The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Basketball Teams Hold Annual Media Day
10/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 30, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB men's and women's basketball teams held their annual Preseason Basketball Media Day on Friday, as the start of the 2009-10 season draws closer.
Men's basketball head coach Mike Davis and women's head coach Audra Smith were on hand, along with a number of players, to discuss the upcoming season and the expectations that they have for their squads.
Both teams are in a similar position entering the season in terms of newcomers, as both welcome eight new faces for each.
With the departure of seven letterwinners, six of which were seniors, from last year's 22-12 NIT team, Davis has arguably his most challenging season ahead of him since becoming a head coach back in 2000. Now entering his 10th season as a head coach and fourth at UAB, Davis must find a way to replace three of the top players to ever don the Green and Gold with three returning letterwinners and eight newcomers on the 2009-10 squad.
"We had a great year last season," Davis said. "We won 22 games with six scholarship players. Looking back on the season, we played some tournament teams away from home. I thought we did a great job in conference games, going 11-5. It was a really good year but it wasn't a year that we expected. With four seniors there were high expectations, but they gave it their all and I'm really proud of the effort that they gave us last year."
The first player who Davis could possibly lean on will be senior forward Howard Crawford and junior point guard Aaron Johnson, the two lone returnees with starting experience. Crawford is the only senior on the team who has played all four years at UAB and has developed into a strong low-post player. Meanwhile, Davis feels Johnson is ready to take a leadership role this season.
"Aaron Johnson and Howard Crawford will each play an important role for us," Davis said. "Aaron is our returning point guard so he has experience and has been through our league. He's played some big games against some really good teams and played well. Howard is a player who has steadily improved throughout his career and I think the best is still ahead of him. He should be in for a great year."
Similar to the men's squad, the women's basketball team will rely on its talented youth for a successful season in 2009-10, with eight newcomers, including seven true freshmen, gracing the Blazer roster. UAB is looking to make a return to the top half of Conference USA after finishing last season ninth in the league after going 10-20 overall and 5-11 in C-USA games. Prior to that, the Blazers had back-to-back top three finishes in the league.
Smith returns for her sixth season at the helm of the program and is excited about the youthful, yet talented, team that she and her staff have assembled.
"We have a lot of new faces this season," said Smith. "But I am really looking forward to seeing what they can do for this team. All of our newcomers come from outstanding high school programs and most have won state championships. These players know how to win and hopefully that trend will continue at UAB."
With all the new players on the roster, Smith does have eight returning letterwinners, including three starters back from a season ago, to turn to for experience and leadership.
"It will be crucial that the returnees we do have play a big role for us this year," said Smith. "With so many young players, I am going to count on the veterans for their leadership skills, both on and off the court."
Both teams will play one exhibition game this season, as the men's team takes on Miles College on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m., while the women's lone exhibition contest will be on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. against Augusta State. Both contests will be played in Bartow Arena.
UAB women's head basketball coach Audra Smith quotes
 UAB women's basketball coach Audra Smith speaks with the media Friday.  |
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On youth of team "With this crew, this is the youngest team I've ever had since I've been here and I'm going into my sixth season. On top of them being young, they're very talented. This is probably the most skilled team I've had since I've been here. We have six true freshmen, a two-year college transfer, one senior in Tamika Dukes, one junior in Amanda Peterson and we're really looking to those guys to lead this team. One of the bonuses of the six newcomers that have come in, is that they're highly touted. We have in that group, in addition to three of those young ladies being valedictorians of their senior class, we have a state player of the year, Miss Alabama, we have four young ladies that have won state championships, whether that be AAU or high school."
On the schedue "This season our non-conference schedule is just as tough. We will have to go over and face Georgia at Georgia, Miami here at home, travel down and play at Florida and early we will have to face Ohio State at Ohio State. Then we'll take on Virginia Tech at the Christmas Classic up at St. John's University.
"We do that obviously, we got out and schedule the best of the best to prepare us for our conference play. To give you a little insight on conference play, we had a media teleconference the other day and again we're talking about Conference USA on the women's side being very competitive from top to bottom."
On Conference USA this season UCF winning the conference championship last year, obviously they're expected to compete with everyone returning. Still this league is very strong from top to bottom from the number one team in the conference to the number 12 team in the conference. On any given night, it's anyone's ballgame and that's the beauty of Conference USA and the fact that I believe that every coach in the conference can look at their players and honestly say that they have an opportunity to win a conference championships and that's held true for the past five years. We've had five different conference champions in the last five years, so it's exciting and it really gets the kids going on a competitive note and get their juices flowing and get them ready for the season."
