2026 blazers hope to follow legacy of Haase’s 2015 c-usa champs
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - March 12, 2026
The scripts are written differently, for sure, but there are certainly some commonalities between the UAB men’s basketball team that will show up at Legacy Arena at the BJCC to play in Friday’s America Conference Tournament quarterfinals and the one that punched a ticket to the Big Dance with a Conference USA Tournament championship in March of 2015.
You want chaos and unknown? These days, you have athletic programs throughout the country trying to figure out the nuances of the new world of college athletics that seems to change at each tick of the clock. In 2015, you had a UAB program reeling from the effects of Dec. 2, 2014 and a fan base searching for a positive glimmer while trying to help bring football back to campus.
You want a rebuild? Sure, Jerod Haase didn’t have to completely piece together a roster in the spring and summer of 2014 like Andy Kennedy did this season. But that 2014-15 team had just four returnees from the 2013-14 team and only one of those was a regular starter.
You want a regular season pocked with disappointment? Haase’s team began the season with an exhibition game home loss to Division II UNC Pembroke, suffered a non-conference slate that concluded with a 4-9 record and concluded the regular season with back-to-back losses on the FAU-FIU road trip. Kennedy’s team never figured out a way to get comfortable in Bartow Arena and finished the regular season with the program’s first losing record at home.
You see the similarities?
Both teams entered the conference tournament with the No. 4 seed, which meant it takes three wins in three days to win a championship. Both teams desperately needed the extra few days of rest. Neither team had to get on the plane in search of a ladder to climb.
Perhaps the biggest difference, at least for now, is Haase’s team has something that Kennedy’s team is chasing. Haase’s team had three memorable days in Birmingham followed a week later by a few glorious days on the biggest stage in college basketball.
Eleven years have passed since 14th seed UAB began play in the NCAA Tournament by knocking off No. 3 seed Iowa State in an upset win that wrecked more than a few brackets. That doesn’t happen if the Blazers didn’t string together a trio of wins at Legacy Arena. Some of the details have melted away – or maybe enhanced - over time but the feeling when the clock struck zero on the championship game win over Middle Tennessee will never go away.
“It was sheer excitement,” Haase said earlier this week in a phone conversation from his home in California. “And there was not one minute, at least for that first day, of thinking about needing to prep for the (NCAA Tournament) or what the next step was. It was simply just excitement and enjoying it, enjoying the team and enjoying the family.”
It’s hard to tell the story of those three days without beginning several months earlier. UAB entered the 2013-14 pinning its hopes on a roster that included just one returning senior – C.J. Washington - and a trio of freshmen – Nick Norton, William Lee, Chris Cokley - expected to play an immediate integral role. Three other rotational pieces – Denzell Watts, Tosin Mehinti and Tyler Madison – were coming off their first college season.
“Well, you know, the first two years I was there, we had a roster that was already set,” Haase said. “It was almost 100 percent juniors and seniors. So, by the start of my third year, it was almost 100 percent turnover. We made a decision, and I'm glad I did, but it was a little bit different. Instead of doing jucos and transfers, we built it mostly with freshmen and we did back-to-back years doing that. Yeah, I mean, it's nerve-wracking for sure but I think times were a little bit different then in terms of freshmen and sophomores you felt like maybe could contribute. The average roster age, you know, might be at 20 or 21 then as opposed to nowadays it seems like it's about 36.”
Haase did add an experienced ingredient in Virginia Tech transfer Robert Brown, who sat out in 2013-14 and was expected to play a specific role the next year. The expectation was for the 6-foot-5 Brown to put the young team on his back in his final college season.
“We knew that he could be that type of player,” Haase said. “I played against him when I was the (junior varsity) coach of North Carolina and he was at Hargrave (Military Academy in Virginia). I knew of his past and how talented he was. We did expect that he could do some big things.”
However, things didn’t start well during a difficult non-conference slate.
“It was a tough start,” Haase said. “That was my third year and things weren't going well. We were 4-9 going into Christmas break and into the start of the conference season. We had an extremely tough schedule but, having said that, we were very young and not ready for it. And then we got into conference. I've always said the most important game of my career was at Middle Tennessee State, the first game of that conference season.”
UAB gutted out a 54-49 victory with Norton’s deep 3-pointer from straight away in the final minutes finally putting the Blazers in control. That propelled UAB to a solid trip through C-USA play. The Blazers finished 12-6 in conference and had the No. 4 seed clinched, largely because they had the tiebreaker with a win over Western Kentucky, before going on the season-ending Florida trip.
At some point during the season, the fight for the return of the football, rifle and bowling programs became intertwined with the basketball program. Most prominently among the campaign, at least when it came to the basketball games, was the ‘Fire Ray Watts’ chant that would ring down when UAB players went to the free throw line.
“Everybody, myself included, was aware of what's going on, of course, but not distracted by it,” Haase said. “We didn't feel like it was going to necessarily impact us in a negative way. It was empathy for those that were caught in the crosshairs, but also great focus on just the task at hand. So bottom line, I think we were able to make it so that it was not a great distraction. I remember the whole was a lot of chaos and just a lot of moving parts but I don’t remember all the specifics of it.”
It did help unify a fan base once the conference tournament tipped off at Legacy Arena.
“We believed in that having the tournament in the backyard was certainly an advantage,” Haase said.
