The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Alma Mater:
- UAB '91
- Experience:
- 6th Season
Andy Kennedy was named the seventh head coach of the UAB men’s basketball program, Director of Athletics Mark Ingram announced on March 20, 2020.
Kennedy, who enters his sixth year with the program in 2025-26, returned to his alma mater where he is the second leading scorer in program history. He has put together a 391-219 career coaching record as a college head coach. A two-time SEC Coach of the Year and winningest coach in the University of Mississippi history, Kennedy coached at Ole Miss from 2006-2018, before spending two years as a commentator for ESPN and the SEC Network.
On July 21, 2022, Kennedy signed a six-year contract extension which goes through the 2027-28 season.
He led UAB to another NIT Tournament run in the 2024-25 season, making it to the quarterfinals. UAB went up to Philadelphia and beat Saint Josephs 69-65 before two games out in California. The Blazers first beat Santa Clara before dropping the quarterfinals to UC Irvine, who made the NIT Championship. Kennedy also led UAB back to the American Conference Championship for the second year in a row and has made four straight conference championship appearances dating back to 2022 with Conference USA.
Kennedy has 125 wins over the last five seasons, which is tied for the eleventh most in NCAA during that period. This was Kennedys’ fifth straight year of 22+ wins, which is the first time in program history to have five straight. Junior Yaxel Lendeborg helped UAB to 24 of those wins this season and was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year / AAC First Team All-Conference. He has the most double-doubles in UAB and AAC History with 45. Alejandro Vasquez was named to the Second-Team all conference.
He led the Blazers back to the NCAA Tournament during the 2023-24 season for the second time in three years even after losing five of their six leading scorers from the previous season, including the No. 5 scorer in the nation Jordan “Jelly” Walker and future NBA player Trey Jemison. Kennedy led the Blazers to wins over two ranked opponents in a single season for the first time since the 2009-10 season with wins over No. 19 Memphis and No. 20 Florida Atlantic. UAB also defeated Maryland during the Asheville Championship, marking the Blazers’ first win over a active Big Ten school since 2006.
During the Blazers’ first year in the American Conference, Kennedy led the Blazers to a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, where UAB won all three games by double digits en route to an AAC Tournament title, including a 93-83 win over top-seeded South Florida.
JUCO transfer Yaxel Lendeborg earned AAC Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-Conference honors after averaging 13.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. In conference play, Lendeborg upped his game, averaging 16.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest.
Kennedy’s 101 wins over his first four seasons as UAB’s head coach are the most in program history over any four-year period. He reached 100 wins in Birmingham faster than any coach in program history, doing so in only 136 games.
Kennedy, in his third season at the helm in Birmingham, led UAB to a program-record 29 wins marking the Blazers’ third-straight season of 20+ wins. He is one of just five active head coaches with 20+ wins in 13 of their first 16 seasons, joining John Calipari, Mark Few, Jamie Dixon, and Thad Matta on the distinguished list.
During the 2022-23 season Kennedy led the Blazers to a 3-0 record against SEC competition with wins over Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. The Blazers reached the NIT Championship game for the first time in program history.
In his second season back in Birmingham, Kennedy led UAB to a then program-record 27 victories and the Blazers’ 16th NCAA Tournament appearance, punching his alma mater’s ticket to the Big Dance with an 82-73 victory over Louisiana Tech in the Conference USA Tournament Championship Game. UAB’s 16th NCAA Tournament appearance also marked Kennedy’s third NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach, taking Ole Miss to the Big Dance in both 2013 and 2015.
Kennedy’s Blazers secured their sixth conference tournament title in Frisco on March 12, 2022, marking their second conference tournament championship victory outside of Birmingham in program history. UAB also captured its fifth Conference USA Championship in program history, winning three regular season titles and two postseason titles.
With 27 wins in his second season at UAB, Kennedy surpassed 300 career victories in 2021-22, earning win No. 300 with an 87-59 victory over UTSA on Jan. 1, 2022.
