The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Letters from Mark Ingram
11/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
Dear Blazer Nation,
Huge news in C-USA last week when it was formally announced that Judy Macleod has been named as our Conference Commissioner. Judy has served the league for several years and has had a tremendous working relationship with each of its institutions. We certainly wish Judy nothing but great success and look forward to working with her for years to come.
As the Women's and Men's Soccer teams wrap up their seasons by playing the inaugural matches on our new BBVA Compass Field, Women's and Men's Basketball tip-off their years. The ladies beat Mississippi College last Saturday in an exhibition game, and the preseason Conference USA favorite men play Cal State East Bay in a tune-up contest this Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in Bartow Arena. Both teams are excited to get on the court and are looking forward to great seasons!
In related news, we held media day for our basketball programs last week and unveiled our new uniforms. The players in both locker rooms were excited to see the new look and proud to represent UAB. Our gold "Birmingham" throwback uniforms were not shown. Just to clarify any confusion, we consider these to be extremely special to both our program and community. They have absolutely not gone away, and you just never know when they might show up!
All of our donors who made pledges to the reinstatement of Football, Bowling and Rifle continue to impress by advancing their donation payments. With an upcoming January 15th goal of $4.5 million, we have received $2.7 million to date. We couldn't be more grateful to all of our generous donors and fans who are stepping up and making this happen.
Also, we announced the formation of The UAB Athletics Foundation on Tuesday. This is exciting news and will assist us in our fundraising efforts. Each of the members of its Board of Directors are fully committed to helping us reach our goals and further develop relationships in the community. While it has taken the hard work of a number of people to create it so quickly, it is another tremendous step towards being more competitive in every possible way.
Coach Clark and his staff are doing an outstanding job in recruiting and are bringing future Blazer recruits to campus on their official visits. The plan is to sign 15 players who will enroll at UAB in January 2016, and sign 30 more on National Signing Day in February 2016. The majority of them will visit between now and the end of January. In early conversations, they all continue to be impressed with, and comment on, the beauty of our campus and its academic strengths, as well as the outpouring of support they have heard so much about.
All of our success is a credit to you, our fans and donors, who have been so supportive. We look forward to seeing you at our games in the weeks and months ahead.
GO BLAZERS!
Mark T. Ingram
Director of Athletics
University of Alabama Birmingham
