We are really getting close to the end and I am writing as fast as I can to stay ahead of gamedays, but they are catching up to me. Today we look at the #7 greatest Blazer, game and season.
Blazer – Chris Giles
Game – The 1982 Sun Belt Championship, our first conference championship.
Season – The 1983-1984 season
It’s all about the oldtimers today.
Enjoy.
Blazer Top 30 – The 30 Greatest Players
30. Will Campbell (2000-2002)
29. Norman Anchrum (1980-1982)
28. McKinley Singleton (1982-1984)
27. Damon Cobb (1995-1999)
26. Jack Gordon (1982-1986)
25. Torrey Ward (1996-2000)
24. Jack Kramer (1988-1991)
23. Carter Long (1990-1994)
22. Larry Rembert (1986-1990)
21. Donell Taylor (2003-2005)
20. Barry Bearden (1986-1990)
19. Alan Ogg (1986-1990)
18. Michael Charles (1984-1988)
17. Glenn Marcus (1979 – 1981
16. Larry Spicer (1978-1980)
15. Reginald Turner – (1985-1989)
14. Demario Eddins – (2002-2006)
13. Cedric Dixon (1994-1998)
12. Robert Shannon (1992-1994)
11. James Ponder – (1983-1987)
10. Squeaky Johnson (2003-2006)
9. Elbert Rogers- (1988-1992)
8. Morris Finley (1999-2004)
7. Chris Giles (1979 – 1982)
The player listed at #7 of the 30 Greatest Blazer of all time is Chris Giles, a person who not only contributed as a UAB player but has played a big role in almost every NCAA tournament that UAB has ever been in. Giles was not even recruited to UAB. He walked into Coach Bartow’s office soon after Bartow established the basketball program and simply announced that he had transferred to UAB and wanted to play basketball for the Blazers.
Giles had played for the legendary “Cap” Brown at Parker High School in Birmingham which dominated the Birmingham high school scene during the 1970’s. Giles played a tremendous part in the Thundering Herd’s success due to his aggressive defense. While at Parker, his team won the 1975 4-A state title and was a runner up in 1976. As a senior, he was named all-metro, all-city, all-region and City MVP while leading Parker to a 23-7 overall record. He was named one of the top 100 players coming out of high school by Street and Smith Basketball magazine.
In 1977, after high school graduation, Giles went to Southern Illinois to play basketball for Coach Paul Lambert and former Parker mentor, Herman Williams, who was an assistant coach for the Salukis. Giles earned a starting position midway through his freshman year and averaged 7.1 points per game for the 17-10 Salukis. He scored in double figures in eight games and had a career high of 16 points against Drake. At the end of the season in 1978, the SIU coach, Paul Lambert was hired by Auburn and his mentor, Herman Williams followed Lambert to Auburn. Tragically, Lambert was killed in a motel fire before he ever coached a game at Auburn. With a new coaching staff coming in at SIU, Giles decided to return home and be a part of the new basketball program at UAB. The day he walked into Coach Bartow’s office was a fateful day for Chris Giles and UAB.
Giles did not play during the inaugural year of UAB basketball due to transfer rules. His first year of eligibility was his sophomore year, 1979-1980. He immediately became a starter, and in his very first game against Whittier College, he recorded 13 rebounds. However, perhaps due to his year off, Giles struggled in his first year at UAB, averaging 3.3 points a game and 3.4 rebounds a game. This was half of what he had done his freshman year at Southern Illinois. After seven games, he started coming off the bench, and had several excellent performances. Against Depaul, he contributed 8 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes, while covering the National Player of the Year, Mark Aguirre. He recorded double digit rebounds on four occasions.
Chris Giles broke out in his junior year, earning second team All-Sun Belt Conference honors while averaging 11.8 points and a team high 7.8 rebounds per game. He was the team co-captain and started all 32 games and scored in double figures 25 time, leading the team in rebounding 25 times. He finished the season with 250 rebounds, the best in the school’s short history. Against North Carolina Charlotte he scored 16 points and 14 rebounds and was named TV Player of the Game. His best game statistically, was against Missouri Western when he scored 23 points on an amazing 10 for 10 from the field. Against SEC champion Ole Miss, he scored 14 points and 9 rebounds. In the Sun Belt Tournament, he scored 14 points in each game and was named to the All Tournament team. In the Blazers very first NCAA tournament, Giles scored 12 points and 7 rebounds against Western Kentucky, ten points and ten rebounds against Kentucky and 13 points and 9 rebounds against eventual champion Indiana.
![[Image: 3-21-81-2.jpg]](http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/sports/hh/1981/3-21-81-2.jpg)
Chris Giles (on right) defends against Indiana
As a senior, he helped lead the Blazers to a 25-6 record, a Sun Belt championship and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament. He was named again to the second team all-Sun Belt team. He averaged 10 points and 7.8 points per game. His best game came in December against Georgia when he scored 22 points and 18 rebounds. His 18 rebounds stood as a record for most boards in a game for 14 years until Carlos Williams broke it with 20 in 1996. He was named the Sun Belt player of the week after that game.
Gene Bartow called Chris Giles “one of the best all-around forwards in the country” and to this day remembers him fondly as one of his greatest players. He finished his career with 773 points and 580 rebounds, which was the most ever in a career at the time. He currently ranks seventh in rebounding, but second among players who played less than four years, behind Carlos Williams. Giles was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the fifth round of the 1982 NBA Draft. He played two seasons for the Wisconsin Flyers of the CBA for one year before deciding to get into coaching.
When Giles decided to start his coaching career, he walked into Coach Bartow’s office once again and asked about the opportunity to begin at UAB. He returned to UAB as a graduate assistant coach for the 1984-1985 season. He had earned his degree in education and began working on his masters degree. As a player, Chris Giles had played a part in an amazing era of UAB basketball as the Blazers came within one game of the Final Four. As a graduate assistant he was part of a program that won 50 games and went to the second round of the NCAA tournament in the two seasons he was there.
In 1987, Giles became a full time assistant coach when he followed former UAB assistant coach John Prince to Jackson State, where Prince had been selected as head coach. He remained on the program when Andy Stoglin took over the program in 1989 and was named associate head coach in 1993. While at Jackson State, his team won the SWAC regular season championship three years and won the SWAC tournament title three times. Jackson State went to three NCAA tournaments and the NIT once while Giles was there as a coach. Giles coached at Jackson State under Prince and then Stoglin for a total of 14 years. At the end of the 2001-2002 season, Andy Stoglin was fired from Jackson State and Giles was out of a job.
He returned to Birmingham for the third time in his life and joined Mike Anderson’s staff as an assistant coach. Giles was a recognizable face and name for longtime UAB supporters who were adjusting to the first season without a Bartow at the helm. During his four year tenure at UAB as an assistant coach, he helped lead the Blazers to a CUSA regular season championship, an NIT tournament and three NCAA tournaments. After a successful 2005-2006 season, Mike Anderson was hired by Missouri and he and the rest of the coaching staff went to Columbia, Missouri. Giles remained behind in Birmingham and served a valuable role of holding down the fort, until a new coach was hired.
Coach Giles was not retained as an assistant coach by new coach Mike Davis. However, Giles was immediately hired as the new head coach at Miles College in Birmingham. He has been the head coach for three years and entering this year, had a record of 29-28.
![[Image: 08-09_mbkb_team_photo.jpg]](http://milesgoldenbears.com/images/stories/0809pix/mbkb/08-09_mbkb_team_photo.jpg)
Chris Giles was an aggressive determined player for UAB. As an assistant coach, he showed the same determination and hard work as a recruiter and coach. He has played an integral role in UAB’s history. Of the 13 NCAA tournaments UAB has played in, Chris Giles has been a player or coach in seven of them. Giles was a player in the game that put UAB on the college basketball map when they beat Kentucky in 1981, and he was a coach on the bench when UAB returned to the national spotlight by beating Kentucky in 2004.
Actually, Chris Giles has either played or coached in every NCAA tournament win that UAB has ever had. (1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 2004, and 2005). UAB has known nothing but success when it has linked itself to Chris Giles. He owes a lot to UAB and UAB owes a lot of gratitude to him. Only the future can tell whether Chris Giles will return to UAB a fourth time.
![[Image: miles_chris_giles_hs.jpg]](http://www.onnidan.com/06-07/images/miles_chris_giles_hs.jpg)
Blazer Top 30 – The 30 Greatest Games
30. 11/24/78 - Nebraska (Lost 64-55)
29. 12/3/1988 - Vanderbilt (Won 76-69)
28. 11/26/82 - Auburn (Lost 61-63)
27. 2/4/84 - @Memphis (Lost 51-53ot)
26. 12/23/84 - Villanova (Won 81-76 3ot)
25. 1/30/86 @Old Dominion (Won 71-58)
24. 2/20/08 Houston (Won 101-99)
23. 3/2/05 Depaul (Won 81-80 ot)
22. 1/31/81 South Alabama Won 73-70
21. 3/15/03 @Louisville (Lost 78-83)
20. 1/21/96 Cincinnati (Won 70-68)
19. 12/2/83 Auburn (Won 69-62ot)
18. 2/28/87 Western Kentucky (won 72-60)
17. 3/22/93 Clemson (Won 65-64)
16. 3/13/03 Marquette (Won - 83-76) CUSA Tourney
15. 3/22/89 - @ Connecticut Won 85-79 NIT Quarterfinals
14. 2/6/88 Brigham Young – Won - 102-83
13. 3/19/04 Washington – Won - 102-100 - NCAA Tournament
12. 3/27/89 - St. Johns - Lost - 65-76 – NIT Final Four
11. 1/22/80 DePaul – Lost - 54-57
10. 2/16/08 – Memphis - Lost 78-79
9. 11/24/84 - Illinois – Won 59-52 (Great Alaskan Shootout)
8. 3/17/85 – Memphis –Lost -66-67ot – NCAA Tournament
7. 2/28/82 – Virginia Commonwealth - Won - 94-83 – Sun Belt Tournament
The seventh greatest game in UAB history is one in which the Blazers finally accomplished something that they had been trying to do three years – win a Sun Belt Tournament. In the previous year, UAB had advanced to the Sweet 16 by beating Kentucky, but they did not have a Sun Belt championship, having lost to VCU in the two previous championship games.
In 1982, the Sun Belt Tournament was held in Birmingham for the first time and UAB was the #1 seed, having won the regular season with a 9-1 record. UAB had lost only one game in the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center that year, to Virginia Commonwealth, in the first conference game of the year. After that loss, the Blazers won nine straight conference games to capture the regular season title. VCU had finished second in the conference with a 7-3 record. The Sun Belt was a six team conference in 1981-82 and UAB had received a bye during the first round. They defeated South Florida in the semi finals and VCU had defeated South Alabama to advance to the third straight championship game between the two schools.