As a team, the Blazers finished with their highest final NET Ranking (No. 46) in program history and won 17 games over conference opponents for the first time in UAB men’s basketball’s 44-year history. UAB finished first in Conference USA in scoring offense (80.31), scoring margin (+13.57), field-goal percentage (.468), 3-point field-goal percentage (.377), rebounding margin (+4.49), total steals (9.60), turnover margin (+4.26) and offensive rebounding percentage (.337). Nationally, the Blazers ranked fourth in total steals (336), sixth in scoring margin (13.6), sixth in scoring offense (80.3), seventh in steals per game (9.6) and 10th in turnover margin (4.3).
The Blazers led Conference USA in scoring offense for the first time in program history and averaged more than 80 points per game for the first time since 1991, which was Kennedy’s senior year as a player at UAB when he led Conference USA with 21.8 points per game (UAB single-season record).
Individually, UAB had multiple all-conference honorees for the first time since 2015-16. Transfer guard Jordan Walker highlighted the group of UAB honorees, taking home C-USA Player of The Year, C-USA Newcomer of the Year, C-USA Tournament MVP, First Team All-Conference USA and First Team NABC District 11 honors in his first season as a Blazer. Walker not only became UAB’s third conference Player of the Year in March 2022, but he also joined UAB legend Oliver Robinson as the only two Blazers to earn conference Player of the Year and conference tournament MVP honors in the same season.
Quan Jackson earned Third Team All-Conference USA honors and All-Defensive Team accolades, while KJ Buffen earned All-Conference USA Honorable Mention accolades. Michael Ertel was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team, which was UAB’s first honoree since 2016. Jackson, Ertel and Walker also earned spots on the Conference USA All-Tournament Team.
Overall, UAB ranked inside the Top 55 in NET the entire season, reaching its highest NET ranking in program history (No. 28) on Dec. 13. UAB was the only team in Conference USA with two NET Quadrant I victories during the regular season. The Blazers also reached their highest KenPom ranking in program history (No. 36) on Feb. 9.
In his first season at the helm of his alma mater, Kennedy recorded 22 victories, which was the most for a coach at a new program in 2020-21. He recorded his 20th win in 26 games, the fastest in his head coaching career. The Blazers had 13 Conference USA wins, which was most in the league.
The 2020-21 Blazers were the first squad in program history to begin the season 7-0. The record-setting sixth victory came on Dec. 12 when UAB defeated ETSU 65-61 on the road. The Blazers had one of its best conference starts since the formation of C-USA in 1995-96 as they started off 9-1 for only the second time in league history.
As a team, the Blazers had their highest KenPom ranking to finish the regular season since 2010-11 and highest NET rating in program history (48 on 1/15/21). UAB received votes in AP Poll for the first time since March 7, 2016 and in the Coaches Poll since November 21, 2017.
Individually, Tavin Lovan was named to NABC District 11 Second Team as well as the Conference USA Second Team. Quan Jackson and Trey Jemison were named to the C-USA All-Defensive Team, which was the first time in program history UAB had two members of the All-Defensive Team.
The Blazers’ defense was one of the best in the nation. UAB was fourth in the country in scoring defense (60.3 ppg) and turnover margin (5.4).
Kennedy experienced unprecedented success with the Rebels during his tenure in Oxford, securing a school record 245 career victories. Ole Miss captured the SEC Tournament title in 2013 with a 27-9 record, and Kennedy led the Rebels to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2015. Kennedy’s teams advanced in both tournament appearances, knocking off fifth-seeded Wisconsin 57-46 in 2013 before rallying from a 17-point halftime deficit in 2015 to defeat BYU 94-90 in the First Four.
The former Ole Miss coach won SEC Coach of the Year honors twice during his tenure (2007 and 2013). Kennedy also captured two SEC West Division titles and led the Rebels to eight postseason appearances and 11 postseason wins during his time in Oxford. He coached 16 players who earned All-SEC honors as the head coach of the Rebels.
In 12 seasons at Ole Miss, Kennedy guided the Rebels to 20 or more wins nine times and ranks top 20 in SEC history for career wins.
Kennedy’s first head coaching duties were at Cincinnati for the 2006 season. Named interim head coach on August 26, 2005, Kennedy took over the reins from his mentor Bob Huggins who resigned two days earlier.
