UAB is looking awfully good this year. I really hope they find a way to keep so much of that in-state talent from leaving. The list of kids NOT recruited by Alabama and Auburn who go on to star at other schools is pretty impressive. Toss in the kids who were recruited by them but chose to get elsewhere and there's a lot of room for growth for UAB.
UAB handled NIU pretty easily. Great season for them. Are they getting any fan support at home? Makes you wonder why they shutdown the program in the first place.
Blame the Regents for the University of Alabama on that one. It's a pretty messed up tale of greed and neglect. They are getting a new home facility and their backing is growing slowly, but surely. I mean, it's Alabama so you have to contend with the big 2 for dollars and attention. I would like to see UAB start playing the big boys now that they are back.
Corey, I wasn't sure if you were talking football or basketball. UAB has a decent history in college basketball. UAB is an urban university. It covers a major portion of the Birmingham southside and its medical school is internationally respected. In football, like you said, it will have to compete with Auburn and Alabama. Troy is doing a decent job of that and the Birmingham area and Alabama probably has enough talent to supply UAB with very good players.
I watched the UAB-NIU game last night and I was amazed at the talent gap between the two schools. UAB was MUCH bigger, faster and more athletic. It looked like grown men against little kids. UAB is on the right track...
@Terry O'Keefe Here's some good reads for you that aren't too long, but get to the point. Why UAB died and has already risen Alabama-Birmingham Football Revived With Jolt of Cash and Civic Pride It really was a genius job of coaching and recruiting. After losing all of their upper classmen, they had to rely on JUCOs to fill that gap and have done an absolutely wonderful job of stealing some very good high school players out of Birmingham, Saraland and Montgomery.
Blazers hauled 16 on signing day. The local kids to me (Decatur, Hartselle and Muscle Shoals) are all kids I've seen with my own eyes and give the thumbs up. UAB Football Adds 16 Players on NLI Early Signing Day - University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Alabama didn't have anything less than a 4 star in this recruiting class but we had to go nationwide to do that. It looks like their highest recruit was a 3 star. I dont think that is necessarily a bad thing. Player development will be key and not wasting any scholarships will also be very important. I saw Hartselle play several times a couple of years ago and they were very well coached (and they either won or finished in the final 2 of the state championship) but had very few players with enough size to play D1. That will be UAB's challenge, but Troy has been fairly successful at competing with the big boys.
Swoopes, the kid from Hartselle, has the size and speed to be a big time DI player. The rest of the team was not very big. They went unbeaten this year until the playoffs (maybe 2nd or 3rd round?). Their plan of attack was no secret. On offense, they'd give the ball to Swoopes looking for the big play. On defense, which was fantastic, they used Swoopes to take away the best WR for the other team. The truth is the Regents in the state of Alabama spend more money on Alabama's weight room than they do the entire UAB program, which is why we've seen the change in the UAB alumni and the local business community to take charge of it all themselves... build their own facilities and do their own thing their own way.