Former UM Basketball Coach Reportedly Hired at UAB

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Former Ole Miss head basketball coach and SEC Network analyst Andy Kennedy has been tabbed as the frontrunner for the UAB Blazers’ coaching position according to multiple media outlets.

UAB announced that head coach Robert Ehsan was out on Friday after leading the team for four seasons. He led the Blazers to an overall record of 76-57 and a 38-34 mark in Conference USA.

Kennedy was at Ole Miss for 12 years (2006-18) as the head coach in which he turned the program around. He had the fifth-most wins in his tenure at one school in the league, and he is one of five coaches to post at least nine 20-win seasons in his first 11 years.

He is the only coach in SEC history to post 11 consecutive seasons after taking over a program coming off four straight losing seasons. In his first season, he guided the Rebels to 21 wins and an SEC West Division title on his way to becoming SEC Coach of the Year. Since then, the Rebels are one of only 14 teams nationwide to have 11 straight winning seasons.

After leaving the Rebels, Kennedy turned his attention to the SEC Network and became an analyst of the game.

The Louisville, Mississippi native played his college career at UAB (1989-91) under Gene Bartow where he was a two-time all-conference performer who led the Sun Belt in scoring 21.8 points per game in 1991. At the end of Kennedy’s career, he finished as the program’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,787 points.