In a season where the Big East Conference was stacked from top to bottom, Kennedy led the Bearcats a 13-2 start with road wins over Vanderbilt, Marquette, Dayton and LSU, who made the Final Four. While playing only eight scholarships players, Cincinnati cracked the AP Top-25 ranking, and Kennedy was named Mid-Season National Coach of the Year by CBS Sportsline.
The winning continued when Big East Conference play began. The Bearcats stunned Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome 82-65, knocked off Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals 74-68 and upset 14th-ranked West Virginia 78-75 led by John Beilein.
In his only year as UC’s head coach, Kennedy had led the Bearcats to a 21-13 record, defeated 12 foes ranked in the top 100 of the RPI and played a schedule rated fifth toughest in college hoops. The New York Post labeled him the Big East Coach of the Year.
Prior to Cincinnati, Kennedy was an assistant coach at UAB from 1996 to 2001.
Kennedy played at UAB from 1988-91 and holds multiple school records. In just three seasons, he scored 1,787 points – the second most in school history – and also holds the school record for career 3-point field goals made (318) and attempted (728), 3-point field goal percentage (.437), and free throw percentage (.872).
Additionally, he holds UAB’s record for most points scored by a sophomore (603) and by a senior (676), and most career 20+ point games (43).
Kennedy was named First Team All-Sun Belt as a senior in 1990-91, as well as Second Team All-Sun Belt as a junior in 1989-90. He was enshrined into the UAB Athletics Hall of Fame on October 7, 2022 for his standout playing career.
Kennedy immediately put his stamp on the program weeks into his tenure by signing a pair of Top 50 graduate transfers in Michael Ertel and Quan Jackson. Additionally, he inked the No. 3 ranked high school player in Tony Toney from Mae Jemison in Huntsville. In May, he added Birmingham native and Clemson transfer Trey Jemison to the roster.
In Kennedy’s UAB’s debut, the Blazers defeated Alcorn State 99-50. The 49-point victory in the season-opener was the Blazers’ largest margin of victory over a Division-I school since Coach Bartow’s final season. The 99 points was the most points scored for a UAB head coach in their debut contest.
UAB got off to its best start in program history by winning its first seven games. The Blazers’ 61-37 win over Charlotte on Jan. 15 improved the team to 10-1 on the season. This marked the seventh time in the program’s 43-year history the Blazers begun the season with nine wins in the first 10 games. The 37 points allowed tied the third best defensive effort on program history and was the least amount of points allowed in a C-USA game in 19 years.
Kennedy had the program off to a 16-2 start, which was only the fourth time in program history this has occurred. UAB did it two times under Coach Bartow: 1985-86 and 1993-94 and once more in 2009-10. Additionally, UAB had its best conference start at 9-1 since the formation of C-USA in 1995-96.
The Blazers finished with the most C-USA victories of any UAB team with 13 in 2020-21 and was the only program to play all 18 scheduled games. UAB earned the No. 2 seed in the West and advanced to the semifinals at the Conference USA Championship.
For the first time since Jan. 25, 2016, UAB has received votes in both the Associated Press Poll and Coaches Poll. Additionally, the Blazers have been in Ken Pom’s Top 100 for two straight months for the first time since 2009-10.
Three Blazers earned All-Conference recognition. Tavin Lovan was named Second Team All-Conference while Jackson and Jemison were voted to the All-Defensive team. This marked the first time in program history that a pair of Blazers were named to the squad.
As a team, Kennedy’s team had one of the best defenses in the country. The Blazers allowed 60.3 points per game, which was the second-best mark in program history and fourth in the nation. UAB also took care of the ball with a turnover margin of 5.4 which was the third best in the NCAA. The Blazers 231 steals was ninth in the NCAA, led by Jackson’s 53 which was 17th in the country.
Andy Kennedy File
Born: March 13, 1968
Wife: Kimber, daughters Meagan and Kaitlyn
Hometown: Louisville, Miss.
Education: UAB (B.A., History, 1991)
Collegiate Coaching Experience:
South Alabama (Assistant Coach, 1994-95)
UAB (Assistant Coach, 1996-01)
Cincinnati (Assistant Coach, 2001-05)
Cincinnati (Interim Head Coach, 2005-06)
Ole Miss (Head Coach, 2006-2018)
UAB (Head Coach, 2020-present)
Kennedy’s Career Record
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