UAB’s New No. 0, Hopes To Be A Familiar Spark For Blazers
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - March 2022, 2026
At first glance, incoming UAB wide receiver Ty Mims looks a lot like former Blazer Iverson Hooks.
Perhaps it’s because Mims is wearing the same jersey number – 0 – as Hooks wore at UAB before transferring to Oregon. Perhaps it’s because they appear to be similar in size with the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Mims being one inch shorter and 10 pounds heavier than Hooks listed height and weight. Perhaps it’s because they wear similar a hairstyle, which extends out of the back of their football helmet. Perhaps it’s similar quickness and speed.
No doubt it’s because they both are capable of creating a big play every time the football is in their hands.
Both are former Alabama high school quarterbacks who have produced solid college numbers at receiver, even though they went about compiling their numbers in different ways. Hooks, who is known as “Strap”, had 83 catches for 1,085 yards with seven touchdowns over his four seasons at UAB but most of it came in the 2025 season. Mims spread out his production while grabbing 96 catches for 1,194 yards with five touchdowns. He had at least 24 catches in all three of his seasons at Southern Miss.
So does UAB head coach Alex Mortensen see the similarities?
“I wouldn't compare him to anybody else,” Mortensen said. “I think he's a good athlete. He's been a joy to coach so far. He's really, really coachable. He's got a good way about him. And, you know, obviously we're only two practices in, but we are really excited about him.”
How about UAB wide receivers coach Kevin Garver?
“I think that Ty's probably a little bit thicker than what Strap was,” said Garver, who is also the Blazers passing game coordinator. “But I think that the instincts, the game type of ability that Strap had, I see a lot of that in Ty. I think, obviously, the things that you've been seeing him do out here are probably similar to those type of things. But really with all these guys, we're kind of moving them to different spots and seeing where they fit. But I do think he has a lot of those explosive type abilities. The catch and carry type of plays that Strap made last season. I do see some of those similarities for sure.”
Obviously, Mims is at UAB to make a name for himself in Birmingham and he has a clearcut style to do that.
“Just get the ball in my hands, I'm going to do the rest,” said Mims, whose full first name is Tiaquelin.
The Bay Minette, Al. native has been making plays since first joining a football team at the age of five. But many of his most important football lessons came in the backyard in pickup games with his four brothers and two sisters.
“It was never touch, it was always tackle,” Mims said. “We have a pretty fast family. All seven of us would be out there. There were a lot of nose bleeds and lips bleeds. And a lot of elbow bleeds. It was so much running on the grass, we turned it to dirt.”
He took those lessons to Baldwin County, where he was a second-team all-state selection in 2020 and first team in 2021. Mims led his team to the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs for the first time in 14 years and a playoff victory for the first time in 18 years. He did that while playing quarterback for the first time since 8th grade.
“I really didn’t want to do it,” Mims said. “But Coach (Scott Rials) talked to me about it. It was best for the team. I always do what’s best for the team. I actually took us to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.”
Along the way, he threw for 1,428 yards with 16 touchdowns, while completing 60.8 percent of his passes, and rushed for 1,402 yards with 16 more scores. He had two rushing touchdowns and a punt return touchdown in the 32-29 playoff victory over Helena. Baldwin County has not returned to the playoffs since that season.
The senior season at quarterback also allowed him to see football from a different perspective.
“I think it helps,” Garver said of receivers playing quarterback at some point in their career. “I think understanding defense and spacing does help for sure, because they're standing behind the O-line and get to see everything. Now I think that it probably makes it a little bit clearer because now they're on the line of scrimmage seeing it. So I think those things probably come a little bit more natural to them.”
Mims returned to his familiar position after signing with Southern Miss. He had a productive freshman season, catching 24 passes for 366 yards with a pair of touchdown catches in eight games with two starts. As a sophomore, he had 39 catches for 445 yards with two touchdowns receiving while starting all 12 games and also had an 82-yard punt return for a score against Old Dominion. In 2024, he had 33 catches for 383 yards with a touchdown while playing in 12 games with 11 starts.
He moved on to Texas State last season but did not play during the season. Mims got back in the portal and had plenty of recruiting attention with UAB ultimately signing him.
“You know, Coach KG did a great job recruiting me,” Mims said. “Me and (UAB transfer addition running back) Bam McReynolds, we played against each other in high school. So we were like, let's team up and get together and do this.”
Spring practice is less than a week old so Mims and the other receivers are still trying to figure out where they fit. But Mims’ goal for the upcoming season isn’t necessarily about where he fits into the rotation.
“My goal is to help this team win a championship,” Mims said.
Garver smiled when he heard that.
“It’s one of the reasons we recruited a kid like that,” Garver said. “First and foremost, we have to get great players. But we also made a huge push to get the right guys. We wanted guys that can come in, put their hand in the pile, compete and be a team first guy. It’s a little bit of both. One, it’s who he is and two, that’s who we were looking for. He said the exact same thing to me (during recruiting). I have those kind of conversations with guys also. (He said) ‘Hey, listen, I just want to do whatever I have to do to help the team and the opportunities will come in doing that.’”