPG, 51.3 FG%
6: Tony Toney (6-2, 190, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 4.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 0.7 APG
7: Bradley Ezewiro (6-9, 265, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 12.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, 53.4 FG% (Saint Louis)
8: Greg Gordon (6-5, 210, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 16.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.5 SPG, 54.8 FG% (Iona)
9: Ja’Borri McGhee (6-1, 205, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 18.7 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.6 RPG (South Plains CC)
10: Will Shaver (6-10, 260, R-So.)
2023-24 stats: 1.1 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 0.0 APG, 4.9 MPG
11: Marquis Hargrove (6-3, 180, Rs.-Jr.)
2023-24 stats: Redshirted
2022-23 stats: 14.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.9 APG at Arizona Western (NJCAA)
12: Reginald Kennedy Jr. (6-10, 255, So.)
2023 recruit
13: Makhi Myles (6-10, 255, So.)
2023 247Sports Composite #282 ranked recruit
UAB Basketball Team MVP: Yaxel Lendeborg
Lendeborg may be a very slept-on draft product coming out of the AAC this year. He led the Blazers in PPG along with averaging a double-double last year after transferring in from JUCO Arizona Western College. The New Jersey native immediately became one of the best players in the conference once the season began, collecting 21 double-doubles over the course of the year and tallying 21 rebounds against Florida Atlantic, 18 against Tulane, 16 on three separate occasions, and 15 four different times.
Metrics-wise, he had the highest total rebounding percentage in the conference, along with top-5 finishes in PER, win shares, blocks, box plus/minus, and offensive rating. While the tandem of Lendeborg-Gaines was one of the best in the AAC last season, this year might be Lendeborg’s to truly shine as the undoubted No. 1 option. If UAB returns to the NCAA tournament in March, look for Lendeborg’s name on draft boards. Even if they don’t, just do a quick look around.
UAB Basketball make-or-break player: Tyren Moore
Moore, a 2023-24 All-Sun Belt selection, will attempt to fill the void left by the departure of Eric Gaines. He’s not the biggest guard, listed at under six feet, but his penchant for scoring helped out the Eagles as the Sun Belt section of the schedule drew to a close, scoring 30+ points five times, including a 36-point performance against App State in the Sun Belt tournament, the last time we saw Moore in a basketball game.
I really hate that Eric Gaines is leaving because I love watching Eric Gaines play basketball. I think I might have tweeted that exact sentence before. Eric Gaines is so fun to watch. But Tyren Moore is absolutely a joy to experience as well. To all UAB fans, make sure to tune in when Tyren Moore is playing. He’s a great offensive threat, and his game should translate well from the Sun Belt to the AAC. After all, he did score 15 against Michigan State.
Key analytic: FTM per game
Last year, the Blazers were 8th in the nation with 17.8 FTM per game. Where did that production come from? Quite a bit from Lendeborg (5.8 attempts per game), but the departing Gaines and Davis combined for 43.8% of FTA for UAB. For a team that didn’t make many three-pointers (6.1 per game), the charity stripe was a key method of generating offense for the Blazers. Undoubtedly, Lendeborg will continue to get to the line, but what about the rest of the team?
Christian Coleman could be a factor in UAB’s pursuit of free throws, as he was the only player on the roster with > 2.0 FTA per game that averaged less than 20.0 MPG. No other player with a pronounced role had a FTr over 32.0%. As for the newcomers, Tyren Moore may be the answer. He was 2nd in the Sun Belt last year with an 86.5 FT%, and averaged 3.5 attempts per game. Ezewiro was also adept at getting to the line, with his 60.2% FTr placing him 2nd on Saint Louis’s roster for that stat category, though he was less efficient, shooting 70.8% from the stripe. Gordon averaged 3.9 FTA per game, but converted at a 51.6% rate. If UAB manages to match their free-throw numbers from last year, it will be because of a team effort rather than just a power duo like Lendeborg and Gaines. It’s a goal that isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
UAB Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 2nd in the AAC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit