UAB Lands A 6-10 Shot-Maker With Something to Prove In Maryland Transfer
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - May 4, 2026
Aleks Alston’s reason for picking Andy Kennedy’s UAB basketball program was relatively simple. The 6-foot-10 stretch forward, who averaged less than 10 minutes per game at Maryland last season, was looking for a chance.
“Just a place to play basketball, man,” Alston said. “You know, being in a situation at Maryland where I was not given an opportunity, I was looking for an opportunity. I feel like all I need is an opportunity, and the rest is going to speak for itself.”
Alston was the top college basketball prospect in Illinois coming out of the state in 2025. He averaged 17 points and 9.8 rebounds per game at Kenwood Academy as a senior in 2024-25. His team finished 31-2 and won the Chicago Public League championship for the first time in school history. He was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the state, a four-star recruit and 27th best power forward in the nation by 247 Sports. His offers, according to 247 Sports, included N.C. State, UNLV, Oregon, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Arizona State, Cal and Georgia.
Alston played in 25 games as a true freshman at Maryland, averaging 8.6 minutes per game. He had eight points and seven rebounds in a season high 25 minutes against Alabama and had six points and four rebounds in 22 minutes against Illinois. On the season, Alston averaged 1.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while hitting just 5-of-24 3-pointers.
After he entered the portal, assistant coach Rob Williams began Alston’s recruitment for UAB.
“We just started talking to Coach Rob and Coach AK,” Alston said in a phone interview while waiting on his plane after his weekend visit to UAB. “And then after that, got on a Zoom, started moving pretty quickly. Everything they were talking about added up to everything I was looking for. I got out here on a visit and really enjoyed it. I talked to Coach AK personally and really tried to understand what his thoughts were on me and what plan he had for me. Everything was matching. I listened to my gut. I had a really good gut feeling compared to everywhere else. I told him you really feel like you have a plan for me, I want to be here, I want to commit to you. So, we got that done.”
UAB is a getting a player whose versatility began while playing point guard as a youngster.
“It just happened that I got tall,” Alston said. “I hit a type of growth spurt, going all the way to 6'10. It just happened, so, of course, I had to adjust. I had to start learning how to do big man things, how footwork works and certain things like that. It was kind of rough at first because I had to grow into my body. People were kind of ahead of me because I wasn't used to growing out of nowhere like that. And at the time I didn’t have a big man game. At a young age, people don't really look at that. They just look at you, if you're tall, you're going to be a center.”
Eventually, he used that versatility to his advantage, which fits into his lineage. Alston’s mother is from Serbia and his father is from the United States. He has dual citizenship and uses the nickname ‘Serbian Sniper’ on his social media sites.
“European ball, I feel like that’s what a lot of people compare my style to,” Alston said.
He definitely looks forward to bringing that style to UAB.
“I plan to bring a shot-making ability that for someone of 6-10 you don’t see a lot,” Alston said. “Being able to create my own shot off the dribble. You know, you'll see someone like me at 6-10 coming off a screen. I'm talking about just offensively right now. You're going to see things that you're just not going to see every day, especially with my passing ability. I mean, you're going to see me create different options for my teammates. I feel like I'm going to bring an energy of just playing hard the whole time while I'm out there. Defensively, I feel like you're going to see me do the best I can to stand in front of my guy. Being able to be a good rim defender, being able to guard any position from the (front court). There were times when I was switched on to the point guard at Maryland. That's why they say stretch, you know, stretch the floor in transition, get things going, just be able to do multiple things at a very good rate and be able to add all of it together to really just make me all around in everything I'm doing.”
Alston was part of a UAB recruiting weekend that also included the addition of 6-foot-11 center Matt Mbole of South Georgia Technical College. Mbole visited UAB immediately after taking an official visit to Memphis. Like Alston, Mbole signed with UAB on his visit. The Blazers also added guard TJ Caldwell last week. The 6-foot-4 Caldwell played last season at Arkansas State after spending three seasons at Ole Miss. UAB currently has 10 new additions to go with returning guard Salim London.