Head Coach of the UAB Blazers, Andy Kennedy, made history last night becoming the 15th fastest Division 1 coach to reach 400 college basketball wins in just 623 attempts. In the last non-conference game of the season, the Blazers were able to dominate UNC Asheville in points in the paint, points off turnovers and second chance points to defeat the Bulldogs, 72-47.

UAB basketball is in full swing, having already played just under half of its home games in the 2025–26 season (47.05%). At 9–4, Coach Andy Kennedy has once again shown his ability to get the most out of his roster. According to Steve Irvine of bhambanner, UAB is one of the shortest teams in the country, ranking 351st out of 361 in average height. Despite that disadvantage, the Blazers rank 12th nationally in rebounds per game and 13th in offensive rebounds.

I asked KyeRon Lindsay-Martin about the size of the team and how they play with edge:

He said: “After the scrimmage we had against Vandy and WKU, brought us into film sessions with the forwards and they just told us it flat out wasn’t good enough. They will be the smallest anywhere they play especially in conference. And they said we gotta be different, we gotta have that dog to us.”

Andy Kennedy’s 400th Win

You can always count on Coach Kennedy to get the most out of his players. You don’t compile a 400–233 career record by accident. Over the past several seasons, Kennedy has developed Trey Jemison, now an NBA Cup champion; Jelly Walker, a current record holder in Lithuania; and Yaxel Lendeborg, now a standout at Michigan. Those days, however, are gone.

With the way the market is trending, it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that UAB will have players of that caliber remain in the program for multiple seasons. Kennedy once called Yaxel Lendeborg a unicorn after he turned down significant NIL offers to return to UAB for a second season in 2024–25. But at some point, players have to take the money.

The reality is, UAB lucked in to Andy Kennedy returning to his alma mater in 2020. Since then, the landscape of college basketball has changed dramatically. Today, competing in conference play requires a serious financial commitment to roster construction. The NIL situation at UAB isn’t just bad—it’s discouraging. You can’t expect to consistently win while remaining at the bottom of the American conference in NIL spending.

Trent Dilfer spoke openly about his own challenges with NIL. Just take a look at the post below that compares UAB’s NIL website to other teams in the conference.

It’s going to take more than a simple donation page to get UAB’s NIL efforts headed in the right direction. Things began with promise under Magic City Impact, but that collective ultimately folded. Since then, the lack of a clear, organized NIL strategy at UAB has been troubling.

Andy Kennedy is the transfer-portal king and an excellent recruiter, but that can only take you so far in today’s game. For a program to be truly competitive, the university has to be willing to fully embrace NIL.

That said, this UAB basketball team still has its entire conference schedule ahead and is absolutely worth watching. Chance Westry, the former Auburn and Syracuse guard, leads the Blazers in scoring at 16 points per game. Evan Chatman has been critical to UAB’s rebounding efforts, averaging 8.9 boards per game, which ranks 42nd nationally. KyeRon Lindsay-Martin has the potential to be a real force if he can find consistency. He’s averaging 10.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and is coming off a 24-point, 8-rebound performance.

With the full American Athletic Conference slate still ahead, UAB’s path to March Madness runs through the American Tournament, scheduled for March 11–15 at Legacy Arena. Count them out at your own risk—Andy Kennedy and the Blazers have proven before they can rise when it matters most.

Andy Kennedy’s full response to winning 400 games: