# 2023–24 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

The 2023–24 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Andy Kennedy, and played their home games at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama as first-year members of American Athletic Conference (AAC).

## Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2022–23 season 29–10, 14–6 in Conference USA (C-USA) play to finish in third place. They defeated Rice in the quarterfinals and North Texas in the semifinals, before losing in the championship of the C-USA tournament to Florida Atlantic. They received an at-large bid to the NIT, where they defeated Southern Miss in the first round, Morehead State in the second round, Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals and Utah Valley in the semifinals, before losing to North Texas in the championship game.
The season marked the team's last season as members of Conference USA before joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Ledarrius Brewer | 2 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Senior | Meridian, MS | Graduated |
| Tavin Lovan | 3 | G | 6'4" | 210 | Senior | Franklin, KY | Graduated |
| KJ Buffen | 5 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Senior | Gainesville, GA | Graduated |
| Jordan Walker | 10 | G | 5'11" | 170 | RS Senior | Port Washington, NY | Graduated/undrafted in 2023 NBA draft; signed with the Dallas Mavericks |
| Ty Brewer | 15 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Senior | Meridian, MS | Graduated |
| Tyler Bertram | 23 | G | 6'3" | 170 | RS Junior | Cooperstown, NY | Transferred to Albany |
| Rongie Gordon | 25 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Sophomore | Montgomery, AL | Transferred to Kennesaw State |
| Trey Jemison | 55 | C | 6'11" | 260 | Senior | Birmingham, AL | Graduated/undrafted in 2023 NBA draft; signed with the New Orleans Pelicans |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Daniel Oritz | 2 | G | 6'0" | 187 | Junior | Shreveport, LA | North Alabama |
| Yaxel Lendeborg | 3 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Junior | Pennsauken, NJ | Arizona Western College |
| James White | 5 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Junior | Conyers, GA | Ole Miss |
| Alejandro Vasquez | 10 | G | 6'4" | 205 | Junior | Queens, NY | Salt Lake CC |
| Christian Coleman | 13 | F | 6'9" | | Junior | Winnsboro, LA | South Plains College |
| Marquis Hargrove | 15 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Sacramento, CA | Arizona Western College |
| Barry Dunning | 22 | G | 6'6" | 195 | Sophomore | Mobile, AL | Arkansas |
| Will Shaver | 25 | F | 6'10" | 260 | RS Sophomore | Birmingham, AL | North Carolina |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| KJ Satterfield SG | Columbus, OH | Whitehall Yearling High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Mar 17, 2022 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ||||||
| 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: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., − | | Morehouse | W 88–70 | − | 13 – Gaines | 12 – Lendeborg | 3 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (2,317) Birmingham, AL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | L 71–73 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | 20 – Davis | 15 – Davis | 2 – Lendeborg | Bartow Arena (3,632) Birmingham, AL |
| November 10, 2023* 8:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Clemson Asheville Championship semifinals | L 76–77 | 0–2 | 18 – Gaines | 6 – tied | 3 – tied | Harrah's Cherokee Center (3,319) Asheville, NC |
| November 12, 2023* 11:30 a.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Maryland Asheville Championship consolation | W 66–63 | 1–2 | 20 – Gaines | 7 – Davis | 3 – Gaines | Harrah's Cherokee Center (1,507) Asheville, NC |
| November 16, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Alcorn State | W 80–77 | 2–2 | 25 – Vasquez | 9 – Davis | 2 – tied | Bartow Arena (3,184) Birmingham, AL |
| November 21, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Middle Tennessee | W 58–57 | 3–2 | 21 – Davis | 12 – Lendeborg | 3 – Vasquez | Murphy Center (3,227) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 25, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Furman | W 92–86 | 4–2 | 19 – Lendeborg | 10 – Lendeborg | 6 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (2,953) Birmingham, AL |
| November 28, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | McNeese | L 60–81 | 4–3 | 20 – Ortiz | 11 – Davis | 3 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (2,976) Birmingham, AL |
| December 1, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Miss | L 82–85 | 4–4 | 26 – Vasquez | 7 – Lendeborg | 6 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (3,337) Birmingham, AL |
| December 9, 2023* 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arkansas State | L 68–87 | 4–5 | 17 – Lendeborg | 10 – Lendeborg | 5 – tied | First National Bank Arena (2,699) Jonesboro, AR |
| December 13, 2023* 7:00 p.m., − | | at Alabama A&M | W 93–82 | 5–5 | 16 – Lendeborg | 16 – Lendeborg | 8 – Gaines | Alabama A&M Events Center (2,893) Huntsville, AL |
