The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
McNeese State
11/1/2026 11:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ROCK HILL, S.C. – UAB men's basketball opens its 2026-27 campaign on Monday, Nov. 2, taking on McNeese in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. CT). The matchup is part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, which brings back the college basketball opening-day marathon format with eight games across Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Monday's game will stream live on YouTube via the Field of 68.
UAB (0-0, American) vs. McNeese (0-0, Southland)
Monday, November 2 | 4:30 p.m. CT | YouTube
Rock Hill, S.C. | Rock Hill Sports and Events Center
TV: Noah Frary (PxP), Randolph Childress (Analyst), Jeff Goodman (Sideline)
Radio: WJQX 100.5 FM with David Crane (PxP) and Steve Mitchell (Analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Eleven of the 16 participating teams won at least 20 games last season, five reached the NCAA Tournament and nine are projected to win their respective conferences.
Head Coach Andy Kennedy begins his seventh season as the head coach of his alma mater. The Blazers are coming off their sixth consecutive 20-win season. Kennedy owns a 145-62 record during his tenure at UAB, continuing a stretch of consistent success for the program.
The lone returning player is sophomore guard Salim London, a Hoover, Alabama, native who appeared in all 32 games last season, making 12 starts. London averaged 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as a freshman and will be an important piece of the new-look backcourt.
New players to watch:
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Justyn Fernandez: The senior guard arrives from Delaware, where he averaged 16.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while making 28 starts. The former four-star recruit also spent time at Providence and George Mason.
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Deuce Jones: The junior guard brings experience from Saint Joseph's and La Salle. He averaged 15.8 points per game at Saint Joseph's and was previously named Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year.
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Jeremy Elyzee: The 6-foot-7 junior forward arrives from Southeastern Louisiana after averaging 10.9 points and 4.8 rebounds over two seasons.
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T.J. Caldwell: The senior guard comes to Birmingham after averaging 9.4 points and 2.7 rebounds at Arkansas State last season. He also spent three seasons at Ole Miss.
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Antallah Sandlin-El: The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 12.7 points and five rebounds at South Plains College last season, shooting 50% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc. He earned Second Team NJCAA All-America honors.
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Elijah Duval: The reigning WAC Freshman of the Year led Southern Utah with 15.3 points per contest and 3.6 assists per game. Duval was also a double-digit scorer in 24 of the Thunderbirds' 31 games.
The Blazers have also added considerable size to the frontcourt. Six-foot-11 center Matt Mbole averaged 10.0 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game at South Georgia Tech, recording 14 double-doubles. Meanwhile, 6-foot-10 forward Aleks Alston joins the program from Maryland, who appeared in 25 games for the Terrapins.
SCOUTING MCNEESE
McNeese enters the season as the three-time defending Southland Conference champion. The Cowboys finished 28-6 overall last season, including a 19-3 record in Southland Conference play, and earned the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The Cowboys averaged 79.7 points per game while allowing just 66.8 points per contest.
The Cowboys are led by second-year head coach Bill Armstrong. Armstrong graduated from UAB in 2001, played for the Blazers under Murry Bartow, and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in Birmingham.
Armstrong will face his former mentor, Kennedy, who was on staff under Bartow, in the season opener.
McNeese also features a roster with plenty of Division I experience. Among the notable names are senior guard Carl Cherenfant, who has experience at Memphis and New Mexico State; junior guard Dellquan Warren, who previously played at Mississippi State; and fifth-year forward Jerrell Colbert, who has stops at LSU, Kansas State and SMU on his collegiate résumé.
The Cowboys also have frontcourt size with 6-foot-11 forwards Christian Nitu and Alier Maluk, along with 6-foot-10 forward Jerrell Colbert.
FOLLOW THE BLAZERS
To keep up with UAB Men's Basketball all season long, follow @UAB_MBB on Instagram and X, and 'like' UAB Athletics on Facebook.