In this game, it was UAB’s big men who made the difference. Chris Giles, Craig Lane, Norman Anchrum and Donnie Speer had been criticized all year by Coach Gene Bartow for soft play and poor rebounding. In this game, Anchrum had 10 points, Speer had 18 points and Lane had 16 points. Chris Giles came very close to a triple double with 10 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. Oliver Robinson led the Blazers with 24 points as the Blazers captured their first Sun Belt title by beating the Rams 94-83 before a crowd of 11,408. Robinson thrilled the crowd by punctuating the victory with a thrilling overhead reverse slam dunk with four seconds to go. “It was good to finally see VCU players go up and get 2nd place trophies” Oliver Robinson was quoted as saying after the game. Robinson was named the MVP of the tournament and Craig Lane and Chris Giles were named to the All Tournament team. Of course this team was just beginning their remarkable run. They would return to the BJCC in a little over two weeks and advance all the way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
BLAZER Top 30 - The 30 Greatest Teams
30. 2001-02 team (13-17) CUSA (6-10) - 4th National Division
29. 1994-95 team (14-16) Great Midwest (5-7) - 6th place
28. 2006-07 team (15-16) CUSA (7-9) - tie 8th place
27. 1999-00 team (14-14) CUSA (7-9) - 3rd National Division
26. 1987-88 team (16-15) Sun Belt (7-7) - 5th place
25. 1995-96 team (16-14) Conference USA (6-8) - 2nd Place Red Division
24. 1978-79 team (15-11) Sun Belt associate member – ineligible for postseason
23. 2000-01 team (17-14) Conference USA (8-8) - 4th National Division
22. 1996-1997 team (18-14) Conference USA (7-7) - 2nd Red Division
21. 1990-1991 team (18-13 Sun Belt (9-5) - 2nd place
20. 1991-1992 team (20-9 Great Midwest Conference (4-6) - 5th place
19. 1979-1980 team (18-12) Sun Belt Conference (10-4) tie 2nd place
18. 1982-1983 team (19-14) Sun Belt (9-5) Third place
17. 1997-1998 team (21-12) CUSA (10-6) 2nd place -National Division
16. 1998-1999 team (20-12) CUSA (8-8) Tied 2nd place – National Div.
15. 2002-2003 team (21-13) CUSA (8-8) Tied 2nd place -National Division
14. 1992-1993 team (21-14) Great Midwest (5-5) 4th place
13. 1988-1989 team (22-12) Sun Belt (8-6) 4th place
12. 2007-2008 team (23-11) CUSA (12-4) 2nd place
11. 1993-1994 team (22-8) Great Midwest (8-4) 2nd place(tie)
10. 1989-1990 team (22-9) Sun Belt (12-2) 1st place
9. 1986-1987 team (21-11) Sun Belt (10-4) 3rd place
8. 2005-2006 team (24-7) CUSA (12-2) 2nd place
7. 1983-1984 team (23-11) Sun Belt (8-6) 5th place
The 1983-1984 season was probably the first season in which the success of the team depended on the younger players of the team. The previous year had expected to be a rebuilding year, but the team had rallied to win the Sun Belt Tournament and earn another NCAA tournament bid, despite a record of 19-14. With the top scorer and two top rebounders of the team gone, Coach Gene Bartow would look to his sophomore class, led by Steve Mitchell and Jerome Mincy to lead the Blazers back to the NCAA tournament and win its third straight Sun Belt Championship. He was quoted as saying that this team had the talent to make it to the Final Four. The question that remained to be seen was did they have the experience.
Roster:
Returning Players
Luellen Foster (Senior guard)
Eugene Jones (Senior forward)
McKinley Singleton (Senior guard)
Murry Bartow (Junior guard)
Marvin Ray Johnson (Junior forward)
Anthony Gordon (Sophomore forward)
Steve Mitchell (Sophomore guard)
Jerome Mincy (Sophomore forward)
Newcomers
Pipo Marrero (Junior forward) Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico (Junior collage transfer)
Brad Tatom (Junior forward) North Highlands, CA (Junior college transfer)
Archie Johnson (Sophomore center) Memphis, TN – Transfer from Oklahoma City
Cedric Evans (Freshman center) Ft. Pierce, FL
Greg Matta (Freshman guard) Hoopeston, IL. *brother of current Ohio State, Thad Matta
James Ponder (Freshman guard) Atlanta, GA
The Season
November
UAB opened its 6th season with three easy games against teams few had heard of. After denying rumors that he was leaving UAB to restart Miami’s dormant basketball program, Coach Gene Bartow coached his team to a 105-53 win over St. Mary’s-Minnesota. Everyone played and everyone scored in the game and in the nine minutes of the game, Jerome Mincy broke a school record with 6 blocks. The team also set the record for blocks in the game by swatting away 16 blocks.
The next night, UAB played Baptist of Charleston, a team that would become eventually become known as Charleston Southern. There was some controversy at the beginning of the game over whether there should be a shot clock. The Sun Belt used an experimental 45 second shot clock and UAB wanted it. Tommy Gaither, the new coach at Baptist in his very first game as a head coach anywhere stood up to Gene Bartow and insisted that the game contract did not call for a shot clock. The contract was got out and examined and sure enough, there was no provision for a shot clock, so the game was played without a shot clock. Unfortunately for Gaither, his team could not take advantage of the absence of a shot clock and slow the game down because the Blazers led throughout. UAB won the game 73-55, paced by Steve Mitchell’s 14 points.
Next, the Blazers faced another new coach in his first gig when they hosted Mississippi Valley State and coach Lafayette Stribling. Stribling would coach Mississippi Valley State for 22 years, but in 1983, he was just starting out and led his team to a 46-45 halftime lead over the Blazers. The Delta Devils shot 68% in the first half, many from long range. UAB was 48% in the first half. In the second half, Mississippi Valley Stated cooled down to 41% and after ten minutes, the Blazers finally got control of the game. With the Blazers up by five points, Marvin Ray Johnson sparked the Blazers with five quick points, scoring on a three point play and then stealing the inbounds pass for a layup. UAB won the game 87-73 and was led in scoring by Jerome Mincy with 20 points.
December
The Blazers entered December with a 3-0 start against less than impressive competition. The first game of December however, would not fit that category. UAB was hosting Auburn for the second time in front of a national ESPN audience in front of 16,803 Blazer and Tiger fans at the BJCC. It was the largest crowd ever to watch two instate teams play in the state of Alabama. While UAB was off to a 3-0 start, the Auburn Tigers had plenty of concerns after a loss in exhibition to Marathon Oil and a scary four point win over Columbus College. This was partially due to the fact that All-SEC player, Charles Barkley had not practiced for two weeks because of a strained back. He was sidelined for much of the game, playing only 23 minutes and scored 6 points and 8 rebounds.
