The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB to Honor Legendary Coach Gene Bartow
2/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
Celebrating Gene Bartow’s life and accomplishments, as well as raising money for cancer research, are prime reasons for Saturday night’s 7th annual Bartow Classic men’s basketball game between UAB and Florida Atlantic at Bartow Arena.
But, for any of the UAB faithful, or for that matter, anyone who ever crossed paths with Coach Bartow, even for a short encounter, the celebration is not a one-day event. It is impossible for some to walk into Bartow Arena without thinking about the man who is ‘The Father of UAB Athletics.’ Celebrating Bartow as a coach, as a man and as a friend is a daily habit.
“I can’t walk on that campus without thinking of him,” long-time Birmingham News sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky said of Coach Bartow, who died on Jan. 3, 2012 after a lengthy battle with stomach cancer. “Every time you walk (into Bartow Arena), you think of big moments. There are a lot of people who love UAB and care deeply about it. That became his school, even though, obviously, he had a long career even before he got to UAB. For me, I don’t think about UAB, I don’t go to UAB, without some memory of him and what it meant to him.”
Coach Bartow won 647 games in 34 seasons as a college head coach. He was the head coach at six universities and guided at least one team at four of those stops into the NCAA Tournament. In all, he coached 14 NCAA Tournament teams, including a national runner-up team at Memphis State in 1972-73 and a Final Four participant at UCLA in 1975. However, during a 2009 interview with The Birmingham News a few months before his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Coach Bartow left no doubt what UAB meant to him.
"I'm proud of the fact that I've had two Final Four teams and I had three Final Eight teams," Bartow told The Birmingham News. "There are not very many in our profession that have had that. With that said, I wouldn't be there (in the Hall of Fame) if it wasn't for the UAB story. I'm a UAB guy and I'll be a UAB guy when we go to Kansas City (for the induction)."
The Bartow Classic began during the 2009-10 season with Murry Bartow bringing his East Tennessee State team to Bartow Arena for the inaugural game. Saturday’s game, which will tip off at 7 p.m., marks the 7th Bartow Classic. In 2012, just four days after Coach Bartow lost his battle with cancer, the Blazers played the second of three Bartow Classic games against Memphis. Other Bartow Classic games were played against Southern Miss and Rutgers. UAB is 3-3 in Bartow Classic games.
Saturday’s renewal of the Bartow Classic will, once again, include a $2 donation from each single game ticket sold to the Coach Gene Bartow Fund for Cancer Research. This year, for the first time, limited edition, vintage Blazer T-shirts will be available at the game for $15, with $5 also benefiting cancer research.
UAB head coach Jerod Haase expects it to be an exciting night.
“UAB basketball is synonymous with Coach Bartow, and everything we have now as a program is a credit to him and to what his teams did in years past,” Haase said. “I know the fan support on Saturday night will be amazing, and we're going to do our part to help bring an exciting atmopshere and make Bartow Arena something special."
UAB enters Saturday’s game with a 19-4 record and 9-1 mark in Conference USA play. The Blazers are attempting to retain sole possession of first place in C-USA, but senior leader Robert Brown knows Saturday’s game has much more meaning than that.
“It's an honor to have the opportunity to play in a game that recognizes the achievements and accomplishments of Coach Bartow,” Brown said. “We know how important he was to this program and we want to make sure that his legacy continues to live on. I expect Bartow Arena to be packed on Saturday and hopefully we can perform in a way that would make Coach Bartow proud."
Tickets for the game are $20 for lower-level reserved seats and $15 for upper-level reserved seats. Tickets can be purchased online at UABSports.com or by calling 205-975-UAB1 (8221).
The Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are set to return to Birmingham for the second consecutive year, marking the third time the Blazers will host the event. The men's tournament, as well as the women's semifinals and championship, will be played at Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham, while the women's first round and quarterfinal action will take place at UAB's Bartow Arena.
For more information on UAB men’s basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), on Instagram (@blazerhoops) or on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABMensBasketball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
