Austin Bishop

Many may be surprised that UAB is back in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament just two years into Andy Kennedy’s tenure as head basketball coach. That’s only because they don’t know Andy Kennedy.

The Blazers (27-7) set a school record for wins in a season this year, capping it off with an 82-73 victory over Louisiana Tech to capture Conference-USA’s automatic bid into March Madness.

That earned UAB a No. 12 seed and a matchup with fifth-seeded Houston in a South Region contest at 7:20 p.m. Friday in Pittsburgh. The winner of that game will take on the Chattanooga-Illinois winner on Sunday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.

Most serious college basketball fans in Mississippi know as much about Andy Kennedy the basketball coach as I do. He is the all-time winningest coach in Ole Miss men’s hoops history, claiming 245 wins over a 12-year period, twice leading the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament.

There is plenty more to tell about Kennedy’s basketball prowess, both as a coach and a player. This past Sunday, he celebrated his 54th birthday. And while I have bumped into Andy professionally — he as a basketball coach and me as a member of the media — over the past few years, there are many, many, many who are more knowledgable of him as a coach.

But there is a side of Andy on which I can provide insight, that most can’t. Some 46 years ago, I first met Andy when he was an 8-year-old T-ball player, and I was a freshly graduated high school senior who was yet to turn 18. I helped with the T-ball program in our hometown of Louisville, and I could tell right away he was a special talent. 

It was a year later when I began to realize that there was something different about this guy. That season, I was given the opportunity to coach a 9- and 10-year-old team and was handed a roster sight unseen. The team was loaded with talent, which included Andy.

There are a couple things that must be noted. This was the summer of 1977, and the only sport in town for kids to play was baseball. There were no youth football or basketball programs, and there certainly wasn’t anyone kicking a soccer ball around in any organized form or fashion. It was baseball first, foremost and only.

Midway through that season, I began to believe that Andy could possibly be a Major League Baseball player. Sure, he had a unique skill set. Playing shortstop, he could range left and right and track a popup deep into the outfield if needed. He was also a solid hitter; in fact, he didn’t get out until the eighth game of the season. But that wasn’t what set Andy apart then, and the same holds true now.

I have never been around a more competitive and determined athlete. Even as a 9-year-old, he yearned to improve, hated to lose and would work ALL DAY LONG. He only lived a few blocks from the baseball park and would ride his bike up to the field to take as many ground balls as I would hit him — anytime, every time and all the time.

As he got older, he got taller, and along the way discovered a much larger round ball. Once basketball got into his blood, the deal was done. His consuming work ethic carried him through his high school and college years — where he became a legend as a player at UAB.

He began his college coaching career at the University of South Alabama in 1994 before joining legendary coach Gene Bartow’s staff at UAB in 1996. He then coached as an assistant at Cincinnati under Bob Huggins from 2000 to 2005, before becoming interim head coach for the 2005-06 season, where he posted a 21-13 mark. He then took over at Ole Miss, where he lead the Rebels to 20 or more wins nine times, including a 27-9 mark in 2013.

After stepping down at Ole Miss, he served two seasons as a television commentator before taking over as head coach for the UAB Blazers in the 2020-21 season. He post a a 22-7 record in year one. Here the Blazers are, a year later, waiting to take on the Cougars of Houston in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

When I was watching Kennedy march the sidelines in his team’s C-USA championship game win over Louisiana Tech, I could see some of the same things in his face and body language I saw those many years ago.

How will UAB do on the basketball court this weekend? The experts will tell you that the Blazers’ stay in the NCAA tournament will be a short one. But then again, those experts don’t know the Andy Kennedy I know. A run to the Sweet 16 wouldn’t surprise me even a little bit.

I guess we will just have to watch and see for ourselves.

Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com or by phone at 601-938-2471.