This game was close throughout and one of the most exciting in the UAB –Auburn series. With four minutes to go, Chuck Person tied the score at 60. From that point until the end of the regulation, neither team could score. The ball changed hands four times and neither team had taken a shot, having turned the ball over two times each. . There was still 1:46 left in regulation. With 47 seconds and the score still tied, Auburn took its last timeout. Coming out of the timeout, one of the Tigers grabbed a loose ball and being surrounded by Blazers, he called timeout, earning a technical. The usually sure shooter Luellen Foster stepped to the foul line to shoot two technical shots with only 13 seconds to go. He missed the first one. One free throw would probably win the game, but he missed the second one as well. Still no one had scored since Chuck Person had tied the game four minutes earlier. Auburn had one last chance to win the game with 13 seconds to go. Paul Daniels for Auburn drove to the basket, and was fouled at the buzzer. Auburn fans thought that surely he would hit one of the two free throws to win the game. The players lined up to shoot the free throw, but before he could shoot the ball, someone informed the referee that UAB only had six team fouls. Therefore, since the foul was ruled as on the floor, Daniels would not be shooting a free throw and the game would go to overtime. In overtime, Steve Mitchell would finally break the tie when he hit four free throws to boost the Blazers to a 69-62 overtime win. Jerome Mincy led the Blazers with a career high 27 points.
The next game on December 6, against Old Dominion was the earliest conference game ever played in Blazer History. The game had been moved from February 4 so that UAB could play a television game against Memphis State. This was the first game for Archie Johnson, who was transferring from Oklahoma City University. He played 16 minutes and had 4 points and 4 fouls. Old Dominion decided to give the outside shot to the Blazers and try and shut them down on the inside. It was a mistake. The Blazer guards were on fire. Luellen Foster, who had missed two free throws at the end of the game against Auburn, hit four for four from the line and 6 of 7 from the field for 16 points. Steve Mitchell had 23 points and set the assist record with 12 assists. UAB won the game 83-73 to get an early start on the conference lead.
The Blazers at 5-0 was off to the best start in their short history, but now had to go on the road. The first road trip was to Chattanooga to take on UT-Chattanooga. UTC’s only loss was to top ranked North Carolina. Chattanooga had a veteran team starting four seniors and a junior. Both teams traded baskets in the first ten minutes of the game, with Jerome Mincy doing most of the Blazer scoring. With 9:40 left, UAB led 17-14, but Mincy had to go to the bench with 2 fouls. From that point, UAB scored only four points the rest of the half, while UTC scored 15 and jumped out to a 33-21 halftime lead. In the second half, Mincy picked up his third foul on the first possession and his fourth foul 4 minutes later. Chattanooga had a 13 point lead with 13 minutes to play and the Blazers could not make up the difference. The Blazers lost their first game of the year by the score of 79-70.
The road trip continued to Starkville, Mississippi to take on Mississippi State. The Bulldogs was a low scoring team, but had upset #4 Memphis State 50-49 in the previous game. The game was played in front of only 2245 Bulldog fans. With five minutes to go in the first half, UAB led 14-12 and Mincy had 12 of the Blazer points. The Blazers led 26-24 at the half. The Blazers opened the second half with six consecutive points, but Mississippi State tied the game at 43 with six minutes to go. Mincy broke the tie with a jumper and the Blazers remained in front. The Blazers built a nine point lead with less than a minute to play, but the Bulldogs put together a small run and scored a basket at the buzzer to make the final score 55-53. The Blazers were led in scoring by Mincy with 20 points and McKinley Singleton with 16 points.
Through mid December, UAB had very balanced scoring. Jerome Mincy averaged 14.7 points per game, McKinley Singleton was at 13.2 points per game and Steve Mitchell averaged 13 points a game. Luellen Foster was also in double figures at 10 points per game. UAB returned to Birmingham for a four game home stand. Their first game was against US International, a team they beat by the score of 71-56. Next the Blazers faced Baylor, who had won the year before in Waco, but had lost three starters. UAB led 34-18 at the half, and won the game 73-61. Jerome Mincy led the way with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
UAB hosted the UAB Classic in the next two games. The field, in addition to the Blazers included Valparaiso, Villanova and Samford. The Blazers first round game was against Valparaiso where Coach Bartow had gone 93-69 from 1964 to 1970 before going to Memphis State. The current coach, Tom Smith had played for Bartow at Valpo. Valparaiso milked the 45 second shot clock before attempting a shot. The Blazers played poorly and without intensity and led 30-22 at the half. The Blazers led the entire game, and won the game 64-49 to improve to 9-1.
The championship game was against Villanova, who had defeated Samford in the first round. Villanova was coached by Rollie Massimino and was essentially the same team that would win the national championship the following year. The game was close throughout as neither team could build a lead. UAB went up by two points with eight seconds left in regulation, but Ed Pinckney of Villanova tied the game at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime. At the end of the first overtime, Jerome Mincy put back a Steve Mitchell miss with 23 seconds left to go up by two, but again Villanova tied the game on two Dwayne McLain free throws with two seconds left. In Overtime #2, UAB was up by three points at 70-67, but McClain shot with five seconds left and tied the game again. Finally, in the third overtime, McKinley Singleton put UAB up to stay with 3:34 and the Blazers hit their free throws to win a hard fought game 81-76. Steve Mitchell was 11 of 11 from the free throw line and led in scoring with 23 points in an amazing 54 minutes of action.
After Christmas break, the Blazers headed to Hawaii to take place in the Rainbow Classic. The first round game was against Pacific. Mincy was in foul trouble most of the night and the Blazers struggled. UAB led 27-23 at the half, but Pacific tied the game at 43 in the second half. UAB scored 9 straight to take a 42-33 lead and hit their free throws to win the game 42-33. McKinley Singleton led the Blazers with 16 points.
The second round game of the Rainbow Classic was against SMU, who had upset Duke 78-76 in the first round. SMU was coached by Dave Bliss, and led by 7 footer Jon Koncak. SMU was 10-2 and the Blazers were 11-1. In the first three minutes, UAB went 0-5 and turned the ball over three times. SMU jumped out to an 8-2 lead. UAB did not heat up in the first half, and shot just 12 of 41 in the first half. McKinley Singleton hit 6 of the 12 field goals made in the first half. In the second half, Bliss had his team double-team Singleton. The rest of the Blazers offered no help. Jerome Mincy was 1-10 from the field, Tracy Foster was 0-4 and Steve Mitchell was 3-10. Only Archie Johnson contributed with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Meanwhile, Jon Koncak was 9 of 11 from the field with 18 points and 11 rebounds. SMU had the lead up to 20 points with 2:25 left, but UAB made a late surge to make the game look closer than it was. SMU won 77-63. It was UAB’s second loss of the season. McKinley Singleton finished with 16 points in the losing effort.
The final game of the Rainbow Classic was for third place. UAB’s opponent was Tennessee, the third SEC team the Blazers had played that year. Tennessee had lost to Hawaii in the previous game. The game was tied 7 times and had 8 lead changes in the first half. UAB took the lead with 3:14 to go in the first and Tennessee never led again. In the second half, UAB hit their first three shots, missed one and then hit ten straight before they missed again. By then the Blazers had hit 13 of 14 field goals and led 65-54 with 7:52 left in the game. UAB would set a record for accuracy as they hit 71.4% from the field, including 78% for the second half. UAB won the game 84-66, hitting 35 of 49 field goals. Steve Mitchell who led the Blazers with 22 points on 8 of 11 field goals said that growing up in Tennessee, it meant a little something extra to beat them. The Blazers returned to Birmingham with a 12-2 record.
January
The Blazers improved to 13-2 with a 71-43 win over MacMurray College, a Division III team from Jacksonville, Illinois. In the game, Steve Mitchell popped his shoulder out of its joint, the second time that season it had happened. The Blazers were led by Pipo Marrero who scored 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Next, the Blazers hosted Western Kentucky in the second conference game of the year. Due to his shoulder injury, Steve Mitcell was unable to play. This game could have been called the “Show your Johnson game” since between both teams, there were five Johnsons in the game: Marvin Ray and Archie for UAB and Kannard, Dennis and James for Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers jumped ahead 17-14 with 9:21 remaining in the half, but the Blazers scored 11 straight points to go ahead 27-17. Western Kentucky scored only two points in the final 9 minutes of the half, and UAB led 27-19 at the half. WKU got no closer than nine points in the second half and UAB won 71-56. Marvin Ray Johnson who played in Mitchell’s place had a solid six points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 10 steals. Jerome Mincy and Luellen Foster each scored 16 points.
UAB was 14-2, off to their best start ever. After a week off, they traveled to Chicago to take on Depaul, undefeated and ranked #3 team in the country. The game was televised nationally on NBC. Steve Mitchell played eight minutes, and had not practiced all week due to his shoulder injury. The game was a disaster. Jerome Mincy went 0-4 in the first half and Coach Bartow did not play him in the second half, indicating after the game that he was going with players who would get results. Depaul led by 19 points at halftime. The only offensive weapon that UAB had was McKinley Singleton, who scored 24 points. DePaul won the game 98-63. It is the fourth worst loss ever for UAB.
The next game was at home against Virginia Commonwealth, the fierce conference rival. VCU led the series with the Blazers 7-5, but six of the games had been decided by a total of nine points. This game would be more of the same. The Rams were 11-2 coming into the game, and UAB was 14-3. VCU jumped out to a lead as the Blazers shot poorly in the first 30 minutes of the game. VCU shot 65% in the first half and 59% for the game. UAB shot only 42% for the game. In the last 10 minutes, UAB got back into the game on the hot shooting of Steve Mitchell, coming off of a shoulder injury. Mitchell scored 22 points on 10 of 17 shooting from the field. He scored 12 of his 22 points in the final three minutes of play and the Blazers pulled to within a point with 41 seconds to play. VCU hit the necessary free throws and won the game 63-61, handing the Blazers their first conference loss and the second loss in a row.
UAB needed to win their next game at South Alabama in order to keep pace with VCU in the conference race. South Alabama had also lost two straight, but had won 12 straight before that. UAB trailed most of the game and was plagued with foul trouble. Jerome Mincy and Archie Johnson both fouled out and Bartow was forced to go to little used senior forward Eugene Jones. Jones turned out to be the hero of the game as UAB came from six down with 1:21 left in the game and Jones hit the a jumper from the foul line, which turned out to be the game winner. The Blazers won 80-79, improving to 15-4 and 3-1 in conference play.
UAB improved to 16-4 and 4-1 in the Sun Belt race by beating UNC-Charlotte for the 9th straight time. The final score was 74-60. Steve Mitchell continued his hot hand, scoring 23 points on 8 of 14 from the field. The next game was Homecoming for the Blazers, with the theme, “Putting on the Ritz”. The homecoming opponent was the Jacksonville Dolphins. UAB started this game hot as Jacksonville played zone and Steve Mitchell and McKinley Singleton hit four shots from outside. As soon as the Dolphins came out of their zone, the Blazers turned cold and Jacksonville took the lead at the 7:48 mark in the first half. The Dolphins led 32-22 lead at halftime. Jacksonville maintained that lead and led by 11 with 44-33 with 14 minutes to go. James Ponder hit a couple of shots as UAB began closing the gap. Jack Gordon started hitting the boards in the UAB comeback. He had 9 points all in the second half and 14 rebounds, eleven of which were in the second half. The Blazers tied the game at 63 with 1:47 left in the game on a Tracy Foster jumper. However, Jacksonville pushed the lead back out to four points. The Blazers would not give up. McKinley Singleton tied the game again at 68 with two free throws with 27 seconds left. The Dolphins missed their shot at the buzzer, and the game was headed to overtime.
The Blazers entered overtime with three players, Steve Mitchell, Jerome Mincy and Marvin Ray Johnson on the bench with five fouls. UAB jumped out to a 72-68 lead on jumpers by Jack Gordon and McKinley Singleton, but a pair of Jacksonville three point plays got the Dolphins back in the game. In those days, Sun Belt rules stated that the shot clock was turned off for the last four minutes of a game. Ponder, Foster and Singleton tried to dribble the clock down. Ponder was fouled with 1:01 left in overtime and the score tied at 74. He missed the first free throw and hit the second. That free throw turned out to be the game winner, as Jacksonville could not score again. Their last chance to win the game ended when Anthony Gordon intercepted the inbounds pass and UAB won 75-74. Steve Mitchell led the Blazers with 23 points and McKinley Singleton had 22.
A milestone was going to be surpassed in the next game, a home game against South Florida. Coach Gene Bartow was going for his 400th win and South Florida coach Lee Rose was going for his 350th career win. At the time, Bartow and Rose were renown for being two of only three coaches to take two different teams to the Final Four. Bartow had taken Memphis State and UCLA to the Final Four, and Rose had taken North Carolina Charlotte in 1977 and Purdue in 1980 to the Final Four. UAB struggled throughout the game and the Blazers suffered what is now the second worst loss that UAB has ever had at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. The final score was 65-46, but the game was not even as close as the score indicated. With two minutes to go, South Florida was up by 28 points, but UAB scored the final nine points to make the result a little less embarrassing.
February
After the embarrassing loss to South Florida, UAB hit the road to play Jacksonville, less than a week after beating the Dolphins in overtime. Coach Bartow inserted three new starters into the lineup as a result of the previous loss. Luellen Foster, Eugene Jones and Pipo Marrero were the new starters and the linup change worked. After having to go to overtime to defeat Jacksonville in Birmingham, the Blazers won easily 68-45 on the road. The defense held Jacksonville star, Ronnie Murphy, who had scored 27 points the previous week to only 8 points. Steve Mitchell led the Blazers with 18 points. Coach Bartow had won his 400th career win and several hundred fans met the coach and the team at the Birmingham airport to celebrate.
There was very little time to celebrate however, because the Blazers had a game two days later in Memphis against Coach Bartow’s former team, the Memphis State Tigers. This was the first time UAB and the Tigers played each other and the matchup had been arranged by CBS TV. It was the return of Gene Bartow to Memphis. Memphis State was ranked 9th in the country and had a record of 17-5. UAB was 15-3. When the game started, eight of the starters on the court were from the city of Memphis. UAB had Memphis natives, McKinley Singleton, Jerome Mincy, Steve Mitchell, Archie Johnson and Anthony Gordon. Memphis State had Phillip Haynes, Andre turner and William Bedford. Keith Lee and Bobby Parks, the other two starters for the Tigers were from towns near Memphis. The Commercial Appeal reported that of the 24 players who dressed for the game, 12 of them were from Memphis. Needless to say, this game was huge for the UAB players from Memphis. McKinley Singleton was quoted as saying that they’d like to show that the best Memphis team “was the one that left Memphis.”
A crowd of 11,200 gathered at the MidSouth Coliseum saw a game that was a classic. The score was tied 13 times, including a 27-27 halftime deadlock. UAB led by seven twice in the first half, but the Tigers kept coming back. In the second half, Memphis State went ahead 51-43 with 5:53 left. However, the Tigers went cold and would not score for another 10:46. In fact, the Tigers only managed three shots after that, but UAB stormed back on three long jumpers by Luellen Foster. The Tigers missed a chance to win the game in regulation when Andre Turner lost the ball out of bounds just before the horn sounded. The game was tied at the end of regulation 51-51.
In the five minute overtime, neither team was bold enough to attempt to score, so without a shot clock, both teams worked the clock. There were only four shots taken, one by Memphis State and three by the Blazers. With 3:23 left, UAB decided to kill the clock, with Steve Mitchell controlling the ball by dribbling around the middle of the court until around 2:30 left in the game. At that point, Bobby Parks caught Mitchell unaware and stole the ball from him. The Tigers then held the ball until they called timeout with under a minute to go. Memphis State then threw the ball inside to the All American Keith Lee who went up for the basket, but was fouled by McKinley Singleton with six seconds on the clock. Keith Lee hit both free throws to go ahead 53-51. It was the first time Memphis had scored in 10 minutes and 46 seconds. Steve Mitchell’s desperation 18 footer rimmed the bucket with one second left, and the Tigers won. Bartow praised his team after the game, saying that the Blazers had played a Top 10 team on their home court and they felt that they had played good enough to win. “We battled and we feel like we played with a lot of class and dignity. But we never like to lose.”
The schedule was a killer. Two days after losing the emotional game to Memphis State, the Blazers were on the road to Richmond, Virginia to play Virginia Commonwealth. UAB had played in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday night, in Memphis, Tennesee at 1:00pm on Saturday and now was playing Monday night in Richmond, Virginia. Both UAB and VCU were tied for first place in the Sun Belt. Both teams played a slow, deliberate game and it was close the entire game until VCU built a 10 point lead with 1:24 left. UAB killed their chances at a win by missing free throws. They went 11 of 24 from the line and seven of 17 in the second half. UAB hit only one of nine free throws to start the second half. The Blazers cut the lead to 41-39 with 1:24 to go, but the Rams hit five of six free throws to ice the game. The Blazers lost their third game out of the last four by the score of 49-43. Jerome Mincy led with 11 points and the Blazers dropped to 6-3 in conference. Coach Bartow blamed the loss on road weariness.
Three days later the Blazers were playing in Charlotte against UNC-Charlotte. In the wake of losing two straight, Coach Bartow moved Gene Jones into the starting lineup and Luellen Foster to the bench. In the first game against the 49ers, Steve Mitchell had scored 23 points, so in this game, UNCC keyed on him, but that left freshman James Ponder open. Ponder had his best game of his career to date, scoring 16 points on 7 of 9 field goals. When Charlotte tried to shut Ponder down, Mitchell picked it up, scoring 19 points. UAB won the game 79-70
The Blazers returned to Birmingham to play their only home game in the month of February. Thanks to games arranged by television, tractor pulls and the circus at the BJCC, UAB had one home game and seven road games in the month of February. That one home game was against South Alabama. This game was televised on ESPN as the Sun Belt Game of the Week. The Jaguars, led by Terry Catledge, had won five straight games since their loss to UAB earlier in the season. Gene Jones had beaten South Alabama in the first game with a shot at the buzzer. This time it was Steve Mitchell.
The game was tied at 45-45 with 5:02 to go in the game. Mitchell put the Blazers ahead 47-45 with 3:25 left in the game. On the next possession, South Alabama cut the lead to one by hitting one of two free throws. Neither team seemed to be able to score. Archie Johnson was called for an offensive foul and the Jaguars got the ball, but turned the ball over. The Blazers committed another foul at 1:26 mark, but USA traveled with the ball and the Blazers got the ball back. Steve Mitchell gave UAB a three point lead at 49-46 with 37 seconds left on a drive to the basket. Terry Catledge answered with a bucket to cut the score to 49-48 with 24 seconds to go in the game. With 11 seconds left, Lu Foster was fouled, but missed the front end of a one and one. Anthony Barge for South Alabama then put the Jaguars up by one point, hitting a basket with three seconds to go. Marvin Ray Johnson threw the ball into Steve Mitchell. Mitchell dribbled once and then shot with a defender in his face. Mitchell stated the defender hit the ball slightly as he was going up, and Mitchell admitted he almost lost the ball. He maintained control and launched from 25 feet out as the buzzer sounded. The basket was good and UAB won the game 51-50. Players and fans mobbed Mitchell, lifting him into the air, and then burying him in a pile on the floor as South Alabama coach Cliff Ellis stared in shock. UAB had missed three front ends of one and ones in the final 2:48, yet still won the game on the second buzzer beater of the season against the Jaguars. It was the Blazers 20th win against 7 losses.
UAB had three games left in the regular season. Unfortunately, they were all on the road. First they traveled to Norfolk to play Old Dominion. The Blazers had beaten ODU in Birmingham back in early December and now faced them again Old Dominion led by one point at halftime, but opened the second half with a 10-2 run. By the 11 minute mark of the second half, UAB had been outscored 16-5 and Old Dominion was up by 10 points. UAB cut the lead to five 48-43 with 9 minutes to play, but failed to score again on the next four possessions. Jerome Mincy and Anthony Gordon fouled out with seven minutes to go in the game, and the Blazers, without their best rebounders, could not produce. The Blazers shot 34% in the second half and Old Dominion, shooting 54%, won going away. The final score was 76-55. UAB was now 8-4 in conference.
Two days after playing in Norfolk, the Blazers played in Tampa against South Florida, who had beaten UAB by 19 in Birmingham. The Blazers had not played well in several games and did not play well in this game as well. The Blazers led 29-26 at the half. South Florida players Charlie Bradley and Jim Grandholm had scored 21 of the Bulls 26 first half points. In the second half, USF went up 38-33 with 13:53 to play. At that point, Bartow decided to go to a triangle and two defense with James Ponder and Brad Tatom playing defense on Bradley and Grandholm. It worked because neither Bradley or Grandholm scored a basket the rest of the game. With the Bulls scoring threats silenced, UAB pushed out to a five point lead. Under the rules at the time, the shot clock turned off at the four minute mark and at that point the Blazers had a five point lead. All they needed to do was hold the ball, and hit their free throws when fouled. UAB led 53-45 with 3:08 left to play. UAB had four turnovers in the final three minutes. They kept losing the ball before South Florida could even foul them. The Bulls capitalized on every turnover. Jack Gordon threw away an inbounds pass. James Ponder lost the ball dribbling downcourt. McKinley Singleton turned the ball over with 58 seconds left and South Florida scored to go up 58-57. UAB had one last chance to regain the lead. Steve Mitchell missed a shot with 10 seconds left, but the ball went out of bounds off South Florida. After a UAB timeout, Jerome Mincy got the ball in the corner. He fumbled the ball, retrieved it and shot, missing everything. The Blazers had gave up an 8 point lead in the final three minutes. Coach Bartow called it his worse loss in 22 years of coaching. The final score was 58-57 and the Blazers were now 8-5 in Sun Belt play.
The last game of the regular season was against Western Kentucky in Bowling Green. Following the loss to South Florida, Coach Bartow shuffled his lineup again. McKinley Singleton had been a starter all year, but Bartow told him that he was going to have to look Bartow in the eye and tell him he was ready to perform, and that Singleton was going to have to ask for his job back. Singleton told him he would perform and he did. During the first half, Singleton struggled, only scoring two points and no one else was playing well either. Western Kentucky led by 18 points with 4:27 left in the half. In the second half, Singleton took over and showed why he was one of UAB’s greatest shooters. He scored 31 points in the second half to pull UAB within five points with 4:45 left in the game. Unfortunately, his 33 points for the game was not enough to overcome the outstanding shooting night Western Kentucky was having. They shot 71% from the field for the game and UAB could not catch them. The Hilltoppers won 89-76.
UAB finished the regular season 20-10 and 8-6 in Sun Belt play. They had lost their last three games and were 6-8 in their final 14 games. UAB had finished fifth in the conference, three games behind regular season winner, Virginia Commonwealth. When the conference awards came out, no Blazers were on the All Conference teams although Jerome Mincy did receive an honorable mention. As badly as the Blazers had finished the season, it appeared that their string of NCAA tournament bids was in jeopardy unless they won the conference tournament again. Fortunately for the Blazers, they were hosting the tournament. UAB was hosting the Sun Belt Tournament for the third straight year, because no other school had been able to show a profit or attract big crowds. Sun Belt Coaches had voted 7-1 not to have the tournament in Birmingham, but the Athletic Directors had the final say and the bottom line won out.
March
UAB entered the conference tournament as the fifth seed and their opponent was South Alabama, the fourth seed. South Alabama had lost to UAB twice that season on two buzzer beaters. The Jaguars had finished the season 20-6 and as they won their last game of the season, the USA fans started chanting “We want UAB”. In this game, Anthony “Big Jack” Gordon turned in the best game of his career, scoring 15 points and 14 rebounds, as the Blazers didn’t need a buzzer beater this time to beat South Alabama 76-68. UAB had led by 17 points with 2:11 left in the first half, but South Alabama had pulled to within four points with 8:14 left in the game. After the shot clock was turned off with four minutes to go in the game, the Blazers hit 15 of 17 free throws to seal their victory. In the second half, as the Jaguars closed in, Big Jack took over. He had 11 points and 9 rebounds in the second half, plus two blocks and a steal. In addition to having a great game, he also became talkative. Jack Gordon, for two years, had refused to grant interviews to the media. After this game, he was talked into granting an interview. . "I played with the highest intensity level tonight of any game I've played in." he was quoted as saying. "I just look to do my part on the boards." An interview with Gordon made quite a stir, considering the mystique about him due to his refusal to do interviews. He would not give another interview the rest of his career at UAB.
The semi final matchup was against the #1 seed, Virginia Commonwealth, who was 22-5. This was the fifth year in a row that UAB and VCU had met in the finals or semi finals of the tournament. VCU had won both regular season games against UAB. The game was a low scoring close game throughout, and a crowd of 11,575 watch the Blazers take a 51-44 lead with 2:24 left to play. In the final 2:24, UAB had two turnovers and two missed layups and VCU edged closer. Mitchell missed a shot with 1:10 to play, and VCU hit a basket with 54 seconds to make the score 51-50, UAB. McKinley Singleton hit one of two free throws to give the Blazers a 52-50 lead with 43 seconds to play. Mike Schlegal for VCU tied the game 52-52 with 12 seconds to go. UAB called timeout and when play resumed, it was senior Luellen Foster, who drove the length of the court and went up for the shot. He missed the shot, but was fouled with two seconds on the clock. Lu Foster had been held scoreless for 39 minutes and 58 seconds, but when it counted, he hit two free throws to win the game 54-52 for the Blazers, putting them into the finals. McKinley Singleton led the Blazers in scoring with 21 points, giving him 76 points in the last three games. Jack Gordon continued his outstanding play with 10 points and 11 rebounds. UAB was in the finals of the Sun Belt Tournament for the fifth straight year and had played for every league title since they had been in the Sun Belt. .
The championship game would be played against Old Dominion, who had beaten Western Kentucky in the other semi final game. UAB wanted to avenge the 21 point loss which had started the three game losing streak that ended the regular season. UAB played man to man the entire with the starters playing around 30-35 minutes apiece. The game was close, and the Monarchs never led by more than two points. UAB jumped ahead by nine points with three minutes left in the first half and led by six at halftime. With 13:57 to go in the game, the score was tied at 37 UAB led 54-48 with four minutes to play, but could not put the game away. They missed the front end of three one and ones and had two turnovers in the final four minutes. However, Old Dominion could not take advantage. UAB won the game 62-60 to win their third straight Sun Belt Tournament. McKinley Singleton was named Tournament MVP and he and Jack Gordon were named to the All-Tournament team. Jack Gordon scored 35 points and grabbed a tournament record 34 boards in the three games. The Blazers were headed to their fourth straight NCAA tournament.
Blazer fans saw history repeating itself when the NCAA tournament bids were announced. They were the 9th seed and with a win over first round opponent, Brigham Young, they would be playing the #1 seed Kentucky, who they had defeated in 1981 in a huge upset. The biggest difference this time, however, was that the game would be played on UAB’s home court in Birmingham, rather than Tuscaloosa. The BJCC was hosting the first and second rounds. The field was #1 seed Kentucky and #4 seed Maryland would receive first round byes. UAB would play Brigham Young for the chance to play Kentucky and West Virginia and Oregon would play each other for the chance at Maryland. Tickets for the entire tournament package was $26 and $20. Despite what seems like amazingly inexpensive tickets now, ticket sales were dismal and only 7105 were present for the game between UAB and Brigham Young, which had a late tipoff of 9:35pm. The poor sales caused the NCAA to review their decision to play the Regional Finals in Birmingham, the following year, a decision they eventually decided to keep.
Brigham Young 19-10 and headed by first year coach Ladell Anderson. The Cougars were hot in the first half, shooting 56% to UAB’s cold 38%. BYU led by 8 points at the half, despite the shooting percentage differences. In the second half, BYU improved to 61% and the Blazers had no answer inside on offense or defense. Jerome Mincy and Anthony Gordon were held to four points a piece. Because they were getting beat inside, UAB allowed BYU to go to the foul line numerous times. BYU hit 28 of 35 free throws to UAB’s 10 of 16. The Blazers cut the lead to four points twice in the 2nd half, but Brigham Young answered each time and won the game 84-68. One bright spot for the Blazers belonged to McKinley Singleton, playing his last game as a Blazer. He tied the record for most points in a game with 34 points. He was the only Blazer in double figures and hit 14 of 23 field goals. The Blazers ended their season at home with a 23-11 record.
The season had not ended as the Blazers had wanted. There had been a lot of high expectations for this team. At the beginning of the season, Coach Bartow had said that this team was talented enough to go to the Final Four. Now, in looking back, he stated that his sophomores (Mitchell, Mincy, Gordon) had not developed as quickly as he had hoped and admitted that Mitchell’shoulder injury in January had hindered him from returning to his December form.
One more thing that bothered Bartow at the end of the 1983-1984 season was how the schedule had played out. Because of the inability to schedule games at the BJCC, UAB had played only one home game in February, a fact that doubtless contributed to the three game losing streak the end of the season. Bartow also reported that problems working around events scheduled at the BJCC for next year may force them to move the Auburn game, which was traditionally played before the Iron Bowl to February. Coach Bartow was looking for solutions to the scheduling mess and was even considering moving some games to the brand new 5000 seat arena at Fair Park. Ultimately, within five years, he got an arena built on campus – an Arena that now bares his name.
The 1983-1984 team struggled at the end of the year, but still had a lot to be proud of. They had won 23 games, a Sun Belt championship and had started the season with an impressive 14-2 run. Those sophomores would get better as juniors, so the team had a bright future ahead of them.
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Today in Blazer History - Blazer Top 30 - # 7