UAB head men's basketball coach Mike Davis On players lost from last season "We have lost a lot of players, Robert Vaden, Lawrence Kinnard, Channing Toney and Paul Delaney. Those are four seniors that definitely affect the basketball team. We have eight new players and there's a lot of uncertainty with this basketball team."
 UAB head coach Mike Davis at Friday's basketball media day. |
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On the upcoming season "We're looking forward to the season. We are in great shape I feel, but again it's going to be a big challenge because of losing the four seniors and their experience. We gained two guys that we really feel good about, fifth year seniors Kenneth Cooper and George Drake. Cooper came from Louisiana Tech and Drake played at Vanderbilt in the SEC. The returning guys that we have are Aaron Johnson and Howard Crawford that started an equal amount of games for us last year, not every game but maybe 15-20 games, so we feel good about those guys.
"Elijah Millsap sat out last year and he's one of the guys that we're really excited about because of his effort and the way that he plays in practice and we hope to have a really good season from him. His leadership but his play in practice has been unbelievable. I'm a big film watcher and I go in and watch film a lot. When I go in and watch him on film and if we can get the other guys to play to his intensity, then we'll have a chance to win some games. I'm not sure how many games we'll win. One magazine had us 10th and the other had us sixth. We're not going to prove anyone wrong, we'll just try to get better every day in practice and try to get better in every game."
Junior guard Amanda Peterson On her expectations for this year's team "Expectations for this year are high. I definitely think we can contend for conference championship. We're young, but we have great energy at practice every day, more energy than we had last year. People on the team really have a drive."
On the impact of the newcomers in practice "It's definitely picked up the level of the upperclassmen. They come in with fresh energy. They're feeding off of us and we're feeding off of them, and we're really gelling as a team right now."
Senior forward Tamika Dukes On what it will take to achieve expectations for the team "My expectations for the team this year are very high. From the freshmen on up to the seniors, we're all willing to work hard to get the job done, and I do think we have a chance to win a conference championship."
 Senior forward Tamika Dukes discusses the upcoming season with the local media at Friday's media day. |
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On coming together as a team "With us being so young, we are a family. We've come together. We communicate well and do everything that Coach Smith asks us to do. I don't think it will be a problem for us to come together as a team. It started in the summertime when we were playing pick-up."
On the energy so far in preseason practice "This year, there is a lot of effort, a lot of energy. Coach Smith, every day in the huddle, always talks about our effort and energy, and she appreciates us coming willing to work every day. I think that will pay off."
Junior guard Elijah Millsap
On his impressions of this year's team "We're really long and athletic. We have a lot of players that can play a lot of different positions. We really want to get up and down the court. We feel like we can press. We're in good condition, and our practices have been really hard and intense. A lot of people have a lot of expectations for our team. Coach has approached this season with a lot of energy and excitement, so that's how our practices have been."
On the team's approach to the new season "We're approaching this season like we approach any other season. When you start the season, you really want to compete. I approach practice every day as if I don't have a position. Right now, it's about getting the team better and getting ready for the season."
Senior forward Howard Crawford
On what type of team the 2009 Blazers will be "We're going to be a grind-it-out team that comes out and plays hard every night. We need to come out and execute the gameplan, and we should come out okay."
On giving advice to the younger players about Division I basketball "I just try to tell them it's going to be a long season. Things are going to be hard and you're going to have tough times, but you just have to keep pushing through it. They're not going to really know until after the first game how things are going to be. Those are things they have to see first-hand."
On how the newcomers are coming along "I think they're fitting in well. It's taken them a little while to get caught up with everything, but as long as they keep working hard and watching film on the things we do, I think everything will turn out well."
Junior guard Aaron Johnson
On his role as a leader "I feel like I've been a leader for the team since I stepped foot on campus. The coaches have always told me the team goes as I go. This year it's even more important that I play my best and be at my best every day in practice and during the games because the team is going to go off me and feed off my energy."
On leading the team on both ends of the court "Defense is where I really have to be a vocal leader and do what's right. With so many newcomers on the team, they don't know the system as well as I do, so I have to control things on the defensive end and the offensive end. I have to be a leader and be vocal at all points of the game."
