BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB men’s and women’s basketball teams will begin their official preparations for the 2008-09 season by holding their first practices Friday. Men’s basketball head coach Mike Davis and women’s basketball head coach Audra Smith are both excited to begin practice and put their teams to the test.
“We’re very excited to get this season started,” UAB head coach Mike Davis said. “We have a lot of talent on this team. The thing I really like about our guys is they get after it no matter if it’s in the weight room, conditioning or the individual workouts. The work ethic has been tremendous and a that is what I am most pleased about. We can’t believe it’s already here, but at the same time, we are all very excited to get things going.”
“It’s unbelievable that the season is here already,” UAB women’s basketball coach Audra Smith commented. “The preseason went smoothly and the kids worked extremely hard. We have a young team, but at the same time, this is probably the most athletic and talented team I have had since I’ve been here. We have a brand new team with a lot of freshman, but they are competitive, hungry and ready to hit the floor Friday night.”
The men’s basketball team will have a fresh new look, as Davis welcomes eight newcomers to this year’s squad. Davis and his staff have to try and find a way to replace the six departed seniors, three of which finished their tenures as the program’s most prolific scorers in Paul Delaney III, Lawrence Kinnard and Robert Vaden.
“We have some work to do, but I am very happy with the talent coming in this season,” Davis said. “I feel our staff has done a great job in a short amount of time and put together an impressive class. Now it’s our job as coaches to get everyone on the same page and prepare for what I expect will be a very good and competitive Conference USA this year.”
Leading off, Davis will rely heavily on his three returning letterwinners in senior Howard Crawford, junior Aaron Johnson and sophomore Cameron Moore. Johnson, a 5-9 point guard, played in all 34 contests, starting 17 times last year, while Crawford, a 6-8 power forward, played in 33 contests, making 16 starts in 2008-09. Meanwhile, Moore played in 26 of the team’s 34 games during the season.
The Blazers will also welcome back junior guard Elijah Millsap, who had to sit out last season after transferring to UAB from Louisiana-Lafayette. Despite not being able to suit up for the Green and Gold a year ago, Millsap practiced the entire season with the team and should be ready to step right in and help fill the void left by the six seniors.
In addition to Millsap, the other seven newcomers include four freshmen, two senior transfers and a junior college player. The newest Blazers include high school signees Anthony Criswell (Oklahoma City, Okla./Douglass HS), Dexter Fields (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS), Ovie Soko (London, England/Bethel (Va.) HS and Robert Williams (Greenville, Miss./Weston HS), senior transfers Kenneth Cooper (Monroe, La./Louisiana Tech) and George Drake (Grambling, La./Vanderbilt) and junior college player Jamarr Sanders (Northwest Florida State College).
The women’s basketball team returns seven letterwinners, including three starters from last year’s squad. Additionally, the Blazers welcome eight newcomers to the team this season.
Top returnee Amanda Peterson, along with fellow starters Shelly Breaux and Tamika Dukes, will lead the way for the Blazers in their 2009-10 campaign. Peterson, a 5-10 junior guard, started all 30 games last season and averaged 11.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest. She leads the team from beyond the arc after hitting 71-of -210 (.338) last season and 133-of-385 (.354) for her career.
Breaux, a 6-1 sophomore forward, missed the majority of last season due to injury. Upon her return she scored 4.1 ppg and was second on the team with 4.7 rpg. Dukes, a 6-0 senior forward, dominated the paint for UAB last season. Dukes averaged 8.8 ppg and a team-best 6.2 rpg, while also putting up 21 assists, 22 steals and 10 blocks.
Headlining the newcomers is a trio of Alabama Players of the Year in Jala Harris (6A), Amber Jones (1A) and LaKenya Lowe (4A). In addition, Harris was honored as Alabama’s Miss Basketball by the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) in 2009.
Additional newcomers include Jasmine Green, Nakia McDaniel, Rebecca Simpson and Khalilah Watson. Green, a 6-3 forward/center and high school teammate of fellow freshman Jala Harris, will add height and depth in the paint for UAB. McDaniel, Simpson and Watson, will all be looked upon to contribute to the guard position.
“We will have a very strong perimeter game and will be able run some transition this season,” Smith said. “We have some strong ladies who come from great basketball backgrounds. We have three state champions on our team and two AAU state champions on our team, so they know how to win and win consistently. We are going to have some ladies who get after it every night.”