That advantage nearly ended before it started. Western Kentucky, which had played the day before, and a rested UAB tussled through a grinding quarterfinal game that included just one double figure scorer – Norton – for the Blazers. Neither team led by more than five points in the game. Western Kentucky had a four-point advantage three times in the second half, including with 1:15 left in the game. Norton hit a 3-pointer to trim the deficit and then forced a five-second call on Western Kentucky guard Chris Harrison-Docks that Hilltoppers fans probably still argue to this day. Frankly, they may be right. But the call stood and Brown then took a pass from Hakeem Baxter and hit a jumper to give UAB a 53-52 with 19 seconds remaining.
The ensuing possession could have changed a lot of things about that weekend. What if the Hilltoppers got the ball inside to George Fant, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound power forward at the time, who turned into a 300-pound NFL offensive tackle, and he scored in the paint like he had been for much of the second half? What if there was a defensive lapse instead of a great defensive possession that ended with Harrison-Docks missing badly on a contested 3-point attempt from the left corner? What if Baxter hadn’t corralled the rebound to keep Western Kentucky from getting another chance?
What would it meant to Haase’s employment status if things went wrong?
“You know, halfway through the year, I thought, yeah, this isn't going as planned,” said Haase, who record at UAB was 50-45 heading into the conference tournament. “We were pretty average the first couple years. But, you know, third year, I felt like even if we didn't do well, I did have confidence that we had shown a tremendous amount of growth and that we were a team that was returning so many players for the next year that I think the trajectory is good. But in sports and with changes we were in with the football situation, with the new AD and all that kind of stuff, you never know.”
Instead of worrying about that, Haase and his team moved on to the next round against a Louisiana Tech team that won the conference by two games and featured C-USA Player of the Year Speedy Smith. UAB and Louisiana Tech split a pair of games that season with the Blazers whipping the Bulldogs, 80-60, about a month earlier at Bartow Arena. The rematch was once again dominated by UAB. The Blazers’ lead spiked at 16 points with about 15 minutes left and they still led by 11 after Washington’s 3-pointer with 5:26 left. But that was the last point UAB scored in regulation. Louisiana Tech scored 11 consecutive points, including a fastbreak layup by Smith to cut the deficit to one possession with 1:56 left and 3-pointer by Smith a minute later tied the game at 58 and ultimately send it into overtime.
Once again, the road could have ended there. What Haase saw in the huddle between regulation and overtime made him feel comfortable in the middle of turmoil.
“One of the things I said a couple minutes ago in this interview was we wanted to recruit (players) that were talented, but also high character guys and that’s when character comes into it,” Haase said. “When adversity hits, you know, are you able to respond? Are you going to point fingers? Are you going to pout? Are you going to turn in? And throughout these times, we felt like we had guys that really kind of embrace the adversity and challenge. And that's where, again, I felt the character.”
Five minutes later, UAB walked away with a ticket to the championship game after the 72-62 win over Louisiana Tech.
The following day at the BJCC was a party.
“There was so much to it,” Haase said. “When you're in that championship game after the adversity and the fact we hadn’t had much success at all. So being able to have some positive things, some success, and then the pressure of this game means the NCA tournament (berth). You know you have to play your best. And then for a city and university where there was some turmoil, to be able to think about this being a positive and a situation where it kind of bonds people together. We felt that out there. The energy was great, the enthusiasm was awesome. And there's no question that that enthusiasm and energy helped us in that game.”
Middle Tennessee was a young team coming off three close wins in three days, including victories over No. 3 seed Old Dominion in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed UTEP in the semifinals. The Blue Raiders lost to UAB, 100-95, in triple overtime just two weeks before. They didn’t know it at the time, but the Blue Raiders would win back-to-back C-USA championships the next two seasons and win a NCAA Tournament in each of those years.
On this day, though, Middle Tennessee didn’t have a chance.
Brown did what he came to UAB to do. He put the Blazers on his back – scoring 22 points with four 3-pointers – on day that UAB had a double digit second half lead for all but four minutes. UAB was 9-for-19 outside the 3-point arc, won the points in the paint, 26-14, and outrebounded MTSU by 11. When it was done, UAB celebrated a 73-60 win and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Perhaps fittingly, considering all that was going on, just after Haase cleared the bench with 32 seconds remaining, the UAB fans cut loose with one more ‘Fire Ray Watts’ chant.
Five days later, Brown scored 21 points, including a three 3-pointers, Lee introduced himself to the nation with a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Madison fought his way to nine offensive rebounds in a 60-59 upset win over third seed Iowa State. It was UAB’s only NCAA Tournament win since beating LSU in 2005. The run ended two days later in a 92-75 second round loss to UCLA.
Those two weeks propelled the Blazers to a 26-win regular season the following year.
“I think there was a big carry over there,” Haase said. “The guys, we understood we had really good pieces in the locker room, and that if we had the right leadership and did the right thing, so we could have a special year.”
What they couldn’t do was recapture the conference tournament magic at Legacy Arena. This time, Western Kentucky dominated UAB in the Blazers first game of the tournament. It was the only time UAB lost a game in Birmingham that season. After that season ended, Haase took the Stanford head coaching job and returned close to his roots. He was fired by Stanford in the spring of 2024. He has done some television color commentary and said earlier this week he’s looking at options to get back into basketball. He said he keeps in contact with some of the players from the 2014-15 team and has fond memories of his time at UAB.
“Absolutely loved it,” Haase said. “I remember telling my wife I was concerned about Birmingham because my last game as a player (at Kansas), the only time I'd been to Birmingham, was the worst experience of my playing days. I was a little bit concerned. But we loved raising our family there. We loved our friends, UAB, the entire experience. And just the attitude of wanting to help and wanting to build a program made it a very special place to us.”