The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
A Letter to Blazer Nation From Director of Athletics Mark Ingram
1/23/2024 7:48:00 AM | General
Blazer Nation,
We certainly hope that you had a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones and friends and are looking forward to an exciting year in 2024.
In December, we celebrated 37 student-athlete graduates representing 19 different majors who walked across the stage at Bartow Arena. We had an overall GPA of 3.23 in the 2023 fall semester, and 317 student-athletes had a 3.0 GPA or better. Thank you to the hard work of our academic staff, coaches, and our student-athletes. We have also moved our graduation rate up to 94 percent. This is an amazing accomplishment that we should all be very proud of, knowing their UAB degrees are incredibly meaningful and will serve them each well as they each take the next step into their professional lives.
Your women's and men's basketball teams are both off to a terrific start. Randy Norton and the women's basketball program is currently tied for first place at 5-1 in AAC play. Newcomer Mia Moore leads the American Athletic Conference in rebounds and double-doubles, and she ranks 35th nationally in rebounding as a guard. Please come out and support them at their next home game against FAU on Jan. 31 at Bartow Arena.
Coach Kennedy's squad has won eight of their last nine games and is currently 4-1 in conference play. Newcomers Alejandro Vasquez and Yaxel Lendeborg are playing at an incredibly high level and have set career highs this past month in scoring and rebounding, respectively. The UAB men's basketball team takes on one of our all-time great rivals, Memphis, this Sunday, Jan. 28 at 4:00 p.m. This will be our annual Bartow Classic game and won't disappoint. Tickets are selling fast for this game. Help us PACK BARTOW as Sunday's game is nationally televised and will be an incredible environment as our basketball program showcases this great institution on ESPN!
Baseball and softball seasons are also starting next month. They will each have home games against Alabama and Auburn along with a full slate of new conference opponents from the AAC. Purchase your 2023-2024 Gold Cards now and get access to all games this spring. Softball is coming off a second-place regular season finish in Conference USA led by the Conference Coach of the Year A.J. Daugherty, while Coach Casey Dunn has reloaded his roster to take on our first baseball season in the American Athletic Conference.
Join Coach Dilfer and the UAB Football staff on February 7th to celebrate 205 Day and meet more than 20 new football signees. Coach Dilfer and his staff will break down each of them and their recruiting journeys. The event will be held at Iron City and doors open at 5:30 p.m. This high energy event is a lot of fun and gives a first look at the 2024 team. Tickets are only $10, so be there to see the next generation of Blazer stars!
Finally, please welcome Coach David Lilly who recently begun as the new Head Coach of our men's soccer program. David comes to us having most recently been the head coach at East Tennessee State University where he led the Buccaneers to a first-place finish in the SoCon in 2023. During his two seasons at the helm, his program went 7-1-2 in SoCon play, the best record of any team in the league during that time.
This week marks our annual Blazer Boosters thank-a-thon, so if you supported UAB Athletics as a 2023 Blazer Boosters member, be ready for a call from one of our 450 student-athletes showing our gratitude for investing in our ability to Win Championships, Graduate with Honors, and Make a Difference!
We look forward to seeing you soon. Go Blazers!
Mark Ingram
UAB Director of Athletics
We certainly hope that you had a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones and friends and are looking forward to an exciting year in 2024.
In December, we celebrated 37 student-athlete graduates representing 19 different majors who walked across the stage at Bartow Arena. We had an overall GPA of 3.23 in the 2023 fall semester, and 317 student-athletes had a 3.0 GPA or better. Thank you to the hard work of our academic staff, coaches, and our student-athletes. We have also moved our graduation rate up to 94 percent. This is an amazing accomplishment that we should all be very proud of, knowing their UAB degrees are incredibly meaningful and will serve them each well as they each take the next step into their professional lives.
Your women's and men's basketball teams are both off to a terrific start. Randy Norton and the women's basketball program is currently tied for first place at 5-1 in AAC play. Newcomer Mia Moore leads the American Athletic Conference in rebounds and double-doubles, and she ranks 35th nationally in rebounding as a guard. Please come out and support them at their next home game against FAU on Jan. 31 at Bartow Arena.
Coach Kennedy's squad has won eight of their last nine games and is currently 4-1 in conference play. Newcomers Alejandro Vasquez and Yaxel Lendeborg are playing at an incredibly high level and have set career highs this past month in scoring and rebounding, respectively. The UAB men's basketball team takes on one of our all-time great rivals, Memphis, this Sunday, Jan. 28 at 4:00 p.m. This will be our annual Bartow Classic game and won't disappoint. Tickets are selling fast for this game. Help us PACK BARTOW as Sunday's game is nationally televised and will be an incredible environment as our basketball program showcases this great institution on ESPN!
Baseball and softball seasons are also starting next month. They will each have home games against Alabama and Auburn along with a full slate of new conference opponents from the AAC. Purchase your 2023-2024 Gold Cards now and get access to all games this spring. Softball is coming off a second-place regular season finish in Conference USA led by the Conference Coach of the Year A.J. Daugherty, while Coach Casey Dunn has reloaded his roster to take on our first baseball season in the American Athletic Conference.
Join Coach Dilfer and the UAB Football staff on February 7th to celebrate 205 Day and meet more than 20 new football signees. Coach Dilfer and his staff will break down each of them and their recruiting journeys. The event will be held at Iron City and doors open at 5:30 p.m. This high energy event is a lot of fun and gives a first look at the 2024 team. Tickets are only $10, so be there to see the next generation of Blazer stars!
Finally, please welcome Coach David Lilly who recently begun as the new Head Coach of our men's soccer program. David comes to us having most recently been the head coach at East Tennessee State University where he led the Buccaneers to a first-place finish in the SoCon in 2023. During his two seasons at the helm, his program went 7-1-2 in SoCon play, the best record of any team in the league during that time.
This week marks our annual Blazer Boosters thank-a-thon, so if you supported UAB Athletics as a 2023 Blazer Boosters member, be ready for a call from one of our 450 student-athletes showing our gratitude for investing in our ability to Win Championships, Graduate with Honors, and Make a Difference!
We look forward to seeing you soon. Go Blazers!
Mark Ingram
UAB Director of Athletics
Coffee with Coach | 2025 Week 6
Tuesday, September 30
Coffee with Coach | 2025 Week 8
Monday, September 29
Coffee with Coach | 2025 Week 7
Monday, September 29
The Rewind: Week 1 - Alabama State
Monday, September 29