| December 17, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montevallo | W 92–56 | 6–5 | 22 – Davis | 8 – Coleman | 10 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (3,576) Birmingham, AL |
| December 22, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Drake | W 79–78 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | 15 – Davis | 8 – Lendeborg | 9 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (3,496) Birmingham, AL |
| December 29, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UNC Asheville | W 90–85 | 8–5 | 24 – Lendeborg | 15 – Lendeborg | 7 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (3,392) Birmingham, AL |
| AAC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at UTSA | W 78–76 | 9–5 (1–0) | 23 – Lendeborg | 15 – Lendeborg | 6 – Gaines | Convocation Center (744) San Antonio, TX |
| January 7, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Florida | W 75–71 | 10–5 (2–0) | 23 – Lendeborg | 15 – Lendeborg | 3 – Johnson | Bartow Arena (3,677) Birmingham, AL |
| January 14, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 24 Florida Atlantic | L 73–86 | 10–6 (2–1) | 13 – tied | 7 – Davis | 4 – Lendeborg | Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena (3,161) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 17, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tulane | W 83–69 | 11–6 (3–1) | 28 – Vasquez | 18 – Lendeborg | 6 – Johnson | Bartow Arena (3,472) Birmingham, AL |
| January 20, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | East Carolina | W 69–61 | 12–6 (4–1) | 17 – Gaines | 9 – Davis | 8 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (3,872) Birmingham, AL |
| January 23, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Charlotte | L 70–76 | 12–7 (4–2) | 13 – Vasquez | 5 – tied | 4 – Gaines | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,155) Charlotte, NC |
| January 28, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 19 Memphis Battle for the Bones | W 97–88 | 13–7 (5–2) | 23 – Lendeborg | 16 – Lendeborg | 4 – tied | Bartow Arena (8,127) Birmingham, AL |
| January 31, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at North Texas | W 82–79 $^{OT}$ | 14–7 (6–2) | 18 – Johnson | 10 – Lendeborg | 5 – Gaines | The Super Pit (3,689) Denton, TX |
| February 4, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at SMU | L 69–72 | 14–8 (6–3) | 20 – Johnson | 13 – Lendeborg | 10 – Gaines | Moody Coliseum (5,656) Dallas, TX |
| February 8, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 20 Florida Atlantic | W 76–73 $^{OT}$ | 15–8 (7–3) | 17 – Lendeborg | 21 – Lendeborg | 8 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (5,306) Birmingham, AL |
| February 11, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tulsa | W 70–63 | 16–8 (8–3) | 17 – tied | 11 – tied | 7 – Gaines | Reynolds Center (3,124) Tulsa, OK |
| February 18, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Texas | W 71–62 | 17–8 (9–3) | 26 – Lendeborg | 8 – tied | 4 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (4,785) Birmingham, AL |
| February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Rice | L 71–94 | 17–9 (9–4) | 16 – Lendeborg | 11 – Lendeborg | 5 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (3,751) Birmingham, AL |
| February 25, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Tulane | W 78–67 | 18–9 (10–4) | 26 – Lendeborg | 12 – Lendeborg | 5 – tied | Devlin Fieldhouse (1,605) New Orleans, LA |
| February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Wichita State | L 66–74 | 18–10 (10–5) | 22 – Vasquez | 15 – Lendeborg | 5 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (4,487) Birmingham, AL |
| March 3, 2024 4:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Memphis Battle for the Bones | L 87–106 | 18–11 (10–6) | 17 – Gaines | 8 – Lendeburg | 8 – Gaines | FedExForum (13,491) Memphis, TN |
| March 7, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Temple | W 100–72 | 19–11 (11–6) | 19 – tied | 14 – Lendeburg | 10 – Gaines | Liacouras Center (2,515) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 10, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | SMU | W 74–70 | 20–11 (12–6) | 22 – Gaines | 12 – Lendeborg | 3 – Gaines | Bartow Arena (4,037) Birmingham, AL |
| AAC tournament |||||||||
| March 15, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (12) Wichita State Quarterfinals | W 72–60 | 21–11 | 18 – Lendeborg | 14 – Lendeborg | 7 – Gaines | Dickies Arena (5,454) Fort Worth, TX |
| March 16, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (1) South Florida Semifinals | W 93–83 | 22–11 | 21 – Johnson | 11 – Lendeborg | 5 – Gaines | Dickies Arena (5,545) Fort Worth, TX |
| March 17, 2024 2:15 p.m., ESPN | (4) | vs. (11) Temple Championship | W 85–69 | 23–11 | 29 – Vasquez | 16 – Lendeborg | 9 – Gaines | Dickies Arena (5,695) Fort Worth, TX |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 22, 2024 12:45 p.m., TNT | (12 E) | vs. (5 E) No. 24 San Diego State First round | L 65–69 | 23–12 | 19 – Johnson | 7 – Lendeborg | 3 – Gaines | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Spokane, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Source: