From One Offer to One of UAB’s Most Valuable Players
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - March 12, 2026
Evan Chatman’s recruiting options weren’t limited when he graduated from Harker Heights High in Texas. Nope, limited suggests that Chatman at least had a few recruiting suitors. His options were also not non-existent. Obviously, that would mean nobody wanted him.
Truthfully, though, it was closer to non-existent than limited.
“I had only had one junior college offer,” Chatman said.
Fast forward for a second and the 6-foot-8 forward is thriving in his first season at UAB. He’s averaging nine points and 8.9 rebounds per game while starting in 28 of the 31 he’s played in this season. He not is a fixture in the starting lineup but is what UAB head coach Andy Kennedy calls “the glue guy” for the Blazers as they head into the American Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at noon at Legacy Arena at the BJCC.
Yet, just three years ago, only McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas offered him an opportunity.
“I think I was a late bloomer,” Chatman said. “Also, I don't think my head was in the right space in high school with sports and just not taking it as serious.”
Chatman played well as freshman at McLennan, averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, but his season ended after 12 games because of a broke ankle. Last season, Chatman led the team in points (15.4 per game), rebounds (7.5 pg) and blocked shots (1.2 pg) and was second in assists (2.5 pg). With Chatman leading the way, alongside current UAB teammate Ari Gooch, McLennan finished 27-6 after losing to South Plains College in the Region V championship game. Chatman had 29 points and 12 rebounds in the region championship game loss.
UAB’s recruitment of Chatman began in the summer of 2024 at the Juco All-American Showcase in Atlanta.
“One, and this is so strange, it's just going to sound strange, but I don't like the position that the current environment of intercollegiate athletics has put the head coach in because usually you have a much better feel of kids you're bringing into your program because you see them,” Kennedy said. “You wouldn't even offer a kid if you have not physically seen him numerous times. You wouldn't think about it. But now in the speed dating world, man, you're doing it all off video and you're seeing highlights. It just goes so fast with the portal. So I'd seen him, we saw him in a junior college event and I liked him. And I said, let's go try to get him. I felt very, very comfortable because I'd seen him.”
He became even more comfortable the deeper he got into the recruitment.
Kennedy still had one important question when Chatman showed up on campus in June.
Could he be a productive defensive rebounder?
“We felt like he was going to be a stretch four and we were really concerned about his ability to defensive rebound, quite frankly,” Kennedy said. “That was one of my biggest concerns when (Joao) Das Chagas went down, was are we going to be able to defensively rebound the basketball? And it's been, obviously, one of our greatest strengths, and a lot of the credit goes to Evan.”
Chatman understands the original concern. He was an effective rebounder in junior college but that wasn’t really a priority.
“I wasn't really taking pride in it as much,” Chatman said. “It was like, if it happens, it happens. But now, I go into the games, saying ‘Ok, I need to rebound for us to have a chance’ and things like that.”
The season was two games old when he got his first double digit rebound game (10 at North Carolina State) and 12 games old before Chatman had less than seven rebounds in a game. Overall, he has 11 double-digit rebounds, including a season-high 17 rebounds against Rice and three games with 15 rebounds. He is third in the American Conference in rebounds per game behind USF’s Izaiyah Nelson (9.8 pg) and ECU’s Emejur Giovanni (9.2 pg). Both of the players ahead of him are 6-foot-10.
“I think he pursues the ball and he high points it, meaning two hands at the height of his jump,” Kennedy said. “We call it snatching and securing. He's done a great job of that all season and is really consistent in that regard.”
Chatman said it’s a team effort on the boards with Daniel Rivera and KyeRon Lindsay-Martin.
“Because me and Danny are down there fighting most of the time, Danny's helping me out,” Chatman said. “See, that's what people don't know. Danny's like clearing people out and that's when I come through and get the rebounds. People don't know that, they just see I get the numbers, so I get the credit. But Danny and Kye, they're both reasons why I can rebound the way I do.”
What he hasn’t done is fill the stretch four role that the coaching staff expected of him. He has shown glimpses of being a 3-point threat, most notably when he hit from outside the arc in the win at Memphis, but is shooting just 28.4 percent on 3-pointers.
That doesn’t stop him from being the glue of the team, according to Kennedy.
“Why do I call him glue, because he just operates right,” Kennedy said. “You know what you're going to get out of him. He's going to be prepared. He's going to come out with the requisite energy and focus that you need in order to give yourself a chance to be successful. We always felt like he was a guy that was really going to be steady. You don't have to run a lot of things for him and he could still produce.”