# 2014–15 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

The 2014–15 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by third year head coach Jerod Haase, played their home games at Bartow Arena. They were members of Conference USA. They finished the 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 first round before losing in the second round to No. 11-seeded UCLA.

## Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2013–14 season 18–13, 7–9 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the second round of the C-USA tournament to Charlotte.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Robert Williams | 5 | G | 6'4" | 210 | RS Senior | Greenville, MS | Graduated |
| Thaddeaus Rideau | 11 | G | 6'4" | 168 | Junior | Port Arthur, TX | Transferred to Midwestern State |
| K.C. Whitaker | 12 | G | 6'6" | 185 | RS Sophomore | Ashburn, VA | Injured |
| Fahro Alihodzic | 15 | C | 6'10" | 240 | Senior | Vlasenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina | Graduated |
| Preston Purifoy | 24 | F | 6'5" | 220 | Senior | Conway, AR | Graduated |
| Rod Rucker | 42 | F | 6'5" | 220 | Senior | Elberton, GA | Graduated |
| Jordan Swing | 44 | F | 6'6" | 200 | Senior | Birmingham, AL | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Hakeem Baxter | 0 | G | 6'2" | 170 | Sophomore | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred from Maryland Eastern Shore. Under NCAA transfer rules, Baxter will have to sit out for the 2014–15 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

## Class of 2014 recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| William Lee PF | Plantersville, AL | Dallas County High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Nov 12, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Lewis Sullivan SF | Meridianville, AL | Hazel Green High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jul 2, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Nick Norton PG | Bloomington, IL | Central Catholic High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Mar 22, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 59 ||||||
| Jarvis Calhoun PG | Trussville, AL | Hewitt-Trussville High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | Mar 2, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 59 ||||||
| Chris Cokley PF | Savannah, GA | Savannah High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 216 lb (98 kg) | Nov 2, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Denzel Collins PG | Walterboro, SC | USC Salkehatchie | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 217 lb (98 kg) | Aug 3, 2014 |
| 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: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 6, 2014. ||||||

### Class of 2015 recruits

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: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/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 6, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/07/2014* 7:00 pm | | UNC Pembroke | L 71–72 | – | Bartow Arena (2,133) Birmingham, AL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/15/2014* 7:00 pm | | Louisiana–Monroe Battle 4 Atlantis Opening Round | L 65–74 | 0–1 | Bartow Arena (2,403) Birmingham, AL |
| 11/17/2014* 7:00 pm | | Young Harris | W 94–81 | 1–1 | Bartow Arena (2,071) Birmingham, AL |
| 11/20/2014* 7:00 pm | | South Florida | L 71–73 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | Bartow Arena (2,501) Birmingham, AL |
| 11/23/2014* 2:00 pm | | Jackson State | W 58–50 | 2–2 | Bartow Arena (2,023) Birmingham, AL |
| 11/26/2014* 6:00 pm, AXS TV | | vs. No. 2 Wisconsin Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 43–72 | 2–3 | Imperial Arena (2,633) Nassau, BAH |
| 11/27/2014* 8:30 pm, AXS TV | | vs. No. 18 Florida Battle 4 Atlantis consolation round | L 47–56 | 2–4 | Imperial Arena (2,408) Nassau, BAH |
| 11/28/2014* 9:30 pm, AXS TV | | vs. No. 22 UCLA Battle 4 Atlantis 7th place game | L 76–88 | 2–5 | Imperial Arena (517) Nassau, BAH |
| 12/04/2014* 7:00 pm, ASN | | Morehead State | W 58–48 | 3–5 | Bartow Arena (3,029) Birmingham, AL |
| 12/07/2014* 2:00 pm, ASN | | Illinois State | L 74–78 | 3–6 | Bartow Arena (2,234) Birmingham, AL |
| 12/14/2014* 7:00 pm, ASN | | UNC Asheville | W 79–71 | 4–6 | Bartow Arena (2,146) Birmingham, AL |
| 12/18/2014* 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | LSU | L 70–79 | 4–7 | Bartow Arena (6,054) Birmingham, AL |
| 12/22/2014* 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Chattanooga | L 67–83 | 4–8 | McKenzie Arena (2,609) Chattanooga, TN |
| 12/27/2014* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 20 North Carolina | L 58–89 | 4–9 | Dean Smith Center (19,124) Chapel Hill, NC |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/04/2015 2:00 pm | | at Middle Tennessee | W 54–49 | 5–9 (1–0) | Murphy Center (3,605) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/08/2015 7:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 66–57 | 6–9 (2–0) | Bartow Arena (2,385) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/10/2015 2:00 pm | | FIU | W 70–53 | 7–9 (3–0) | Bartow Arena (2,806) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/15/2015 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Louisiana Tech | L 71–74 | 7–10 (3–1) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,815) Ruston, LA |
| 01/17/2015 7:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | W 63–56 | 8–10 (4–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,493) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/22/2015 7:00 pm | | Charlotte | W 81–76 $^{OT}$ | 9–10 (5–1) | Bartow Arena (3,029) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/24/2015 4:30 pm, ASN | | Old Dominion | W 81–68 | 10–10 (6–1) | Bartow Arena (4,127) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/29/2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UTEP | L 69–71 | 10–11 (6–2) | Don Haskins Center (7,455) El Paso, TX |
| 01/31/2015 2:00 pm | | at UTSA | W 65–57 | 11–11 (7–2) | Convocation Center (1,252) San Antonio, TX |
| 02/05/2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Louisiana Tech | W 80–60 | 12–11 (8–2) | Bartow Arena (4,068) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/07/2015 2:00 pm | | Southern Miss | W 78–68 | 13–11 (9–2) | Bartow Arena (3,786) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/12/2015 7:00 pm | | at North Texas | L 64–67 | 13–12 (9–3) | The Super Pit (2,611) Denton, TX |
| 02/14/2015 7:00 pm | | at Rice | L 73–82 $^{2OT}$ | 13–13 (9–4) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,647) Houston, TX |
| 02/19/2015 7:00 pm | | at WKU | W 71–66 | 14–13 (10–4) | Bartow Arena (3,892) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/22/2015 7:00 pm | | Marshall | W 72–54 | 15–13 (11–4) | Bartow Arena (4,068) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/28/2015 2:00 pm, ASN | | Middle Tennessee | W 100–95 $^{3OT}$ | 16–13 (12–4) | Bartow Arena (4,761) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/05/2015 6:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | L 59–62 | 16–14 (12–5) | FAU Arena (1,005) Boca Raton, FL |
| 03/07/2015 7:00 pm, ASN | | at FIU | L 66–70 | 16–15 (12–6) | FIU Arena (951) Miami, FL |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| 03/12/2015 6:00 pm, ASN | (4) | vs. (5) WKU Quarterfinals | W 53–52 | 17–15 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (6,922) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/13/2015 5:30 pm, CBSSN | (4) | vs. (1) Louisiana Tech Semifinals | W 72–62 $^{OT}$ | 18–15 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (6,429) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/14/2015 2:30 pm, FS1 | (4) | vs. (6) Middle Tennessee Championship | W 73–60 | 19–15 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (8,279) Birmingham, AL |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/19/2015* 11:40 am, truTV | (14 S) | vs. (3 S) No. 9 Iowa State Second Round | W 60–59 | 20–15 | KFC Yum! Center (N/A) Louisville, KY |
| 03/21/2015* 11:10 am, CBS | (14 S) | vs. (11 S) UCLA Third Round | L 75–92 | 20–16 | KFC Yum! Center (21,760) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region S=South. ||||||