Sandlin-El’s Patient Path Leads to UAB

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - July 17, 2026

Andy Antallah Sandlin-El didn’t hurry his way through the recruiting process after finishing his lone season at South Plains College in Texas. In fact, he didn’t arrive at UAB, which was his new destination, until after the Blazers had begun summer workouts.

The wait was intentional 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward.

“During my recruiting, I really could have found a home early on,” Sandlin-El said after finishing practice earlier this month. “I just really wanted to find a place that could really get me better without worrying about all the other things that people worry about nowadays with the NIL and everything. I just wanted to get somewhere where I could win and really market myself and keep my stock trending as it is coming from Juco. So that was my biggest thing rather than just finding some place that I'm getting paid a million dollars there.”

He arrived at UAB expected to play a big role for a team that is basically replacing a roster for the second consecutive season. He came to UAB soon after 6-foot-11 former signee Shah Hall reentered the portal, where he eventually landed at North Carolina State. Andy Kennedy and his staff were able to fill the empty spot when Sandlin-El signed.

“My staff did a great job of identifying a need,” Kennedy said at the time. “We needed size, we needed perimeter shooting. He comes in here a second team (junior college) All-American, a top 10-rated junior college player in the country. He's played Division I basketball for two years at Robert Morris, so he's been through the rigors of Division I, which I think is advantageous in the transition. He's a guy that can shoot the ball and make plays for us on the perimeter at 6-9, so we think he'll be a welcome addition.”

One big thing that he is expected to bring to the Blazers is the ability to stretch an opposing frontcourt with his shooting ability. Sandlin-El was 40-for-94 (42.6 percent) from outside the 3-point arc last season in junior college. Sandlin-El said shooting the basketball from long range has always been part of his game.

“As a young guy, I played on local YMCA teams and no one could really dribble,” said Sandlin-El, who grew up in Lincoln, Neb. “I was the only one that could dribble. So I would dribble, shoot and everything, even being the tallest guy on the court. Like in the third grade, I made like seven 3s in games and parents would always be checking my birth certificate and everything. That's kind of where I got it from and I carried it along.”

Sandlin-El signed with Robert Morris after averaging 17.4 points and 9.1 rebounds as a senior at North Star High in Lincoln. Sandlin-El redshirted his first season at Robert Morris and averaged 4.4 points and 2 rebounds in nine appearances the next season. He then chose to take a step he didn’t originally expect to take. He enrolled at South Plains College, which has one of the top junior college basketball programs in the country.

“Going to Juco, it was really a humbling experience for me just because I was not ready for that type of lifestyle,” Sandlin-El said. “Just, you know, eating in the (cafeteria) or in my room with a guy next to me every day. That was tough for me sharing the bathroom with four guys. But it really taught me to be grateful to be able to play basketball. I'll never take it for granted ever again.”

On the court, Sandlin-El flourished on a team that finished 24-8 after being upset in the first round of the NJCAA DI National Championships. Sandlin-El finished the season averaging 12.7 points, which was second on the balanced team, and 5 rebounds per game. He shot 49.6 percent overall from the field and got to the free throw line more than any other player on the roster. He was 102-for-137 from the free throw line, which is a 74.5 percent success rate.

“I pushed through,” Sandlin-El said. “I would say I grew a lot just because there were days that I didn't understand why I was there when I stopped questioning why and just knowing that there's better days ahead if you think positive. I think that was the biggest thing, just knowing that when things are tough, there's an ending to the tough days always. You just got to keep going. And it's always hard to do that in the moment, but when you keep going, it pays off.”

Now it’s paid off with an opportunity at UAB. Sandlin-El arrived a little bit more than a week after his new teammates but caught up quickly. He looks to fit nicely into a roster that has been the summer jelling. Sandlin-El doesn’t talk about individual numbers when discussing what role he needs to play.

“I would just say putting the team first always, like knowing that the betterment for the team is the betterment for you,” Sandlin-El said. “Whether you're the leading scorer, the leading rebounder, you know, the leading clapper, if you put everything you got into the team, it's going to be our season better. If you win the championship and you average five minutes or no minutes, you're still a champion for life. So I think that's the biggest thing, just putting the team first always so we can get to where we want to be.”