2016–17 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

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2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee †	17	–	1		.944			31	–	5		.861
Louisiana Tech	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
Old Dominion	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
UTEP	12	–	6		.667			15	–	17		.469
Rice	11	–	7		.611			23	–	12		.657
Marshall	10	–	8		.556			20	–	15		.571
UAB	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Western Kentucky	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
UTSA	8	–	10		.444			14	–	19		.424
Charlotte	7	–	11		.389			13	–	17		.433
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			10	–	20		.333
Southern Miss	6	–	12		.333			9	–	22		.290
FIU	3	–	15		.167			7	–	24		.226
North Texas	2	–	16		.111			8	–	22		.267
† 2017 C-USA Tournament winner

The 2016–17 UAB Blazers basketball team will represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by first year head coach Robert Ehsan, will play their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2015–16 season 26–7 overall, 16–2 in C-USA play and were the regular season champions of the league. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament to WKU. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to BYU.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Robert Brown	4	G	6'5"	195	Senior	Clermont, FL	Graduated
Lionel Love	45	G	6'3"	165	Sophomore	Huntsville, AL	Walk-on; left the team due to personal reasons

Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Nate Darling SG	Hyattsville, Maryland	DeMatha Catholic HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Javien Williams SG	Birmingham, Alabama	Woodlawn HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)
	Recruiting 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2016–17 UAB Blazers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Hakeem Baxter 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 186 lb (84 kg) Sr Philadelphia, PA G 1 Denzell Watts 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Flint, MI G 2 Nick Norton 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Jr Bloomington, IN F 3 Chris Cokley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 229 lb (104 kg) Jr Savannah, GA G 5 Deion Lavender 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Alton, IL G 10 Javien Williams 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Birmingham, AL G 11 Dirk Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Sr Homewood, AL G 13 Nate Darling 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Hyttsville, MD F 21 Tosin Mehinti 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 244 lb (111 kg) Sr Lithonia, GA G 22 Tyler Madison 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Sr Columbiana, AL F 33 Thomas Smallwood 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Bordeaux, France F 34 William Lee 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 209 lb (95 kg) Jr Plantersville, AL F 35 Lewis Sullivan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Jr Hazen Green, AL	Head coach Robert Ehsan (UC Davis) Assistant coach(es) Turner Battle (Buffalo) Dannton Jackson (Xavier) Kevin Devitt (DePaul) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 3* 7:30 PM		Lindenwood	W 92–69		Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
Non-conference regular season
November 11* 7:00 PM		Arkansas–Pine Bluff CBE Hall of Fame Classic	W 86–66	1–0	Bartow Arena (4,289) Birmingham, AL
November 14* 7:00 PM		Furman CBE Hall of Fame Classic	L 74–84	1–1	Bartow Arena (3,682) Birmingham, AL
November 17* 7:00 PM		Troy	W 74–51	2–1	Bartow Arena (4,656) Birmingham, AL
November 21* 8:30 PM, ESPN2		vs. No. 5 Kansas CBE Hall of Fame Classic semifinals	L 63–83	2–2	Sprint Center (10,071) Kansas City, MO
November 22* 6:30 PM, ESPN3		vs. George Washington CBE Hall of Fame Classic	W 81–74	3–2	Sprint Center (3,527) Kansas City, MO
November 27* 4:00 PM		vs. Saint Mary's	L 63–76	3–3	Orleans Arena (862) Las Vegas, NV
November 29* 7:00 PM		Alabama A&M	W 75–45	4–3	Bartow Arena (3,719) Birmingham, AL
December 3* 7:30 PM, beIN		Auburn	L 70–74	4–4	Bartow Arena (8,728) Birmingham, AL
December 7* 7:00 PM, ESPN3		at Stephen F. Austin			William R. Johnson Coliseum  Nacogdoches, TX
December 10* 12:00 PM, ESPN3		at Memphis			FedEx Forum  Memphis, TN
December 18* 4:00 PM		Southern			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
December 21* 7:00 PM, LHN		at Texas			Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
December 28* 5:00 PM		Miles College			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
Conference USA regular season
January 1 3:00 PM, CI		at Middle Tennessee			Murphy Center  Murfreesboro, TN
January 5 7:00 PM, ESPN3		at North Texas			The Super Pit  Denton, TX
January 7 7:00 PM		at Rice			Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
January 12 7:00 PM, CI		WKU			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
January 14 1:00 PM		Marshall			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
January 19 7:00 PM, beIN		at Florida Atlantic			FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
January 19 6:00 PM		at FIU			FIU Arena  Miami, FL
January 26 8:00 PM, ASN		Louisiana Tech			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
January 28 7:00 PM		Southern Miss			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
February 2 9:00 PM, CBSSN		at UTEP			Don Haskins Center  El Paso, TX
February 4 3:00 PM		at UTSA			Convocation Center  San Antonio, TX
February 9 7:00 PM, CI		Charlotte			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
February 11 7:00 PM, ASN		Old Dominion			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
February 16 6:00 PM, CBSSN		at Marshall			Cam Henderson Center  Huntington, WV
February 18 1:00 PM, CBSSN		at WKU			E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
February 26 12:00 PM, CBSSN		Middle Tennessee			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
March 2 7:00 PM		Florida Atlantic			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
March 4 7:00 PM		FIU			Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
Conference USA Tournament
March 8–11		vs.			Legacy Arena  Birmingham, AL
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.